Page 8 of Lady of Charade
Sarah shocked herself at the agitation that arose within her when she spoke the words aloud, and Phoebe placed a gentle hand on her arm.
“Perhaps we simply need to find you a gentleman with a lovely country home,” she said with a smile, to which Sarah laughed.
“Perhaps,” she said, though in her heart she doubted such a man truly existed — for she would have found him by now, would she not have? A man who would own a country home would never be interested in the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman and a healer, and Sarah didn’t have it within her to lie about her true origins.
As her gaze flitted around the room at the men filling it, most dressed far more extravagantly that she ever would, far too pleased with themselves and their own deportment, her eyes landed on David Redmond. He now had a woman on his arm, her hair black as night and intricately styled atop a beautiful silk dress of the latest fashion. As he leaned in toward her with a smile, she laughed at something he said, throwing her head back as her hand hooked around his in a possessive gesture.
Seeing him with her only affirmed the words Elizabeth and Phoebe had shared with her. Sarah was aware that she could be far too gullible and naive, and this only proved what she needed to remember — to stay away from men like David Redmond and re-focus on what she came here to do, which was find her father.
And then, she could return home.
* * *
One week later
David wassurprised when he heard a knock at the door as he prepared to leave for the evening, with the help of his one servant, who was both valet and butler. Hampton had been with their family for years, and when David took rooms of his own, his father had suggested the man accompany him. David often wondered whether his father used him as a spy of sorts to determine David’s current actions, but he didn’t overly care. His father already disapproved — what did it matter that he had more in which to be disappointed?
Although David did have to be careful, for it was, of course, his father who had arranged for him to lodge at his Albany chambers within St. James. David couldn’t ask for a better location, for he could easily walk to White’s and various establishments along Piccadilly and St. James Street — though some of the seedier establishments he frequented at times required a carriage ride out of the area.
Hampton returned to his bedchamber within moments with the news that the Duke of Clarence had arrived. David nodded before continuing out to his sitting room, fastening the buttons of his shirt himself as he did so, greeting his friend wearing only his linen shirt and breeches.
Clarence, of course, was immaculately dressed in evening wear, though David wondered if he had done so simply for this visit. He wouldn’t put it past the man.
“Clarence,” he greeted him, signaling to Hampton to bring both of them a brandy. “How do you fare this evening?”
“Quite well, Redmond, and thank you for the drink. I must say, you are always well stocked.”
“It’s required, in order to keep friends like you content,” David said with a laugh. “What brings you here this evening?”
“I do not mean to keep you,” Clarence said, and then sighed in a manner that was not at ducal. “I am actually here on the bidding of my wife.”
“Your wife?” David was wary now as he took a seat across from the Duke in one of the birch wood chairs, which his mother had selected for him for their molded seat rails and out-swept front legs. “If I were a betting man — which, I most assuredly am — I would hazard a guess that this has to do with the lovely Miss Sarah Jones.”
Clarence laughed.
“You know of my wife’s nature of protectiveness, then?”
“I am aware that following my dance — one innocent cotillion, mind you — with the woman, she was instantly surrounded by her frequent companions, both of whom sent warning glances my way.”
“Elizabeth worries for Sarah,” Clarence said, one hand splayed wide in front of him. “That is all.”
“She seems rather intriguing,” David said, not wanting to admit how much she had entered his thoughts following their one dance together. She had not seemed at all like any of the other women within the room, and, in fact, none others had overly interested him after he had danced with her. “She certainly does not seem to be from around here.”
“I do not believe she is,” Clarence confirmed, and David found his interest piqued. “Her mother relocated shortly before her birth. It seems she returned here with a relative, Lady Alexander, as she is looking to find more of her family.”
“Interesting,” David murmured, suddenly far more intrigued than he had any right to be. “Who is her family?”
“That, she is still attempting to determine. It seems her parents were estranged.”
“Yet she remains part of the world of the nobility.”
“By virtue of Lady Alexander, it seems,” Clarence acknowledged.
“I am surprised that you are not more involved with the woman’s situation, Clarence,” David said. “This seems to be one that you would be attempting to control.”
“You sound like my wife. Elizabeth tells me that while I am welcome to help Miss Jones in her search for family, what she does not require at the moment is a husband and that I am to keep myself out of any situation involving her and a potential match.” Clarence then chuckled. “With the exception of warning you off, it seems.”
“Very well,” David said, “Consider me warned.”
