Chapter Two

A dam grinned. Mrs. Malcolm reminded him of his feisty sister Radiance, putting him in his place.

“Good day,” he said to her straight back. For answer, she began to play.

Time to visit with the Beasleys, he reminded himself and sprinted toward the drawing room, knowing he’d lingered too long with the governess.

Not good form, he muttered to himself.

In short order, he was seated opposite the two Beasley females, mother and daughter, drinking tea, eating biscuits, and enjoying the conversation, mostly because it had to do with Bath and his mother’s youthful mischief.

“I was happy for Caroline making a love match, despite the small scandal that ensued,” Lady Beasley said of the now Countess Diamond. “Unfortunately, she and your father made all our parents watch us far too closely.”

Adam had heard about his parents’ elopement. It took the pressure off the next generation of Diamonds to behave appropriately all the time since their parents had raced off to Gretna Green. Even his older sister Purity, whom they all considered the most proper primster, had eventually relaxed and fallen in love with a rakish baron.

“My parents are as much in love as ever. Mother says she will come visit you this fall if you wish,” he told Lady Beasley.

“I would like that very much. I shall write to her directly. And I hope your father will come as well. They haven’t been here together for years, and it would be such fun. The earl is rather a dash-fire man, as I recall.”

Adam coughed, having no opinion upon his father’s dash-fire. If it suited Geoffrey Diamond, then he would come. If not, he wouldn’t — that was, unless his wife wanted him to, in which case, Adam knew his father would do whatever his mother asked.

For his own part, Adam was ready to fall in love and take a wife. His parents and his older sisters had set fine examples, showing him only the best of happy companionship. While having had his fair share of females around him, thanks to four sisters who all had acquaintances of the fair sex, as well as friends at university who introduced him to their sisters, none had made him yearn to ask for their hand. Nor had the bevy of young ladies from London’s highest echelon, who were always happy to keep company with him because one day he would be the Earl Diamond.

That fact, although something for which he was immensely grateful, was the main reason he was temporarily residing in Bath. Too many females saw him as a title to be won. Sometimes, rather than deal with the fastidiously polite games of the sexes, he visited one of London’s exclusive high fliers. Those females were beautiful, clean, doused in the most expensive perfume, and extraordinarily talented. From them, he’d learned a lot about pleasing women and hoped to apply his lessons to a wife someday soon.

Lady Susanne might be a potential mate. Seated beside her mother, her posture erect, her movements graceful, she nodded and smiled. She’d poured his tea and handed him the saucer. She’d reached out not too far, merely far enough to offer him the platter of biscuits. Obviously, she had trained to be the perfect hostess.

He hadn’t thought too much about what it took to be the wife of a nobleman since all the women of his acquaintance had received similar training, but he imagined if he was with a female who wasn’t born and bred to the lifestyle, he would find her lacking.

“Will you be attending the assembly tomorrow evening?” Lady Beasley asked.

Her daughter’s gaze fixed upon Adam; her head tilted becomingly as they both awaited his response.

“I shall indeed,” he said, although he’d been looking forward to finding the mysterious lady from the street, and now he knew he wouldn’t see her there. “I have purchased a subscription for the Season and am looking forward to my first ball in Bath.”

“Your first, is it?” Lady Susanne said. “How fun! If you allow, then we shall introduce you to many nice people we know.”

“But none so nice nor so lovely as my Susanne,” Lady Beasley added.

This was familiar territory, a mother promoting her daughter to him. However, Adam didn’t mind in this case. After all, the family was known to his mother. They had welcomed him into their home. And Lady Susanne was, in fact, pretty and pleasant.

She was also offering to present him to others, an unusual offer. Most of the young ladies he met at assemblies became instantly proprietary. While they would chat with other females when alone, the moment he appeared, they pretended none of the others existed.

Lady Susanne even had the grace to blush at her mother’s boast.

“There are plenty of attractive ladies in Bath,” she went so far as to say. “My mother is biased for me and my sisters, and I love her dearly for that.”

He was touched. The Beasleys truly were quality people, as his mother had indicated.

After a few more minutes of idle chatter, he took his leave with the understanding he would see Lady Susanne and her chaperone at the ball. Once in the front hall again, he cocked an ear to listen but could no longer hear Mrs. Malcolm’s talented fingers.

A pity!

The day had flown by , and Alice stood dressed in a new burgundy-colored ballgown, purchased for her by Lady Beasley. As her employer had hoped, the dressmaker produced a suitable article, already made, which had needed the barest of attention to make it fit. Last year’s fashion, the woman had explained. It hadn’t been picked up by its intended owner and was then passed over as out of style for the current Season by the new crop of young ladies who wanted only the latest.

Alice intended to give it back to Lady Beasley afterward. While she knew her employer wouldn’t deduct the cost from her wages, she couldn’t accept it as a gift. Wherever would she wear it again? Perhaps in a couple years, Lady Susanne might wish to wear it if the style came back around.

In any case, Alice was happy the color wasn’t an insipid pastel since she was not a debutante by any stretch of the imagination. The only issue was the bodice, but there hadn’t been time to let it out by adding a panel of fabric under each of her arms.

