Chapter Six

She was going to kill him. And Vincent. And perhaps even the lords and ladies of the ton who made her feel the need to put herself through this in the first place.

Anxiety coursed through Lavender's body like a roaring river. She smoothed her hands over her dress for the tenth time even though she knew that there wasn't a single thing out of place. She'd chosen her dress perfectly, a subtle green color that hopefully brought out the depth of her eyes with a matching pair of gloves. Betty had curled her hair in lovely ringlets with a simple floral headpiece affixed between them. Her aim was to look effortlessly put together like many other ladies she'd witnessed before but she could hardly pull that off when she had been waiting for her chaperone to show up for the past thirty minutes.

She glanced out the window of her carriage once more, resisting the urge to shake her leg in impatience. Of course the earl was late. If she hadn't received a curt letter last night informing her that he would be attending, she would have assumed that he wasn't coming at all.

Lavender didn't dare to exit her carriage until he arrived. She asked her coachman to wait near Lawrence Manor so that no one would know that she had arrived yet. It would be better if they both arrived late rather than one at a time. But she didn't know how much longer she could hold out.

Just when she thought she couldn't take it any longer, she spotted a familiar figure ambling down the street. Lavender quickly exited the carriage, grabbing her skirts just in time to keep everything in place. She watched as Lord Derby made his way to the manor with his hands tight into fists at his side and that scowl on his face. He walked with a slight limp as if he was injured.

And oh dear, what happened to his face?

Lavender's jaw went slack when he came to stop in front of her. She couldn't find the right words. There were just too many things going wrong right now. His lateness. The dusty, out-of- fashion clothes he wore. And worse of all, the purple-black bruise encircling his right eye.

"What happened to you?" she breathed in alarm.

Lord Derby didn't deem that a question he should answer. He only grunted in annoyance and walked by her. To her horror, he was walking right up to the front door of the manor. Lavender grabbed her dress and hurried behind him.

"You cannot go in like that," she said hurriedly. "Who did that to you? Why do you have a blackened eye? My lord, you cannot."

He said nothing. He only raised the knocker and banged it hard on the front door, twice. Lavender thought she might melt in embarrassment.

Nothing was going according to plan. Breathe in, breathe out.

Before she could say anything else, the door opened to a slightly confused-looking butler. Lavender plastered a smile on her face, her heart fluttering when the butler looked from Lord Derby to her and then back to him.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Jenkins," she greeted. "I hope your day is going well?"

"Quite so, Miss Lavender." The confused Mr. Jenkins stepped to the side. "Please, if you would follow me."

She did just that, thankful that the earl was following along as well even though he was sporting a terrible bruise. She'd been to this manor often enough for the staff to know her well, and the other way around. Mr. Jenkins was not the sort of man who showed his emotions very often, so he must truly have been shocked to have looked at them like this.

And if he was then she could only imagine how everyone was going to react when they entered. The fact that they were late only made it worse. It meant everyone would be present to witness their entrance. Had everything gone as planned, she would have welcomed that.

Her nervousness shot through the roof as they drew closer to the dining room. Lavender could hear the hum of chatter on the other end which meant the tea party was well underway. She drew in a deep breath then put that pleasant expression she'd practiced on her face. She glanced up at Lord Derby and was not surprised to see that he looked as if he would much rather be anywhere but here.

The moment they entered, the party seemed to stop. The soothing notes from the pianoforte being played in the corner continued, of course, but all eyes fell on them and all conversation ceased. Lavender made sure her soft smile didn't slip even when she saw her friend, Alice, take a step in her direction in the corner of her eye. Instead, she took Lord Derby by the arm and steered him towards a relatively uncrowded section of the refreshments table.

"You have only one task this afternoon," she whispered between her tight smile. "And that is to act as if I am the apple of your eye and you cannot wait to be married to me."

"You ask a lot of me," he grumbled.

"It shouldn't be too hard." Lavender skimmed her gaze over new and old faces, men and women she would have to convince of her ruse. "You need only smile at everything I say and say nice things about me. Lie straight through your teeth if you have to."

