Page 6 of A Gentleman's Guide to Save a Lady
Chapter 2
The following day, Belle was seated across from her friends in the drawing room of Jo’s new home, which she shared with her husband, the Marquis of St. Aldwyn, wondering how it came to pass that one night had completely rendered her otherwise fabulous life, less fabulous.
Or perhaps it was all the wrought iron candle holders scattered across the room, equipped with black candles set against deep red velvet drapes. Had the walls not been covered in red as well, even with the intricate gold design, Belle may have thought differently on the matter.
Too much red.
Lavender. Yes, Lavender would do nicely in this room.
Her gaze circled back to her friends. She watched them over the rim of her cup as they whispered in hushed tones, a clue that they were conspiring. It was a pleasant distraction, even if she wasn’t certain she’d like whatever they were up to.
Last night still weighed heavily on her mind. She knew it might just be her imagination—last night marked the fifth anniversary of that fateful night, after all—but a nasty foreboding still plagued her. Even if she had imagined the scent, the shivers and the suspicion, it did not change the fact that the heart-wrenching and dangerous secret she kept hidden always hung over her like a stormy cloud.
Utterly depressing, that.
It was, of course, made worse by the fact she could not share the burden with anyone. She loved her friends to dearly to subject them to a secret that could destroy them.
When Belle first met Evelyn and Josephine, they bonded over their mutual agreement that married life did not suit them, each having their own unique reason for their lack of interest in the institution.
But all that changed when Evelyn’s brother hatched a scheme to introduce the brooding Earl of Grey back into society. The scheme set a sequence of events in motion that no one could have predicted—events that resulted in Evelyn’s and later Jo’s marriage. Of course, Belle was happy for her friends, but she remained disinclined to trot down the aisle. Her aversion, however, did not seem to register with them—or perhaps it simply didn’t bother them. No doubt they already picked out a husband for her and, in their minds, simply needed to nudge her.
Usually, she would indulge her friends their ministrations even if she knew they would lead nowhere, but today her reflections were much too maudlin to allow her to entertain their antics. Perhaps if she had rested, she’d have another perspective, but her sleep had been plagued by nightmares. Eventually, Belle had given up on sleep altogether and spent the remainder of the night sketching a new line of gowns, all the while silently cursing her brothers for abandoning her to her fate.
Her brothers had left England soon after their parents perished on a ship bound for France. They had wished to travel and explore the world, as, apparently, their parent’s demise had prompted life-altering questions for them. Of course, Belle did not begrudge them their adventures, and she supposed everyone dealt with grief their own way, she just never imagined they would leave her behind with her decrepit aunt.
“So we wondered whether you’d consider—”
“No,” Belle interrupted before Jo had a chance to finish her sentence. Best to nip this scheming in the bud. “You may be marvelously happy in your marriages, but my reasons for remaining unwed have not changed.”
Evelyn and Jo glanced at each other.
Belle calmly took a sip of her tea even though Jo’s smile was sly. Like a cat. “We would never bully you into something you did not wish to do, Belle. We just thought perhaps you would enjoy some other aspects of entering a relationship with a man.”
Belle choked on her tea then.
Surely they were not suggesting she embark on an affair? But then again, why wouldn’t they? Had she not always acted like an outrageous flirt? Most of the time she only pretended to be so daring, though she supposed that her friends would not know that she was only pretending for a bit of fun, for a distraction. She’d gotten quite good at pretending to be someone she was not. Perhaps even to the extent that she’d actually become the person she feignedto be. So no, she could not blame them the assumption.
“I do not imagine that to be wise.”
“Why ever not?” Jo asked.
“Look at where it got us,” Evelyn added dreamily.
“Exactly,” Belle said with a raise of her brows.
“Well, you do not have to marry the man,” Jo said with a smile. “Every woman should experience the body of a male at least once.”
Belle groaned. They would have her ravaged for nothing but a grand experience.
Evelyn nodded her agreement. “Does the famous Madam De La Frey not deserve some excitement?”
Excitement?
Ruination seemed the most appropriate word. That is why she’d donned the persona of Madam De La Frey in the first place, to avoid the pesky bother of ruination. So what if she designed flimsy gowns that scandalized old dames? Did that mean she must act the part of a scandalized woman, too? No. No, it did not.
“My identity is not widely known, I’d like for it to stay that way. Family name and all.”
She’d rather not be the one that sent her aunt to an early grave.
