Page 87 of The Last Duke She'd Marry
“It’s a Mrs. Brandon, madam. She was most insistent that she see you.”
“Brandon?” The name sparked no memory. And this was a very strange time to call.
Lizzie picked up her doubt. Worry darkened her pretty, freckled face. “Should I have refused her entry, my lady? She was sure you’d want to see her. She’s…a lady. Or at least she sounds like one. I thought she might be a friend.”
If she was, she was the only friend to call at this house. Juliet had no idea if Lizzie was aware of her mistress’s disgrace, but she was a clever girl. She’d notice the lack of callers.
“Is she alone?”
“Yes, madam. But there’s a smart rig outside with a coachman.”
A smart rig indicated someone from the wealthier classes. No wonder Lizzie had decided to let the woman in.
Juliet tightened the belt on her pink peignoir and came down the steps. “I’ll see what this is about, Lizzie. But perhaps you should wait in the hall, in case there’s any trouble.”
Lizzie bobbed into a curtsy. “Yes, my lady.”
Juliet went through to the parlor, where a tall woman in a stylish, but subtly exotic dark green traveling ensemble stood in the center of the room.
“Mrs. Brandon?” Juliet asked.
Even with her face veiled, the woman was obviously a stranger. But Lizzie was right. This was no penniless beggar.
Juliet could feel eyes studying her through the concealing veil. “It’s Brandtner, actually.”
The German name had clearly confused Lizzie. It confused Juliet, too. She didn’t know anyone in Germany, and the woman spoke with the same crisp upper-class English accent as she did. “I don’t…”
Mrs. Brandtner raised gloved hands to her veil and lifted it. “Although I suspect you might be more familiar with me as Vanessa Gould.”
Juliet found herself staring into wide hazel eyes in a face of startling beauty. Nobody had told her that Lucas’s first love was so lovely.
Unworthy jealousy stirred in her heart, even as she recognized its futility. After all, Lucas was lost to her. What did it matter if the woman he’d run off with as a young man turned out to be this vision?
Yet somehow it did matter.
So much about this encounter left Juliet floundering, yet the question that emerged was hardly the most important. “You’re in England?”
Lady Vanessa’s lips twitched. “I arrived back this week. I’m sorry to call on you at such an uncivilized hour, but Lucas’s letter only arrived this morning. He sent it to the last address he had for me, and it’s chased me all the way back to London. That’s why it’s taken me so long to respond.”
Juliet struggled to make sense of what was happening. “Lucas’s letter?”
Juliet’s confusion made her caller frown in concern. “Perhaps I should come back tomorrow.”
Good heavens, she’d once run Afton Park. Heartbreak hadn’t just turned her into an emotional wreck. It seemed to have stolen all her social polish as well. She straightened her shoulders and strove to sound like a hostess instead of a moonstruck ninny.
“No, please stay.” Her curiosity reached a point where it outweighed her astonishment – and her astonishment was immense. Having to wait another day for an explanation for Lady Vanessa’s visit would drive her insane. “I’m sorry. You caught me by surprise. Please, sit down. I’ll order some tea.”
As Lady Vanessa took a chair by the unlit fire and removed her gloves, Juliet went outside to where Lizzie waited with wide eyes and a barely hidden curiosity of her own.
“Mrs. Brandtner is a schoolfriend,” she said, which was a lie but a better explanation than saying that at different times, they’d shared the Duke of Evesham’s bed.
Impossible to imagine what the notorious Vanessa Gould could have to tell her, but she meant to find out. If the woman planned to warn her about Lucas’s irresistible charm, she was far too late. “I didn’t recognize her married name.”
Lizzie, bless her, accepted the explanation without question. “Shall I make up the other bedroom, my lady?”
Goodness, was the woman expecting to sleep over? That seemed a step too far. Then Juliet recalled the smart rig outside. “I don’t think so. But can you please bring in a tea tray? Then you can go to bed. If Mrs. Brandtner means to stay, I can prepare her room.”
“Should I do the fire?”
