Regency Collection 2013 Part 1. Louise Allen

with a smile.

      Her eyes sought her husband on the other side of the room, and she smiled at him as well.

      He returned a look that indicated none of the affection that Will had described. Perhaps her new brother was mistaken.

      The music ended. ‘I will leave you to your other guests, then. I suspect we will have ample time in the future to speak.’ And Will took his leave of her.

      Another guest asked her to dance. And then another. At last she excused herself from the floor to check on the refreshments. And found Clarissa, standing in her way.

      ‘Penelope, darling. What a charming party.’

      There was no way to cut the woman, no matter how much she deserved it. Penny pasted a false smile on her face and responded, ‘Thank you,’ then went to step around her.

      Clarissa reached out to her, in what no doubt appeared to the room as a sisterly gesture of warmth, catching both hands in hers. Then she pulled her close, to whisper what would look to observers like a girlish confidence. ‘But if you think it makes any difference to your standing in society, you are wrong.’

      Penny summoned her newfound bravery. ‘My position in society is secure. I am Duchess of Bellston.’

      ‘In name, perhaps. But in reality, you are a trumped-up shop girl. People know the truth, and they can talk of little else this evening.’

      She had heard nothing, and she had been to every corner of the room. It must be a lie, intended to wound her.

      But there was no way to be sure.

      Then she thought of what Will had said, and tossed her head in her best imitation of someone who did not give a jot for what people ‘said’. ‘Let them talk, then. They are most unaccountably rude to be doing so in my home while drinking my wine and eating my food.’

      ‘They are saying nothing more than what your husband has said.’

      It was her worst fear, was it not? That he felt she was beneath him. And she feared it because it was based in truth. Clarissa must have guessed as much or she would not speak so.

      But there was nothing she could do about it now. So she favoured Clarissa with her coldest look, and said nothing.

      ‘He is taking you to Wales, is he? Very good. I heartily approve. You must go home and complete your work which is, no doubt, noble and of much scholarly import.’ The last words were sarcastic, as though Penny’s life goal was so much nonsense.

      ‘But no matter what you mean to do, I doubt that Adam means to stay with you in isolation, if there are other more entertaining opportunities open to him. He will come back to London, or find a reason to go to Bath, or somewhere else.

      ‘And the minute he does, you will know that he is coming to me. He was happy enough before you arrived on the scene. And he is even happier, now that he has your money. He has told us as much. He simply needs to get you out of the way, so that he may spend it in peace.’

      Penny controlled the flinch, for the last words struck as hard as any blow.

      Clarissa continued, ‘Adam is happy. And I am happy with Adam. You have promised to be happy with your books. You have nothing further to add to the discussion, other than regular infusions of gold.’

      Penny struggled to speak. ‘And is Timothy happy?’

      ‘Timothy?’ Clarissa laughed again.

      ‘Yes. Timothy. Your husband.’

      ‘He is glad to see Adam back, for they are great friends.’

      ‘And it must be very handy for you to share such affection for Adam. They are good comrades, are they not? And if you seek to be unfaithful, how handy that it be with your husband’s best friend.’

      Clarissa was unaffected. ‘Why, yes. It is most convenient.’

      ‘Until you get caught at it. And then there will be the devil to pay, Clarissa. The scandal will be enormous.’

      ‘Caught? Caught by whom exactly? Dear me, Penelope. You make it sound as though we are likely to be run down with a pack of hounds. How diverting.’

      ‘Your husband,’ Penelope hissed. ‘You must be mad to think that you can carry on in front of him and remain undiscovered. And if you believe, for one minute, that I will allow you to drag my name, and the name of my husband, through the muck with this public display, you are even more mad. This is my first and final warning to you, Clarissa. Stay away from Adam. Or I will tell Timothy what is going on, and he will put an end to it.’

      Clarissa laughed, and it was no delicate silvery peal of ladylike mirth, but a belly-deep whoop of joy. ‘You mean to tell my husband? About me and Adam? Oh, my dear. My sweet, young innocent. You do not understand at all, do you? My husband already knows.’

      Penny felt her stomach drop and thought with horror that she was likely to be sick on the floor of her own ballroom. What a ludicrous scene that would be. Clarissa, or any of the other ladies of her husband’s acquaintance, would have managed a genteel faint.

      ‘Clarissa, we must dance. You have monopolised our hostess long enough.’ Lord Timothy was standing behind her, and she prayed that he had not heard what his wife had been murmuring, for the situation was quite mortifying enough.

      ‘But I was having such a lovely chat with Penny.’ Clarissa’s voice was honey sweet.

      ‘I can see that.’ Tim’s was ice and steel. ‘She bears the look of one who has experienced one of your chats, darling. Drained of blood, and faint of heart. Remove your claws from her and accompany me.’ He laid a hand on Clarissa’s wrist and squeezed. ‘Or I will pry them loose for you.’

      Clarissa laughed and released her, then turned to the dance floor. ‘Very well, Timothy. Let us dance. So long as it is not a waltz. I am saving the waltzes for someone special.’ Then she walked away as though nothing had happened.

      Penny stood frozen in place, watching her, and felt Tim’s hand upon her shoulder. ‘Are you all right?’ His face was so close to her that his cheek brushed her hair. ‘I will see to it that my wife goes home early. And then we will speak. Until then, do not trouble yourself.’

      She nodded without speaking.

      He eased away from her, passing by to follow his wife. In a tone loud enough to be heard by people passing, he said, ‘Lovely party, your Grace. I never fail to find entertainment on a visit to Bellston.’

       Chapter Fourteen

      Penny closed her eyes, and focused on the sound of the room, rather than the faces of the people in it. She had thought things were going so well. But now, it was impossible to tell friends from enemies. When she was seventeen, the falsehoods and sly derision had come as a surprise. But she knew better now. When she looked closely at those around her, she could see from the strained expressions on the faces of her husband’s friends that she did not fit in.

      And the looks of suspicion, jealousy and disdain seemed to follow, wherever Clarissa had been. The woman could spread discord like a bee spreads pollen.

      Damn them all. She would send the guests away, just as Adam had told her she could. And never, ever, would she submit to such torture again. In time, Adam would forget about her, since it was obvious that he wished to be elsewhere. If it mattered so much to him that there be entertainment in his house, he would have been at her side when she was all but attacked by his mistress.

      She steadied her breathing. To call a sudden halt to the proceedings would be even more embarrassing than to continue with them. If there were any left in the room that were not talking about her, they soon would be, once she drove them from her house and slammed the doors.

      She would retire herself, then. It was embarrassing for a hostess to abandon her guests. But she found herself—suddenly indisposed. Too ill to continue, no doubt due to the stress of the event. People