Chapter 12

Alden had never been simultaneously soglad and so anxious to see Lady Gladys. His attention had been fully on Bernadette and the way she'd handled Phyllis so expertly, but the moment Lady Gladys entered his house and reassured everyone that all would be well now that she was there, Alden felt as though the real viper had entered his lair. And yet, she calmed his anxious guests immediately, restoring order to a situation that had grown volatile.

"Lady Madeline, how lovely to see you again," Lady Gladys greeted one of the middle-aged ladies who was cowering against the side of the grand staircase with her young, raven-haired daughter. "And you as well, Lady Wendine. You are looking fresh as a flower as always."

Lady Gladys moved deeper into the slowly relaxing throng of guests, the very picture of ease and grace.

"Lord Devon, you are looking as dashing as ever," she said to one of the young bucks who Alden was certain Bernadette hadn't invited. "How are you settling into your estate in Worthing?"

"Quite well, Lady Gladys," the young man said, taking Lady Gladys's hand and bowing over it with a mischievous look.

"Who is that woman and what is she doing?" Cedric murmured at Alden's side.

Alden hadn't noticed his cousin enter his house, much less make his way through the crowd to his side. Lawrence was with him as well, which meant the entire family, save Dunstan, was there to attend the ball and its festivities. He was glad to have reinforcements, especially now.

"That is Lady Gladys Minstead," Alden said in a low voice, knowing what his cousins' reactions would be.

"No!" Lawrence hissed. "Not that Lady Gladys."

"The one who threw you over for Edward Minstead?" Cedric asked, looking alarmed.

"The very one," Alden said gravely. "She still resides at Edward's estate down the hill."

"Lady Cosgrove, what a delight," Lady Gladys continued on, greeting Alden's guests as though she were the mistress of the house. "And this must be dear Tamsin. You've grown quite a bit, my dear."

"What would you like me to do?" Bernadette asked, moving closer to Alden once more. She still wore Phyllis around her shoulders, like a stole, as Lady Gladys's arrival had interrupted him in his attempts to take the snake from her.

Alden gave Bernadette his full attention at once. "First and foremost, Phyllis must be returned to the terrarium," he said, taking the snake from her shoulders at last. Bernadette looked relieved. "Then we must clear out the front hall and direct everyone to their guestrooms so that we can avoid a crush."

Bernadette nodded as if she agreed entirely. "Mr. Smythe," she called out to the butler, who was near enough to hear her as he attempted to herd the confused guests in the hall like sheep. "Please see to it that whichever guests have already been shown their rooms for the weekend gather in the rose garden for tea."

"Yes, my lady," Smythe answered her, looking relieved to be given an order.

"Mrs. Pettigrew?" Bernadette turned to where the housekeeper had arrived on the scene from the other end of the hall.

"Yes, my lady?"

"I know it is earlier than planned, but tea is required immediately," Bernadette said.

"Understood, my lady."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" the rather morose, dark-haired lady dressed all in black, who Alden assumed was one of Bernadette's dearest friends, asked.

"We need to take everyone out to the rose garden as swiftly as possible," Bernadette told her.

As if they were all commanders in the king's army, Bernadette and her friends went to work, along with Smythe, shuffling and directing the anxious crowd where they wanted them to go.

Alden stood and watched for a moment, his heart swelling with painful affection for Bernadette. How he wished that none of this were necessary and he could make Bernadette the mistress of his house and the queen of his heart immediately without any fuss. Instead, he was left standing in the hall holding a six-foot boa constrictor, his home filled with noise and fuss, as his guests eyed him dubiously and moved in the other direction.

It was more likely Phyllis they were eyeing dubiously, but it didn't matter either way to Alden.

"She is formidable," Cedric said, clapping a sympathetic hand on Alden's shoulder.

Alden sent him a regretful look, knowing Cedric would understand all that look implied.

"Lord Alden, it is so good to see you again," Lady Gladys said as she approached him. Approached him gingerly, eyeing Phyllis the entire time.

"Lady Gladys," Alden said, already feeling a headache forming behind his eyes at the woman's presence. Apparently, she had finished greeting his guests as if they were her own—although a great many of them were—and had come to begin whatever designs she had on him.

"What a startling crush you have on your hands this morning," she said, stopping close enough to converse with him, but far enough away to keep her distance from the snake. "Whoever planned these arrivals seems to be woefully incompetent."

And there it was. Alden was almost certain that Lady Gladys had orchestrated the mess they were dealing with now as a way to undermine Bernadette.

"A mere oversight of scheduling," Alden said with a shrug. Phyllis was restless in his arms, and he was losing patience himself, so he searched around until he spotted one of his trusted footman, arriving to help usher the guests around. "Anthony, could you take Phyllis back to the terrarium, please?"

"Yes, my lord," Anthony said. He shifted directions and came right away to take the snake without any qualms.

Alden was relieved once that was taken care of, but that relief only lasted a moment.

