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Maybe that had been the start. He’d found it very hard to trust his heart after that, and had gone on to test his heart in the worst possible ways while Ashley had continued blithely to charm his way into the salons of unmarried young women, taking as many liberties as he might before someone stopped him.
Well. William wouldn’t allow Ashley to do the same to Justine, even if it ruined the growing esteem between him and the future queen.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
THEDUKEANDDUCHESSof Grafton were already in their patronage box, along with the dowager duchess, so stooped with age that Justine thought she ought to curtsy to her just to look her in the eye.
After the introductions were made, Lady Grafton suggested that the ladies occupy the seats in the front row, and the gentlemen behind them. Lady Bardaline said she thought that was an excellent plan. Justine wanted desperately to tell her lady-in-waiting to stop suffocating her—the woman was always present and forever offering opinions when no one had asked. If Justine had her way, she’d have William on one side, Mr. Ashley on the other. For once in her life she was in the presence of two handsome gentlemen without Amelia to distract them, and she would very much like to enjoy it.
Unfortunately, Lady Grafton had other ideas.
Justine was seated between Lady Bardaline and the dowager duchess. When she was settled, she happened to glance down, and when she did, her chest tightened immediately. Every pair of eyes in that opera house was pointed up, directly at her.
She absently twisted the thin gold bracelet around her wrist.
Of course she’d anticipated the attention. Shealwaysexpected the attention. But the reality was always much worse than the imagining. She shifted back in her chair as a heat crept up the back of her neck. She was thankful her curls fell to her back, because Amelia said her neck looked so splotchy when she was nervous.
She twisted the bracelet faster and tried to keep her countenance serene, her gaze fixed on the stage and its velvet curtains. She became aware of someone at her back, so close that she could feel his breath. And then, a low whisper. “They might as well be miles below you, aye? Nothing but ants, they are.”
She gave a tiny nod of acknowledgment. She was grateful to William for saying it, for reminding her that she had nothing to fear all the way up here.
He leaned closer and said, “Lady Grafton, it is good to see you looking so well.”
The dowager turned her head in his direction. “Hmm?”
But William had already slipped back into his seat, drawn away by a question from Lord Grafton.
The dowager looked curiously at Justine.
“I am so pleased to have come,” Justine said.
“Pardon?”
Justine leaned closer. “I am very pleased to have come.”
“Eh?” the old woman asked, cupping her hand around her ear.
“Very pleased to have come!” Justine said loudly.
The old woman gave a start. “Oh. Yes.”
Justine smiled and nodded, then glanced the other way, and when she did, she almost collided with Lady Bardaline’s face. “Lord!” she exclaimed, surprised by how close the woman was leaning in.
Lady Bardaline was all smiles and excitement. She whispered to Justine, “Mr. Ashley is handsome, isn’t he? What do you think of him?”
Every question the woman asked was for the benefit of Queen Agnes. “I think of him in the same way I think of all of them.” She left it at that and turned her attention to the stage. If her mother wanted to know what she thought of any suitor, she could simplyaskher.
She was saved from having to think about the complications of her mother and her spies by the opening curtain.
The first notes gave her heart a start. And then she was gone, her heart and mind swept into the magic of the performance. Her head filled with music and story, and she forgot about the sea of people below, watching her watch the opera behind their opera glasses. She forgot about Lady Bardaline, and the dowager duchess, who fell asleep in the opening act and began to snore. She laughed when Mr. Ashley leaned forward and asked if she feared as much as he did that the glass windows would shatter if the soprano sustained another high note. Justine’s Italian was rudimentary, but she understood enough that tears came to her eyes in Act II when Count di Luna sang an aria to the object of his love—Her smile shines more than a star.She was the first one to applaud at the conclusion of the second act and kept applauding as the curtain was lowered. She stopped when she noticed the attention of the patrons on the floor began to turn back to her, their interest in her renewed with intermission.
Justine leaned back in her chair, out of view of the curious eyes. Lady Grafton asked if she would like to step out of the box for a bit of respite. Justine glanced behind Lady Grafton to see that the gentlemen had departed the box, with the exception of William, who sat with legs crossed, his hands folded on his lap, his gaze on the stage. Even Lady Bardaline was making her way out of the box. Through the door Justine could see several people were gathered. She imagined the narrow hall, the swaths of wealthy box owners greeting each other and hoping to be introduced to her. She glanced to her right, where the dowager continued to nap, her chin on her chest.
“No, thank you,” she said to Lady Grafton. “I’ll stay with her ladyship.”
Lady Grafton nodded and made her way from the box. Justine glanced at the dowager, who was leaning in her direction, and very carefully, so as not to disturb the old woman, moved over one seat.
She felt William move before she actually saw him slide into the seat between her and the dowager. He stared at the old woman a moment, then lifted the dowager’s chin. The old woman tilted to her right until her head met William’s shoulder, but she continued to doze.
