“No. Let’s move this carriage faster, it’s late enough as it is.”
“Lady Ellen?” Gerard called out.
Oh no.He had seen them in the carriage. Ellen stopped the carriage, and Gerard approached them to Marjorie’s disapproving gaze.
“My Lord! What are you doing here?” Ellen asked.
The Earl smiled sheepishly “I could ask the same of you, My Lady. It’s quite late for any lady of respectability to be out.”
“I am with Lady Marjorie, and we just returned from—” Ellen paused, looking at Marjorie. She did not know what details of the book club the public was privy to and did not want to give anything away.
“From?” Gerard prodded.
“The Book Club,” Ellen admitted simply. “Oh! I had the absolute best time.”
“Far better than the time you spent with me?” Gerard teased.
“Yes. Even that.” Ellen teased back.
Marjorie now stuck her head out the window. “What a wonderful evening to be out gambling, don’t you think so, My Lord?” she asked.
Gerard chuckled. “I see that the rumors about you are true.”
“If the rumors say that I am straightforward, and I am not given to the simpering illness that plagues most ladies, then they are indeed true.”
“It is lovely to meet you, Lady Marjorie.”
“Likewise,” Marjorie replied, then, turning to Ellen. “Shall we take our leave now? It is quite late, and who knows what antics Andrew is up to by now.”
“Actually, if My Lady doesn’t mind, I would like it if Lady Ellen could go for a walk with me. I want her to see London at night. I give you my word, I will see her back home without trouble,” he added when he saw Marjorie about to protest.
“Well, Ellen, what do you say?” They both turned to Ellen, who nodded, her eyes lighting up with a smile.
Marjorie groaned. “I’d best take my leave now. I will try to cover for you as much as I can. But bring her to Conolly Manor, My Lord. Her brother is hopefully still knocked out.”
“I give you my word that Ellen shall return to you unharmed,” Gerard said.
Marjorie huffed. “Be home early, and be good to her! I never could stand two infatuated fools.”
With that, Marjorie left the two of them standing on the streets of London. A chill wind blew, but Ellen shivered more out of her excitement at such blatant disregard for propriety than for the cold.
Gerard offered her his arm. “Shall we begin, My Lady?”
Ellen giggled. “Yes, we shall, My Lord.”
ChapterSix
The London Ellen had caught glimpses of when riding in the carriage was different from the one she found herself staring at that evening. For her, it was as though the city took on a new form at night. She watched lords and even ladies glide in and out of dimly lit houses, hand in hand with their paramours.
Although it came as a shock, Ellen soon began to understand that London nights were for those who craved the same freedom as she did. Like her, when the lords and ladies of thetonstepped out in the cool air of London nights, they took off their cloaks of duties and responsibilities as well. The unruly dined with the upright; here there were no seclusions, no nobles or common men. The atmosphere was charged, piercing, demanding that everyone engaged in the utmost depths of uninhibited revelry.
Gerard watched the wonder on Ellen’s face with a smile. The spark in her hazel eyes grew brighter and brighter until he could swear he saw stars in her eyes. “I take it My Lady likes what she sees,” he said.
“It is magnificent!” Ellen gushed, her eyes glued to two women dancing and laughing. They seemed to work at the dimly lit houses. The sounds of their laughter had caught her attention. The women laughed boisterously without care for any care for propriety. Her mother would be mortified.
Gerard followed the direction of Ellen’s eyes when he saw that she became silent. It was clear that the women she was looking at had drunk many drinks, but he did not understand why they caught her attention so. “What has you so stunned, My Lady?” he asked.
“Their laughter,” Ellen replied.