"Dearest Lord Alden, let me introduce you to some of your guests," Lady Gladys said, moving in as soon as the snake was gone to take his arm.

Alden sent a look to Cedric and Lawrence as Lady Gladys tugged him away—he had no idea where Waldorf had gone, but Waldorf always had had a way of disappearing when no one was watching him—and resigned himself to whatever Lady Gladys wanted of him.

"Allow me to introduce you to some of the fine young ladies that your planner has invited to your ball," Lady Gladys said, her words as sweet as honey and her eyes sharp with venom.

Alden needed to be introduced anyhow, so he smiled back and said, "Thank you, that would be useful."

The front hallway had already emptied quite a bit. The flow of guests who were not walking up the stairs, led by the footmen or some of the maids, was making its way down the western hall to the doorway letting out into the rose garden. Lady Gladys moved Alden slowly in that direction.

"My dearest Lord Alden, I would like you to meet Lady Madeline Frome and her daughter, Lady Wendine," Lady Gladys made the first introduction.

"How do you do?" Alden bowed graciously to the two women. He would have taken one of both of their hands, but Lady Gladys had such a grip on his arm that he doubted he would be able to break away from her if he tried.

"My lord," Lady Madeline curtsied as if he were the king. A terrified Lady Wendine did the same. "It is such a great honor to be invited into your home. Tales of your adventures abroad have entertained us many a cold winter's night."

"I am honored that you have heard anything about my expeditions at all," Alden said, feeling a bit better, knowing his reputation had preceded him and hoping that meant the terrarium and its inhabitants wouldn't come as too much of a surprise. "I have hopes of speaking to my guests about my years abroad and giving a tour of the terrarium, where the creatures I brought back to Wessex with me are housed."

Lady Madeline seemed to give a small shiver, but kept her smile. "That would be lovely," she said. "Would that not be lovely, Wendine?" She tugged on her daughter's arm.

Lady Wendine was clutching her mother as if she were a tree in a storm, but she managed a nod.

After a few more words, Lady Gladys pulled Alden on toward the hallway leading out to the garden. "Lady Wendine is terribly timid," she said quietly to Alden as they approached another pair of mother and daughter. "She has such a weak constitution as well. I am certain childbirth would not agree with her at all."

Alden frowned slightly at the grim appraisal, but he did not have time to question why Lady Gladys would say such a thing before they'd met the next ladies halfway down the hall.

"Lord Alden, might I introduce you to Lady Aubrey Cranbourne and her daughter, Lady Ursula?"

"How do you do?" Alden repeated his act of bowing to the two women and welcoming them to his home.

The conversation progressed nearly identically to the one with Lady Madeline and Lady Wendine. Lady Ursula turned out to be the more forward of the two women that time around, but the conversation was still short and perfunctory.

"Lady Ursula has a terrible temper," Lady Gladys whispered to Alden as they walked on. "She browbeats her mother so. If you ask me, Lady Aubrey is trying to palm the shrew off on someone else so that she might have peace in her own house at last."

Alden frowned again, particularly as Lady Gladys wore a bright smile the entire time she said disagreeable things about the ladies.

"And here we have Lady Olivia Blandford and her daughter, Lady Bianca," Lady Gladys went right into the next introduction, barely taking a breath.

The introductions were all the same, but the pattern that emerged that Alden truly noticed was everything Lady Gladys said once they'd moved on to the next guests.

"Lady Bianca is sweet but as vacant and vapid as a cloud. I do not think she even knows how to read."

"Lady Natalie is renowned for being two-faced. She has hardly any friends left, since she's cheated each one out of something or another."

"Lady Hermione is a lovely girl, but her cleanliness is wanting. She wears copious amounts of scent to cover up her own rancid one."

"Lady Ravenna is ravenous, as her name implies. She stuffs herself as if she is a bird to be roasted. She will not maintain her slim figure for much longer."

By the time they reached the rose garden and the assembly enjoying tea that was already there, Alden had a fair idea he knew what Lady Gladys was doing.

"Can you not say anything kind or flattering about any of the young ladies I might choose as my bride?" he asked, steering the two of them over to the side instead of diving right into the expectant throng of guests.

Lady Gladys put on a look of false surprise, batting her eyelashes in shock. "I cannot imagine what you mean. I am merely sharing important knowledge about each of your guests."

"You are making them all sound like three-day-old fish that Cook left in the sun," Alden muttered.

"If I have been harsh on any of the ladies, it is only because I care about you, Alden."

The moment Lady Gladys took the liberty of addressing him by his given name, Alden wrenched his arm away from her clutches.

Lady Gladys either did not notice the deliberate movement or chose not to acknowledge it. "I want only the very best for you, my friend," she said. "I know that I spoiled my chance of being the instrument of your lifelong happiness years ago, and that you will not consider me now, but I long only to make you happy. If it requires alerting you to bad choices you might make, then I will stop at nothing to be certain you do not make them."

