Chapter Thirty-Five

M eanwhile, Pippa and Isabel arrived at the seat of the Earl of Langley's estate in Mayfair.

"It's so nice of you to call on us," Violet said as she descended the stairs and spotted Pippa in the hall. She brushed her hair out of her face, and Pippa suppressed a chuckle. She knew now what Violet was likely doing upstairs with her husband. It warmed Pippa's heart because she was happy for Violet. She'd finally found someone who could distract her and help channel her energy.

But then Violet saw Isabel, and she froze.

Pippa looked at Violet and then at Isabel. Oh dear. Something was terribly amiss.

"Do you know one another?" Pippa asked, hoping that the mistake hadn't been hers, bringing these two women together.

"Why did you bring me here? You said we'd pay the Countess of Langley a visit," Isabel snarled.

Pippa's heart skipped a beat as she observed the intense gaze shared between Violet and Isabel. The air in the room grew thick with a palpable tension, an invisible barrier of resentment and hostility separating the two women. Their eyes, locked onto each other as if in a deadly duel, their cold stares as sharp and cutting as daggers. For a moment, Pippa saw not two refined ladies before her but two cats, their lithe bodies taut with anticipation, poised and ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

A wave of regret washed over her, a bitter taste of guilt staining the edges of her conscience. It was clear now —a mistake had been made. This meeting, this reunion apparently, orchestrated with such good intentions, had become a precarious dance of former enemies in an enclosed space. The realization hit Pippa like a violent gust of wind, knocking the breath out of her and setting her nerves on edge.

The butler withdrew, and three ladies were left in the great hall of the Earl of Langley's elegant house. Pippa had forgotten how this was, for it had been so much easier to spend time with Nick, his sister Wendy, and the other doctors on Harley Street, where societal rules and etiquette didn't play such a significant role.

This was different. She was a duke's daughter, standing in the house of a countess, and she'd brought another duke's daughter along.

"Why is she here?" Violet asked with such a calm tone that the touch of her voice sent a chill down Pippa's spine. This was the Violet Pippa remembered. She thought the Earl of Langley had thawed her, but clearly, the old Violet hadn't melted away completely.

"I'm here, I'm here," came a man's voice from the staircase.

Descending the grand staircase came the gallant earl, commanding the room's attention like a beacon of power and authority. Impeccably dressed in another one of his finely tailored waistcoats, the earl's slender fingers worked meticulously at the buttons, ensuring each was fastened precisely. His cravat, a neat arrangement of crisp white linen, was adjusted with a nonchalant tug as he aimed for perfection without seeming overly concerned about it.

"Lady Pemberton, what a pleasure to see you so early in the morning."

"It's eleven o'clock, my lord," Pippa said as she curtsied.

"Oh, that's true." The earl rubbed the back of his head as his eye trailed over a large wall clock with hands of polished brass that danced to the rhythm of time and echoed the heartbeat of the house. Tick, tock.

The earl cast his young wife a smitten look. Then a dreamy gaze washed over his face that made him seem rather rakish and reminded Pippa of the reputation he'd been notorious for until just about a few months ago when Violet tamed him.

Yes, that was the term. She'd tamed him, but it didn't seem he'd been able to do the same to her yet.

"You look completely recovered, my lord." Pippa ventured to break the awkward silence.

"I am well, thank you for asking."

Isabel came up from a deep curtsy as the earl extended his hand to kiss her on the knuckles. "It's a pleasure to make the acquaintance of your guest, Lady Pemberton."

"This is Lady Isabel Ellington," Pippa said, purposefully avoiding Violet's poisonous gaze. "Her husband is currently undergoing surgery, and it is my duty to distract her this morning."

"The same as I had?" the earl asked Pippa, but he didn't wait for a response. "You should know, Lady Pemberton, I saw an excellent oculist and eye surgeon, Dr. Nick Folsham. Without him, I would nearly be blind and unable to see my beautiful wife every morning." The earl was still smooth with the ladies and apparently felt quite like a rooster among his nest of chickens with Violet, Pippa, and Isabel nearby. Or he would have, if Violet hadn't coughed a "shut up" and startled him.

"Am I missing something here?" The earl signaled for everyone to enter the salon, the second door down the hall.

"She's just tense because her husband has gone under the knife today," Violet said with the catty smile Pippa hadn't seen on her since she got married. "Isn't that right, Lady Ellington?"

