Page 31 of Enticed By an Earl
He maintained his confidence that no one would realize who Kitty truly was, but he was also certain that a great many people would stare at them as soon as they alighted from the carriage.
He was right. From the moment he handed Kit, or rather Kitty, down, half of the other patrons of the theater craned their necks to discern who Lord Deveraux Ogilvy had brought to the theater with him that evening.
“Lord Deveraux, who is your charming companion?” Lord Grantley, a friend of his father’s, asked Dev as he escorted Kitty into the theater’s somewhat crowded lobby.
“Lord Grantley, may I introduce you to Miss Kitty Dryden of Alnwick,” Dev said as smooth as silk. “We made each other’s acquaintance last year in the country, and I was delighted to learn of her arrival in London a fortnight ago.”
Dev and Kitty had spent several hours the week before concocting the story of how they knew each other. They had laughed and bandied about ideas for who, precisely, Kitty Dryden was and what circumstances of her birth enabled her to move within the same circles as Dev. All of it was based on places one or both of them had actually gone to and people they truly knew so as to make the story as plausible as possible.
“Miss Dryden,” Lord Grantley greeted Kitty with a gracious bow. “It is a pleasure to meet a friend of Lord Deveraux’s.”
Dev could practically see Kitty’s heart beating in her beribboned throat as she offered her hand to Lord Grantley, who took it and bowed over it like a true gentleman. “My lord,” she said in the softest voice possible.
Dev watched closely, waiting for any sign that Lord Grantley recognized Kitty as anyone or anything other than what they were pretending—no, as anything other than what she was.
“And what do you think of London so far?” Lord Grantley asked Kitty.
“I find it most agreeable, though rather loud and busy,” Kitty answered perfectly.
“It is that,” Lord Grantley laughed.
They exchanged a few more words before moving on. The house had just opened so that patrons could be seated, but there was just as much interest in conversing with other members of thetonas there was in seeing the play. Dev and Kitty were greeted and questioned by two more groups before finally making it into the theater and finding their seats in the box Dev had reserved for them.
“You see?” Dev asked as he sat by Kitty’s side. “I told you that you would not be recognizable.”
“It is the darkness of the theater I am certain,” Kitty said, fiddling anxiously with the playbill.
Dev chuckled, tempted to put his arm around the back of Kitty’s chair, like he would with any of his other mistresses, to indicate possession. He was stopped by the feeling that he did not want the other members of thetonto think of Kitty as his mistress. It surprised him to feel that he wanted Kitty to be marked as something much more.
He did not give those feelings much thought. Instead, he enjoyed the last few minutes before the performance would start in observation of the people around him. As he’d expected, quite a few sets of lorgnettes were pointed in Kitty’s direction and more than a few finely dressed ladies and gentlemen leaned in their seats so that they might get a better look at Dev’s companion for the evening.
Dev rather enjoyed the attention…until Kitty gasped beside him and whispered, “Oh, no.”
“What is it, my dear?” Dev asked, leaning closer to her.
Kitty swayed into him, almost as if she needed Dev for protection or to hide behind. Dev understood a moment later when she whispered, “My mother and father are here.”
Dev tensed and looked around at the other boxes. He did not care about the propriety of the gesture, he reached for Kitty’s hand, holding it tightly until he spotted the Duke and Duchess of Bedminster in one of the more prominent boxes.
It seemed to be a small stroke of luck that the duke and duchess appeared more interested in being seen than in searching around for their son. The duke seemed bored and the duchess appeared more interested in her playbill than in the people around her.
“I do not think they care about the other patrons at all,” Dev said, giving Kitty’s hand a squeeze. “We are safe.”
“I sincerely hope so,” Kitty whispered.
Kitty remained tense as the play began, though she had relaxed somewhat by the end of the first act. Interest in the two of them from the other patrons of the theater died down, particularly when one of the set pieces broke and the audience became more absorbed in watching how the beleaguered actors dealt with the inconvenience than observing their fellow patrons.
Dev considered Kitty exceptionally brave to continue on through intermission and to stay for the second act. If she had told Dev she was not comfortable and wished to return home, Dev would have granted that wish without question. But by the time the actors took the stage for the second act, Kitty was as interested in how the actors would finish the play with their damaged set as everyone else was.
“I was certain they would call the entire thing off,” Kitty actually laughed once the play was over, as they made theirway from their box back through the lobby. “The actress portraying Amy Robsart was particularly valiant.”
Dev chuckled as he escorted Kitty toward the door. “She was brave to hold up the wall while delivering an impassioned speech,” he agreed.
“I do not know what I would do if?—”
Kitty stopped cold as she and Dev came suddenly face to face with the Duke and Duchess of Bedminster halfway across the lobby.
At first, Dev did not think the duke and duchess noticed them. Kitty froze to her spot, though, clutching Dev’s arm so tightly Dev nearly winced. When the duke and duchess glanced at them, Kitty began to tremble.