Examining herself in the oval handheld looking glass in her third-floor chamber, she thought she spilled over a little too generously. Unfortunately, with nowhere for her breasts to go, they were pushed up and nearly out.

For the sake of modesty, Lady Beasley leant her a finely woven silk shawl in a pretty gray and rose paisley. This, Alice snatched off her bed and draped around her shoulders, and she intended to keep it there throughout the evening.

Downstairs, she wished she had access to a glass of wine to calm herself. And then decided she would “borrow” a few mouthfuls of sherry from the sideboard while she waited for Susanne. Lord and Lady Beasley had already left, and as the adult and chaperone, she decided it was her right to have a tipple, especially when she was doing them all a favor.

Downing it in two gulps, she heard Susanne upon the stairs. As the young lady entered the room, Alice gasped. Something inside her, a memory of looking similarly fresh and radiant, pinched painfully.

“You are breathtaking,” she told her. It wasn’t flummery, either. Susanne wore a pale lavender gown that complemented her brown hair, making it an even richer tone.

“Thank you. And you look very pretty, too,” Susanne returned.

Suddenly, however, Alice felt very old. Looking longingly at the sherry bottle, she wished she’d had a little more and now stood awkwardly with the glass in hand. Susanne’s eyes fixed upon it. Alice knew she ought to take it to the kitchen, wash it off, and return it. Instead, she set it back on the little tray beside the decanter. For now, they must be off.

“Let’s get you to the ball so you can dance the whole night through.”

“Perhaps I shall catch the eye of a gentleman or two,” Susanne said, turning before she noticed Alice squeeze her eyes shut a moment. That was the last thing Alice wished for the young lady. It was too easy to imagine this evening playing out as one fateful night had for her about four years earlier.

When they were settled in Lord Beasley’s second-best carriage, Alice decided to counsel her charge.

“You are young. Try not to rush into an attachment despite your mother’s wish for you to find a husband. Enjoy dancing and being adored. This is a wonderfully exciting time of your life, so I advise you not to do anything to hasten its end.”

Susanne, who was all eyes and ears at this unexpectedly solemn discussion, asked, “How do you mean?”

Alice would not explain her own personal disaster. Instead, she sighed.

“Do not become seriously attached to any man until...”

“Until what?” Susanne leaned forward.

Indeed! “I was going to say until you are certain of his intent and his character. But I suppose it is easy enough to be fooled as to both. Perhaps the best path is, as I said, to do nothing in haste. The truth reveals itself in time.”

Although Susanne nodded, Alice feared the young lady only thought her overly cautious and would pay her no heed.

The limestone, U-shaped building of the assembly rooms, located northeast of the famed residential Circus, between Bennett and Alfred Streets, were the main attraction in the fashionable, upper town. While the former lower assembly rooms had been beautiful for daily promenading on the stone walks and terraces and nightly dancing, most agreed the upper rooms to be superior. Still debated and discussed by the older generation, it was a moot point since the original lower rooms had burned thirty years earlier.

The Beasley family were already registered with the Master of Ceremonies, so Alice simply told them Lady Susanne had arrived, and they proceeded successfully into the main ballroom, easily one hundred feet from end to end.

Her charge clapped her hands once in excitement before visibly trying to comport herself with less enthusiasm and more aplomb. Alice hid a smile, letting Susanne lead the way. Her own task would be to remain close and take the measure of those who wished to dance with the lady, as well as keep track of whomsoever might wish to come calling in the days to come.

Her own mother had tackled a similar task when Alice flitted like a bee seeking nectar from flower to flower — and the flowers were dangerous gentlemen.

Not all of them, but the one who captured her certainly had been. And her mother had failed miserably in keeping her only daughter safe. Worse, she had contributed to her downfall, thinking it for her own good.

Alice shook her head, banishing thoughts of another time and place. Susanne was, in fact, practically buzzing as she strolled ahead, bathed in golden light under the five magnificent crystal chandeliers. She was like a bird, looking right to left until she spotted someone she knew. Two sisters from a neighboring household chatted with her briefly, then made it plain they wished for her to move on.

“They are usually so friendly,” Susanne complained as they strolled farther into the room.

“Tonight, you are competition. And standing next to them, your shine dims their own.”

Susanne’s head swiveled back as if expecting to see light shining from her friends.

“Lady Susanne, well met.” Lord Diamond was before them, appearing from a group of gentlemen standing separately, awaiting introductions.

They were like wolves in a pack, Alice thought bitterly. And this one was a particularly enticing wolf.

He appeared startled to see her. “Mrs. Malcolm,” he greeted with a nod.

“She is my chaperone tonight,” Susanne volunteered. “Wasn’t that kind of her? We even bought her a new dress.”

Alice cringed, feeling her cheeks warm. Susanne meant no harm, but it was mortifying nonetheless to sound like an employee, which she was, and a charity case, which she most definitely was not.

Lord Diamond’s eyes flickered over her from head to toe, but thankfully, he made no comment. If he had, she might have growled with irritation.

“It sounds as though you are going above and beyond to ensure Lady Susanne has a successful evening,” he said.

