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The hallways were filled with other ladies in various states of deshabille, getting ready for the play they were about to enact in the drawing-room that opened onto the terrace gardens. Frederica was supposed to be playing Titania, and she had faithfully learned her lines. To have the marquess see them would be mortifying, and surely Frederica’s membership would be revoked for having this happen. “Do not open that door,” she cried, rushing forward.
“There is no need to be concerned about a dead man,” he said coolly.
She rushed forward and jumped on his back, hooking her legs around his hips.
He froze. “I am not entirely sure what the hell are you doing?”
“I am trying to stop you from opening the door,” she hissed.
He gripped her ankles. “By jumping on me? Why you improper—”
A burst of feminine laughter filtered through the door, and he sucked in a sharp breath. “There are ladies outside this door.”
“Yes, several. And they might be in a greater state of undress than I am. You must absolutely not venture out there. Nor can the owner see you here.”
It seemed impossible, but her guardian grew even stiller. “Is this a bordello?”
“A what?”
“My imagination cannot take any more,” he said darkly. “You will tell me at once what is this place or why you are here. And get off my damn back.”
“No,” she muttered, resting her chin on his shoulders and tightening her hands around his neck. “Not until I am certain you will listen to reason.”
“Reason you say?”
Oh dear, why did he have to sound so menacing? “I promise there is a perfectly reasonable and rational and very non-scandalous explanation.”
“Very well then, I am all ears.”
Frederica couldn’t say what possessed her, but she leaned forward slightly and bit his right ear. “Are you?”
His Lordship’s shoulders shook with a great rumbling laugh, yet Freddie suspected he was not all that amused.
“You are going to be locked into your room with only bread and water for a fortnight,” he said. “I heard many parents are doing that.”
“Very well, papa. I shall submit to your tyranny,” she said pertly, still feeling out of sorts.
He snarled, walked with her to the bed and shrugged her from his back. She dropped onto the surface with a bounce, and Frederica hurriedly stood, painfully aware that she was so scantily dressed.
And his eyes. God heavens, they were narrowed on her with shocking intensity. “Why are you underdressed?”
She opened her mouth to reply and then found herself hesitating. Freddie was so acutely conscious of him. “I am about to be redressed,” she said. “Tonight is stage night, and I am one of the leading actresses in A Midsummer’s Night Dream.”
His jaw visibly tensed, and there was that dangerous gleam in his onyx eyes again. “You play the role of an actress here? You parade on a stage for men to watch?”
“No! I…” she pushed a few curls behind her ears. “There are no gentlemen here. Only ladies and we are all ladies of the ton. Please, you cannot be seen. It is a fundamental rule that no men are allowed. I do not want to be dismissed because I broke the rules.”
Some of his dangerous glower lessened, and his shoulders relaxed. A knock sounded on the door, and she hurried over to open it only slightly.
“Marge, you have returned.”
“Everyone is in an uproar. We cannot find the red wig. I think Agatha wore it home last week and did not bring it back. The duchess said a black wig will do.”
Frederica sighed. “Will you tell the ladies I am feeling a bit out of sorts and will not be joining them?”
“Oh, Frederica! You have wanted to play Titania now for weeks. You practiced the lines so hard.”
She smiled. “So did you. Would you please stand-in for me?”
Marge squealed. “Truly?”
“Yes. I am…going to redress and return home. I will call upon everyone tomorrow.”
“Very well, I shall let the duchess know.”
Frederica closed the door and rested her forehead on the cool oak for a few seconds. Taking a bracing breath, she turned around. The marquess was gone, and the curtains flapped in the open window. Hastening over, she glanced down to see a shadow making its way to a parked carriage on the opposite side of the townhouse. She sensed he would wait there for her, and moving from the windows, she hurriedly dressed, not liking the awful feelings resting so heavy in the pit of her stomach.