Isabel sneered, and her eyes grew narrow like slits. "You are incorrect. Violet ." Pippa could tell by Isabella's icy tone that she was deliberately ignoring Violet's status as countess. And she could. She outranked her.

"You two know each other?" The earl sat down, and a footman began to pour tea.

"My lord, it appears that I just found out that Violet and the Countess of Langley were the same individual. If I had known, I would have dissuaded Lady Penelope from intruding upon your home." Isabella sank into a chair, every inch of her a duchess in a snit of some kind. Pippa was impressed. If only she'd done that to Six from the beginning, instead of attempting to torment her with stinging insects, perhaps things would be different now.

"What am I missing here?" the earl now asked in a low voice. All niceties aside, it was time to speak frankly.

"Pippa brought Isabel Franklin here. I thought she was in Cornwall for good," Violet said as she spooned three cubes of sugar into her cup.

"Because you wanted to ensure I remained there, didn't you?" Isabel snarled, holding the cup and saucer on her lap like a weapon, probably ready to fling the hot liquid in Violet's face if she dared speak out of turn.

"What does Violet have to do with you moving to Cornwall?" Pippa asked. It seemed that only she and the earl weren't privy to the back story that Isabel and Violet had shared.

"Violet and her mother paid my parents a visit the week before I was supposed to make my debut."

"So, you came out together?" the earl asked. "How is it possible that we have never met?"

"Ask your wife, my lord. She didn't want my visage to taint the splendor of her debut," Isabel said with a wobble in her voice.

"That's not how it was, Isabel. My mother spread that rumor along with others as she always did," Violet protested.

"How convenient to point a finger at your own mother. Shall I do the same?" Isabel fumed.

"Your mother?" Violet jerked her head back. "I never spoke to her. She asked my mother for advice to spare you the embarrassment of a debut."

Isabel blinked incredulously. "Are you trying to tell me that my mother asked yours for help to send me away before my debut?"

"It seems so. I didn't expect you not to come to your own opening ball; it came as a surprise to me. But you disappeared from Society, and then I heard a few years later that you'd married."

"You were surprised that a man wanted me, weren't you?" Isabel's hurt pierced her voice.

"No, that's not what I meant. I hadn't heard from you, so the news of your betrothal was surprising. That's all."

Isabel clanked the teacup on the table and rose, addressing the earl as she turned to make her way out. "I apologize, my lord, I have taken up too much of your hospitality already."

Pippa followed Isabel out the door, down the steps, and onto the street. "Wait, Isabel!"

Tears ran down Isabel's cheeks, and she stormed down the street, holding her bonnet tightly over her face just beneath her eyes as if she tried to hide it.

But before the end of the block, Pippa had caught up with her. "I'm sorry, it was a terrible idea! I thought Violet could help you, and I just made it all worse!" Pippa's voice shook with horror. It was all her fault to make Isabel feel so bad.

"Lady Pemberton!" sounded behind them, and they turned to see the earl emerging from his house. He looked back and forth, up and down the sidewalk, and then spotted them. "Lady Pemberton! Please! Wait!"

"Let me go!" Isabel withdrew her hand, and Pippa reached for it again. "I have to go away."

"Don't go to him!" the earl said when he reached them on the sidewalk. "Please don't go to your husband today. Take it from a man who has undergone this surgery. We don't want to be seen by anyone, especially not our wives." Pippa blinked up at the earl, usually the epitome of grace. But right now, he looked like a disheveled man in the wind, furrowing his brows. "Please let him heal and save face."

Isabel stilled, dropped her arm, and pinched her mouth shut. But she didn't keep walking—at least that was good.

"Lady Ellington, I implore you to consider my words. When Violet's father permitted me to court her, she sniffed at me as if I was of no consequence. It seems that she needs no introduction as you attended school together?"

"She told you?"

"Only this much, but I can imagine the rest." He inclined his head as if he knew what it felt like to be a victim of Violet's scorn.

"It is I who must save face, my lord." Isabel sniffled and then lifted her head and nose in the air. "I'm going to return to the country."

"But Lance needs you here!" Pippa protested.

Both Isabel and the earl looked at her as if she'd sprouted horns. "He will not want to see me…" Isabel's voice failed her. Then she grimaced and made a terrible face that broke Pippa's heart. "I'm such a bad and shallow person; I don't deserve Lance."

