Chapter 4

Marie let out a shaky breath as she ran the necklace her mother had given her through her fingers. The night was beautiful as she stared up at the sky. One star in particular seemed to shine a little brighter than the rest.

Why can I never be that star?

She envied the star for being able to stand out against all the rest. She had tried so hard all of her life to become one of the brighter stars, but she seemed doomed to be one of the lesser ones, always fighting for a place amidst the more privileged people of the ton.

"What am I going to do?" she whispered into the evening air and lowered her gaze to the small garden and the back of their house.

The lodgings weren't anything to write home about. There were many much grander houses on the quiet London street, but it was far better than how she had grown up. The simple garden consisted of a patch of grass and a few rows of herbs and vegetables that she had managed to cultivate along with a single red rose bush.

Even the house was a quaint little cottage-style home with no leaks and cracks. The thatch roof kept the elements out and the fireplace warmed their bones.

"Marie! Tea is ready!" Elaine Webster called to her granddaughter through the open kitchen window.

"I'm coming, Grandma!" she called back and heaved another sigh. The cozy little life she had managed to create for them had all been thrown into question during one ill-fated ball.

Dominic Harding came to mind, causing her heart to skitter in her chest. Were her circumstances a joke to him? He had offered to marry her as if it were the most simple and natural thing in the world. Did he not realize that all she had worked for over the years was at stake?

The serious look in his eyes on the balcony crept into her heart, tugging on her resolve. Even she had to admit that an alliance with someone as powerful as he was would certainly be advantageous. But he was such a cold and difficult man. She thought of his coat that he'd placed around her shoulders.

He's a puzzling man.

It seemed as if he could blow hot and cold at a moment's notice. Someone like that would surely drive her up the walls if they ever got married.

She shook her head and pushed herself off of the wall, not wanting to keep her grandmother waiting after she had slaved over their evening tea.

The back door creaked open as she applied the smallest amount of pressure with her palm.

"There you are dear; I was beginning to wonder if you'd gotten lost out there." Her grandmother smiled at her from her seat at the kitchen table. She still looked good for her age despite the seventy-three years that had aged her body considerably. Her curly hair, which had once been blonde, was pinned tightly to her head beneath the red scarf that she used to keep everything in place.

"I was just catching my breath," Marie sighed and took her seat opposite her grandmother in the cramped kitchen.

Herbs hung from the rafters in bunches, and every available surface was occupied by some form of potted plant or pouch. Many women in London thought that Elaine had been a gypsy before she married, but that was a rumor to which she had never admitted. She certainly knew a thing or two and seemed to be able to predict things quite accurately, but that was neither here nor there where Marie was concerned.

"I wish you wouldn't worry so much about everything, child. I keep telling you that everything will work out just as it should." Elaine sighed heavily and smiled tiredly at her granddaughter, showing the deep lines around her thin lips.

"I wish I possessed your faith, Grandmamma, but I didn't seem to inherit that attribute." Marie lifted her cup of tea to her lips and instantly regretted the action.

"Something the matter?" Elaine's bright green eyes sparkled mischievously as she eyed her granddaughter.

"What did you put in my tea?" Marie swallowed reluctantly, allowing the bitter liquid to run down her throat. Now that she looked more carefully, the tea in her cup seemed to possess a green hue that had never been there before. She lifted the cup again and gave it a tentative sniff before wincing. Whatever had been added smelled like a punch of dried leaves mixed with twigs, dirt, and something else unmentionable with a hint of mushrooms.

Elaine's smile broadened. "Just a little something that I mixed for you this afternoon. It's good for fertility, you know." Her frail fingers wrapped around her cup, displaying the knots that had begun to form on her knuckles from age.

"I don't see how that is helpful. I am not married, so I cannot conceive children." Marie pushed the cup away from her and reached for a clean one on the tray.

"Oh, I don't know about that. Things can change in the blink of an eye. You never know what's waiting for you just around the corner." Her eyes twinkled mischievously as they always did when she was implying that she knew something that everyone else didn't.

Marie cleared her throat, trying to get rid of the taste before pouring herself a fresh cup from the pot. "You know this is why people think you are crazy. Saying and doing all these strange things makes people believe that you can tell the future."

"Perhaps I can. Have my methods not helped you in your matchmaking business?" Elaine's smile only broadened as she relaxed in her chair and smiled over the rim of her cup.