Alden frowned, uncertain how to proceed. His basest instinct was to tell Lady Gladys precisely what he thought of her and to order her away from his home. But she had invited a great number of the guests who were milling about the garden, and who were still arriving. Questions would be raised, and potentially ill-feelings would cloud the events of the ball. That might reflect badly on Bernadette and impede any future business planning balls that she might wish to undertake.

He could not do anything to undermine Bernadette's future, and if allowing Lady Gladys to continue with whatever plot she had to make him change his mind about marrying would help Bernadette, he would keep the frustrating woman where she was.

No sooner had he thought of Bernadette than he spotted her near the other side of the rose garden.

His first thought was that she was resplendent in the sunshine. Her simple gown of pale yellow was a beautiful contrast to the somewhat overdone, garish garments of the ladies she was speaking with. She was one of the few ladies not shielding themselves from the sunshine with a parasol or a wide bonnet, but that only made her more alluring.

Bernadette had not covered her head and did not hold a parasol because she was moving too much, settling the groups of ladies, and a few of gentlemen who looked more like jaguars on the hunt for prey than party guests. Her efforts seemed tireless as she said a few words with a smile to one group of ladies, then stepped aside to direct one of the maids serving tea to an arrangement of chairs occupied by older ladies, who looked as though they'd desperately needed to sit down.

Bernadette was caring and competent. So much more than she had agreed to had just been thrown at her, and by all appearances, she was managing it all beautifully. Her friends were helping her, to be sure, but even they seemed to be taking their direction from Bernadette.

For the thousandth time in the last few weeks, Alden desperately wished there were a way to circumvent whatever sham of a marriage Bernadette's father had shackled her to so that he could make her his bride. He had held off taking any action aimed at Lord Hethersett, but now he felt like a fool for holding back. He would have to write to the man at once, explaining his feelings and?—

"Do you not think that would be best?" Lady Gladys asked by his side.

Alden only heard her because she'd stepped closer to him and attempted to slip her hand into the crook of his elbow once more. Her touch blasted his thoughts to bits.

He flinched away and asked, "I beg your pardon?"

Lady Gladys's expression was hard and cold, despite the smile she wore. "I said, do you not think it would be easier for you if you were to return to South America and your scientific endeavors? It is apparent to all that you do not enjoy this sort of entertainment in the least."

It was not what Alden expected her to say. He was certain Lady Gladys wished to nab him as her own, which would require him to remain in Wessex.

"My traveling days are behind me," he said. "While I would not rule out the possibility of another voyage of shorter duration, one designed to revisit the places I love, but for the sake of relaxation and not exploration, my duty is to Wessex and my family now."

"But you clearly love wild things and exotic locations," Lady Gladys said. "Would it not be more enjoyable for you to return to what you love? Perhaps after you've married to satisfy your uncle's wishes?"

Alden gazed out over the growing spread of guests taking tea. His eyes and his heart went straight to Bernadette, who was now laughing at something one of the young bucks had said.

Jealousy joined longing in his gut. Not because he thought Bernadette would be susceptible to any of the younger men's charms, but because he wanted to be the one making her laugh.

He could easily see Bernadette breathing in the crisp, salt air of the sea on a voyage across the Atlantic and into the Caribbean Sea. He could visualize her climbing through the verdant jungle with him, excited by the brightness of the flowers and curious about every new animal she encountered. He could also see her conversing freely and fairly with the local people, learning their customs and their cultures.

"You would, of course, leave whatever bride you choose behind to mind your estate," Lady Gladys said.

Alden dragged his eyes away from Bernadette to face her. He was no fool. He could see now why she'd made the suggestion. She was paving the way for a marriage between the two of them so that she might enjoy Lyndhurst Grove without him.

"I could never do that," he said, again considering how much damage it would cause to send Lady Gladys back to her own estate. "If I do find a bride this weekend, it will be for more reasons than to avoid my family's curse. I should very much like to find a wife who might share my interests and who would want to sail away with me."

Lady Gladys laughed, as if Alden's sincerest wishes were a joke. "I wish you all the best in that endeavor," she said, taking his arm again and not allowing him to avoid her this time. "Come. Let me introduce you to Lady Diana and her daughter, Lady Alyce. You would like Lady Alyce. It is rumored that she attempted to run away from her home with one of the family's footmen last year. I believe there was some attempt to marry the girl off to an acquaintance of her father's after the fact, though the necessity for that sort of hasty marriage was eliminated by nature."

Alden fought not to scowl at the cruel bit of gossip, as several of the ladies who Bernadette had invited were now watching his approach eagerly. Aside from the venomous intent of Lady Gladys's gossip, Alden felt sorrow for Lady Alyce, who might very well have fallen in love with someone, albeit someone unsuitable, and had her hopes and dreams ruined by her class.

He would not allow any more hopes and dreams to be ruined. Whether he ended up choosing a bride at the ball on the morrow or not, he would put all his efforts into ensuring that his guests enjoyed themselves to the fullest so that Bernadette's organizational services would be highly sought after throughout Wessex and the south of Britannia for years to come.