He made a derisive sound. Lavender didn't have to look at him to guess that he was rolling his eyes. "Surely you see that it is madness to go to such lengths to impress strangers."

"They are not strangers." Lavender picked up a cucumber sandwich and handed it to him, that smile still fixed on her face. "Not all of them. My dear friend Alice is the one who is hosting this party and I do not want her to know what we are doing. Not yet. I love her to death but she is rather blunt and tends to speak without thinking."

"Sounds oddly familiar."

"Oh, hush," she hissed. "And smile. Someone is approaching."

He did no such thing, which sent her irritation through the roof. It took Lavender every bit of her strength to straighten her spine and smile at the person who approached, relief flooding her when she saw who it was.

Colin Asher looked more handsome than the last time she'd seen him. Their fathers had been friends and so Lavender had all but grown up with him. As they grew into adulthood, they'd spent less time with each other, but Lavender was still as good at reading his expressions as she had been when they were younger.

And right now, she saw nothing but confusion. Hopefully he wasn't as good as seeing through her as she was him.

"Lavender," he greeted, eyes softening for a moment. "I have been waiting for you to arrive. Don't tell Alice but I have been dreadfully bored without you."

A genuine laugh bubbled up her throat and she relaxed a little. "I am not surprised, Colin. But you must learn not to keep me around for your entertainment, you know. We are far too old for such things."

"Yes, so I am beginning to see." His kind blue eyes fell on Lord Derby and a tiny frown pulled at his brows. "I'm sorry, I do not think we have met."

Lavender waited for the earl to respond. A second went by. Then another. Before it could get too uncomfortable, she spoke up. "This is Lord Austin Thomas, the Earl of Derby. He is my betrothed."

"Betrothed?" Colin echoed, eyes growing wide.

"Yes, I know it is quite a surprise. I can hardly believe it myself." That much was true. Lavender still laid awake at nights wondering if this truly was what her life had become.

"Hm." Colin's frown only grew deeper as he faced Lord Derby. Lavender felt a twinge of trepidation. Colin was important to her, one of her dearest friends. She didn't want to have to deal with contention between the two of them when she had more important things to focus on.

"Lord Derby, you say?" he went on, raising his chin. Was it her or did it look as if he was trying to make himself taller? If that were the case, it didn't work. Lord Derby's presence was enough to make the tallest man in the room appear like a dwarf. "I have heard of you. You inherited your father's title."

"Smart of you to put that together," Lord Derby droned.

Lavender's heart leapt into her throat. This wasn't going to go well.

Colin's left eye twitched. "Were you the one who asked for Lavender's hand in marriage?"

"Why does it matter? "

"You must understand how sudden this is to me. I'm sure it matters not for you to tell me how it happened."

Lavender expected questions. She'd gone through every possible one beforehand and had a response that would not raise anyone suspicions. She didn't mind if others believed that it was an arranged marriage because that was the norm of the upper class. It could even help to get her integrated much faster.

What she did not expect was the hostility brewing between Lord Derby and Colin. The earl stared him down and Colin matched that stare with increasing agitation, which surprised Lavender even further. Colin had always been slow to anger. Already he looked just about ready to tackle Lord Derby to the ground.

"Vincent introduced us," Lavender cut in. "He thought we would make a nice match and well, I cannot say that I disagree."

"A nice match?" Colin repeated, not taking his eyes off the earl. "I am yet to see it. Especially since he is yet to respond to my question."

Lord Derby cocked his head to the side. Lavender didn't like the look in his eyes. Dark amusement? Annoyance? Anger? Whatever it was, it gave her a bad feeling.

"Why do you care?" Lord Derby asked.

"Because Lavender is my friend. I care about her, which makes me wonder if you are good enough for her."

"It does not matter if I am."

"Wha—of course it does!" Colin was shouting now. Others were beginning to look.

Lavender put a hand on his shoulder and fixed a smile on her face. She squeezed his shoulder, forcing him to look at her. "I appreciate your concern, Colin, but there is no need to worry."

Colin did not look very convinced. "I just think that—"

"My, my, what's going on here?" Miss Alice Lawrence swept into the conversation like a breath of fresh air. "Lavender, who is this handsome gentleman?"