"Observing people has been a helpful little trick, Grandmamma, but I hardly think it will solve all of my problems." Marie began to feel drowsy as she sipped her tea and sat back, smiling gently at her grandmother's antics. There was so much she needed to figure out and even less time to do it.

"Perhaps, but I don't recall you having to try very hard. Discernment is a gift dear, whether you want to admit it or not." Elaine struggled a bit as she pushed herself up, placing her hands on her knees for support.

Taking a moment to observe her movements, Marie watched as the older woman made her way around the room, straining as she reached into a cabinet and retrieved a jar. "Are you in pain again?" she asked with concern as her grandmother struggled to open the jar before placing it on the table.

"No more than usual," Elaine replied with a tired smile before slumping heavily into her seat once again.

"We should see the doctor again. Perhaps there is something else he could give you." Marie kept her eyes on the swollen joints of her grandmother's knuckles before Elaine quickly hid them under the table.

"I know exactly what he will tell me—that I am getting old. There is nothing more than anyone can do for me, not even you, my dearest. We must all get old someday. My only wish is that you find someone and start a family. You're just like your mother with her sweet spirit; your children would be so blessed to have you raise them." Her eyes saddened as she spoke.

"You know that I don't want to get married, Grandmamma. I help people find love; it isn't meant for me." She stood with a tired sigh and walked to her grandmother, kissing her on top of the head before placing her arms gently around the woman's neck. "You are all the family I need. You and Janey… by the way, where is she?" Marie frowned when she realized that she hadn't seen her maid who lived in a room at the back of the house.

"Oh, you know Janey. She's out talking to all the maids and servants in London. She said not to wait for her as there was a rumor about one of the new debutants. The anxious Mama is thinking of seeking your services." Elaine patted Marie's arm affectionately as she filled her in.

Janey provided a useful service to Marie that she relied on to gain information about all her matches. Most members of the ton believed that one needed to attend balls and any social gatherings if you wanted the best gossip. Yet Marie had realized long ago that it was the servants who provided the best information about their employers. They saw and knew everything that went on behind closed doors before the scandal sheets even had a chance to catch wind of it.

The fact that Janey was a plain girl with mousy features provided her with a good disguise as she chattered away at markets and teashops.

"Before you go, I made a fresh batch for you." Elaine reached for her wrist and held her back before standing and retrieving a small glass vial from the shelf behind her head.

The amber liquid, which looked much more appetizing than her first cup of tea, shimmered in the flickering light of the candle.

"Be careful now; I made this batch a little more potent than the last. It should keep for quite some time." Her grandmother popped the lid off of the glass vial and dabbed a few drops behind Marie's ears. "There—now, you will smell irresistible to your future husband."

Marie smiled now, feeling amused by her grandmother's antics. "I hardly think that a few vanilla pods in the form of a potion will attract any men. Besides, I am not looking for a husband, Grandmamma. That fate is for the women who seek my services."

"You never know." Elaine winked at her before shooting her a cheeky grin.

She couldn't help but smile and shake her head as she left the kitchen and made her way to her chambers. Her grandmother was certainly eccentric.

"You smell good enough to eat," Dominic growled hungrily in her ear, cupping her breast through the fabric of her dress as she leaned back with her hands on the table in her office.

His hot breath tickled her skin deliciously as the pit of her stomach coiled with attraction.

"We must stop, Your Grace. Someone could walk in and catch us," Marie moaned deeply, enjoying the feel of his lips against her skin as he kissed his way down her neck.

"Let them see. There is no law against making love to my wife." His voice was more urgent now as he dragged his teeth along her collarbone, hungrily kissing a path down to her breasts.

Soft moans of pleasure escaped her lips as she gave herself over to his touches. The hot feelings he created between her thighs, traveled up her body, causing a visceral reaction that made her shiver with pleasure.

"I hope you taste as good as you smell…" Dominic grinned wolfishly at her before placing his hands on her hips and sliding her buttocks onto the desk. He wasted no time in pushing her skirts up before dipping his head between her thighs.

"Wait!" Marie woke up with a start, panting for breath as she blinked against the darkness that had engulfed her room. The dark blue drapes fluttered in the breeze as a storm raged on outside.

Sighing heavily, she swung her legs over the sides of the bed and stood, making her way across the room before shutting the window. The tiny bottle of vanilla her grandmother had given her glinted in the light of the full moon despite the rain that fell outside.

"Why am I dreaming of him?"