Alice thought that was well put, although she could have done without his impertinent perusal. In any case, it was time to do her duty.

“Do you wish to dance?” she asked him, and then remembered to add, “With Lady Susanne?”

He looked at Alice a long moment before turning his attention back to where it belonged.

“Indeed. May I have the honor of the next dance, my lady?”

Susanne’s cheeks instantly went red and a wide smile pushed them out to double their size. She looked like a lovely chipmunk.

Alice wished the girl would tamp down her emotions, at least not be quite so blatantly enthusiastic.

“Thank you, my lord. I would be pleased to do so.”

The evening was as long as Alice had assumed it would be, and Susanne was as successful as predicted. She was never in want of a partner. Moreover, Lord Diamond asked for and received a second dance. Perhaps she had already made a conquest.

Alice shivered at the notion of Susanne rushing into a marriage agreement. If Lord Diamond had tried for a third dance, Alice would have rebuffed him even though she and Susanne had assisted his entrance into Bath’s society by taking him around and introducing him to Susanne’s friends and acquaintances between dances.

Alice was proud of her, sure no other young lady would be so magnanimous.

Toward the end of the ball, in fact, Lord Diamond approached again despite Susanne being already partnered and waiting for the music to begin.

“You are too late,” Alice said, oddly pleased to thwart him. He was a tad too cocksure of himself. And why not? Like everyone else, she had heard of the Diamond earldom with its long bloodline and the current large, happy family.

“I didn’t come for Lady Susanne. I came to ask you if you wished to dance with me. I would be honored,” he said politely.

Her breath caught, and her heart raced at the unexpected invitation.

“Chaperones don’t dance,” she said at last, barely getting the whispery words out upon a rush of air.

He smiled. “Some don’t because they are ancient and incapable. You appear to be neither.”

“I have a job to do,” she reminded him a little sharply, having regained her poise and her tongue.

Glancing to where Susanne chatted with her partner, Lord Diamond shrugged.

“She will be safe enough on the dance floor. Even more so if you are dancing nearby.”

With that, he held out his hand.

Unable to think of an excuse and starting to feel foolish for protesting so vehemently, she placed her hand in his, unprepared for the shocking tingling that went through her.

Attributing it to how long it had been since she’d been touched by a man, she squared her shoulders and let him lead her to the floor. Whether by design or as happenstance, he took a place that wasn’t directly beside her charge. For that, she was grateful. Knowing Susanne’s spiritedness, the young lady would mostly likely have exclaimed with delight that her chaperone was dancing and wearing her new dress.

Silently, Alice faced him and curtsied, receiving his bow as the music began.

She had to stop herself from being taken back to the last time she’d danced. Focusing upon Lord Diamond, she thought him too good looking, too tall, too assured, and an excellent dancer. Perfect for Susanne if his nature matched his demeanor.

The music’s pace picked up. As they spun and turned together, Alice let a little ray of happiness seep between the cracks in her shell of disillusionment.

“You are an excellent dancer,” Lord Diamond said when they were halfway through.

“I love to dance,” Alice confessed, not knowing why she told him any such thing. It was true, though. She’d been the belle of many a London ball a few years back.

A question was in his eyes, and she knew what it was: When do governesses have the opportunity to dance?

Halfway through the polka, her foot caught on something. Shocked, she tripped and stumbled, having never done anything so mortifying upon the dance floor in her entire life.

“Your shawl,” Lord Diamond said, bending to retrieve it. Gallantly, he stuffed as much as he could into his pocket, and they caught up their steps with the other dancers.

However, her gladness had vanished like morning mist. She’d made a mistake, appearing dreadfully clumsy. And she’d done it in front of the most attractive man she’d ever met.

“Don’t worry about it, Mrs. Malcolm. No one even noticed,” he lied.

Men lied easily enough, especially if they were interested in getting something — or someone. When next she faced him, it was impossible not to see his gaze dip to her low and revealing décolletage.

And just like that, the dance had gone on far too long. Despite whatever disruption would occur, Alice had the urge to run away. She didn’t. Keeping her gaze fixed on a place over Lord Diamond’s shoulder, she continued.

As soon as the last note sounded, she wrenched her grasp free, gave him a hurried curtsy, and rushed to where he’d found her. She even beat Susanne back to their spot by the windows.

Watching Lord Diamond stroll away, probably relieved he hadn’t had to escort her any longer, Alice caught her breath and hopefully appeared composed when her charge rejoined her.

“Wasn’t that lovely?” Susanne asked. “I saw you on the floor, too. That dress is much prettier without Mother’s shawl. I don’t know why you wore it in the first place.”

The shawl! Lord Diamond was no longer in sight. He had probably forgotten it due to its lightweight silk weave. She had to retrieve it. Unlike the dress, she would undoubtedly be charged for the loss of the expensive item, brought all the way from India.

“Stay here, do not move. Do not speak with anyone. Do not dance either, unless you already know the gentleman.” Alice reconsidered. “No, not even then. I shall return anon. Please, please, Susanne, do as I say and remain rooted to this spot.”

“Of course. But where—?”

Alice dashed off into the throng in the direction he had taken.