Lavender could have kissed her for the distraction. Avoiding her now seemed like a foolish idea. Alice had always been good at keeping emotions mellow. "This is my betrothed, Alice," Lavender responded. "The Earl of Derby. "

"Good day, Lord Derby," Alice greeted with a proper curtsy. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

Unlike Lavender, she had a natural ladylike demeanour that made her the queen of their peers. Lavender always emulated her whenever they were out. What came natural to Alice was always an act for Lavender and she admired her friend for it.

Lord Derby only grunted something unintelligible. Lavender tried not to scowl at him. Instead, she stepped in between the two men, forcing more distance between them, and embraced her friend. "This is a wonderful party, Alice. You outdid yourself, as always."

"I would have done a far better job if I had known you were bringing a guest with you," Alice said, tucking a stray blond curl behind her ear. She was a gentle beauty, with large brown eyes, honey-blond hair, and a heart-shaped face. Lavender had once envied her beauty when she had been young and insecure. It had been hard being the plain friend standing next to a diamond.

"I wanted to surprise you," Lavender told her.

"And surprise me you did." Alice clapped her hands excitedly. "Let us sit and enjoy some tea, shall we? I would love to get to know you a little better, Lord Derby."

Thankfully, Alice walked off without giving Lord Derby a chance to respond. Lavender would hate to have to think of something else to say when he inevitably didn't. Colin lingered for a moment before he trailed after Alice as well, leaving Lavender and Lord Derby behind.

"Can you at least pretend like you want to be here?" Lavender whispered to him.

"You're lucky I am even here."

That response was enough to frighten Lavender.

Alice chose a small table that was able to seat the four of them along with two men Lavender didn't know. She made sure that they sat as far away from Colin as possible, not wanting to risk another awkward confrontation.

Introductions were passed around quickly, tea was shared, and it didn't take long for Lavender to realize that everyone was curious about the earl by her side. She'd expected as much, had prepared for it. She had not, however, prepared for the question surrounding his bruises.

He was standoffish. He was cold. And as the conversation wore on, he was truly getting on top of her nerves.

Lavender caught three confused glances from Alice who had to be bursting at the seams with the urge to ask why they were getting married. And Lavender didn't know what to say to her when the time came. Right now, she was beginning to wonder if it would be better to just end this engagement altogether and walk this path by herself.

Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, one of the men at the table—Mr. Henderson, Lavender believed—said, "Forgive me, my lord, but this has been bothering me for some time now. Do I know you from somewhere?"

Lord Derby barely glanced at him. His attention was focused on his third glass of wine, looking balefully at him as if he was wishing he had something stronger. "Is that so."

Sensing another horrible and uncomfortable conversation, Lavender jumped in. "Perhaps you mistake him for someone else, sir," she said with a lighthearted laugh. "Lord Derby is quite the recluse, you see. He does not partake in society very often."

"How did you meet then?" Colin asked. "If he is such a recluse."

Lavender tried not to scowl at him. If she didn't know any better, she would think he was purposely trying to uncover their ruse.

"A party, perhaps?" Alice offered. She must have sensed Lavender's hesitation.

To her surprise, Lord Derby scoffed. "I shall not be seen at such occasions under any circumstances. I have no interest in spending time with the ton."

"Is that so?" Mr. Henderson leaned closer, eyes glittering with intrigue. "But I know I must have seen you somewhere. I wonder where it is. It will bother me all evening if I do not figure it out."

"I'm sure he—"

"If you're so sure then there's only one possible place I can think of," Lord Derby said, cutting Lavender off .

"Oh?" Mr. Henderson perked up. "And where would that be?"

"The docks."

The other man blinked. Everyone else looked just as confused—and Colin was simply suspicious. Lavender debated cutting in and ending this before it got any further, not trusting where the earl was going with this.

"The docks?" Colin questioned. "What purpose would you have at the docks?"

"Are you involved with the shipping industry, perhaps?" Alice asked, sipping her tea daintily.

Lord Derby drained his glass and wrung his neck. "The docks is where I participate in prizefighting."