"Isabel! Why would you say such a thing?"

"Because His Grace said Lance might be embarrassed, but it is I who only think of my vanity. I want to run away from my husband because I'm ashamed that he'll see my face. I should have considered his feelings, and I was too vain even to contemplate it. I'm as ugly on the inside as I am on the outside."

You're not ugly at all, was what Pippa hoped the earl would say but he just stood there with horror on his face. A perfect match for Violet.

"Lady Ellington, you mustn't leave your husband on the day of or after his surgery." The earl spoke matter-of-factly. "If there is anything I know as a man, it is likely that he underwent the procedure precisely because he wished to see you."

"And when he does, he will no longer love me," Isabel wailed.

"No, no. That's just not how love works. Nobody falls out of love like that and especially not for a little blemish. Look at me, I had no chance with Violet. She gave me the same condescending look she gave you today. When I saw that expression on her face, I knew something was amiss and that you'd had the pleasure of being more closely acquainted with my wife."

Pippa couldn't believe her ears. The tall and handsome earl had been on the receiving end of Violet's scorn, and he married her regardless? Loved her? How un-aristocratic of him!

"Yes, what a pleasure!" Isabel's tone was sarcastic with an undercurrent of deep hurt. "If she and her mother hadn't told my parents that I'd bring shame on the ball's debutantes, they wouldn't have sent me away."

"But isn't that how you met Lance?" Pippa asked, trying to help the situation, but there was something bubbling between the earl and Isabel as if they shared a bond from being Violet's victims.

"It is but that's not the point."

"I'm sure Violet didn't mean anything by it, Lady Ellington."

"How can you say that? She's vicious and superficial. Anyone who doesn't fit her image of perfect beauty and immaculate composure is ousted from society." Isabel could barely contain her shrill voice, vexed by Violet's actions from years ago.

"I know, but it's not that simple." The earl was undeterred in his honesty but looked flushed and embarrassed to bare his feelings to two ladies on the sidewalk. "See, I was a glutton when I first returned from St. Petersburg. I had bedded women in almost every court in Europe and shared more than a few whiskeys with the peers of various realms. It took a toll on my health, and it showed." Isabel crossed her arms in front of her chest and quirked a brow, but he continued. "I came back and sought out the dentist first." He opened his mouth wide, and Isabel looked away like a dutiful lady. It was unseemly to stare an earl in the mouth. But Pippa looked and saw all of his back teeth, full of gold. The rest were bright white.

"Did Felix do that?" Pippa asked.

"Yes, he's my dentist. And I'm glad for it. If it weren't for him, I'd be in terrible pain or even worse, toothless. Thanks to him, I am donning gold fillings and inlays, but I can smile at my dear wife and will be able to for many years to come."

"Dear wife," Isabel snuffed.

"Yes, indeed. If she hadn't made it so difficult for me to court her, I wouldn't have been able to gather the strength for these improvements. Who knows where I'd be or with whom?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I didn't see well because I developed cataracts at age twenty-nine. A side effect of heavy drinking. My connections are glorious and well-known, but they came at a cost. You learn more about diplomacy over a glass of whisky than in hours of debate."

"So, Nick—"

"Yes, and there's a bit more help from Mister Alfie Collins, but the point is that Violet has an unwavering sense of niveau . She made me work to reclaim it, and when I did, she opened her heart to me."

"And her legs," Pippa whispered but the earl heard.

"I heard that. It's true. And I'm proud to say that I bring my wife much pleasure now. Is that implausible?"

"No," Pippa mumbled. However, she didn't particularly want Violet to have much pleasure right now after she'd made Isabel cry like that. And she too had suffered at Violet's hand. The name "clumsy goose," for example, rang out in her mind.

Beside her, Isabel tossed her head. "What does it have to do with me?"

"What I'm trying to tell you—not well, I'm afraid—is that you need to embrace your flaws, Lady Ellington. I won't lie to you and pretend that I cannot see the blemish in your face because I won't insult your intelligence. But I've learned that one mustn't be defeated by the cards we're dealt. Sometimes, we must shuffle them around and still get a flush."

With these words, he extended his arm to Isabel and waited.

She hesitated momentarily but then laid her arm in his and followed him back into the house.