Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

London, England

“ M argaret? Margaret!” Evelina called as she entered the room.

Primly, as properly as she could, Margaret turned her head interestedly to her older sister and forced a smile, even if a smile was the last thing she felt like doing.

Elegantly, Evelina scurried forward between her guests in Margaret’s direction. Every now and then she was intercepted by a guest who wished her well, prompting Margaret to stand much longer with this forced smile in place than she would have liked.

It struck Margaret how well Evelina belonged in this environment. Since she had married Gabriel and become Duchess of Dunmore, Evelina had never been happier. Her elegant ways and manners fitted the room perfectly, and there was not a soul whose eyes did not light up when they looked at her.

Those same eyes when they turned on Margaret narrowed in suspicion.

Even now, Margaret was aware of a group of three ladies who had just arrived for the stay at Evelina’s house standing nearby. They shared sherries and looked at Margaret over the ornate glass rims with clear suspicion.

“There you are,” Evelina declared as she reached Margaret’s side. “What do you think?”

“Of what? Your party that is to last three days?” Margaret whispered, taking a quick sip of the sherry in her own grasp. “I think it three days too long.” Evelina giggled and tapped her on the wrist in reprimand.

“Such events as this are imperative now.” Evelina looped arms with her. “If we are to recover your reputation and introduce you to the ton in the best light, then this is an excellent start.”

“Is it?” Margaret said uncertainly, glancing back to the three young ladies who were plainly now whispering about her behind cupped hands.

The busy parlor did nothing to hide the suspicious glances. Just as it did little to hide the fact that more than one guest was seen stuffing a scandal sheet into their reticule or into a man’s jacket pocket.

I know what is in that scandal sheet. I have seen it all before.

Margaret swallowed around a lump in her throat.

There had been a time when the scandal sheets had talked about her with high praise, saying she was quite a desirable lady. A particular line came back to Margaret’s mind, printed after her debut.

‘…tall and slender, Lady Margaret has a beauty to her that few other ladies can hope to have. Green eyes and brown hair sit in a pretty face, and any eligible suitor will surely be flattered by her elegant manner and prim ways. Yes, Lady Margaret has come to impress the ton!’

That was not the way the sheets spoke of her now. The latest one that she saw stuffed hastily behind a cushion on a nearby rococo settee had been particularly scathing.

‘The Duchess of Dunmore must be particularly delighted to have left her father’s family behind. Having practically raised her younger sisters as a second mother, there is no doubting the Duchess’ fine virtues, but she has now left a family that is drowning without her.

‘One needs only to look at Lady Margaret’s threadbare clothes and the number of times her petticoat has been darned to know that their father does not have the money to cover his four remaining daughters’ dowries. Perhaps Lady Margaret offers up only herself in marriage? A poor prize indeed considering the latest scandal to her name!’

Margaret consciously adjusted the skirt of the pale blue gown she wore. It was true she had darned this dress many times before arriving at Evelina’s house today. It was even a gown she had worn to her debut, though she prayed none remembered it.

“Evelina, I thank you for your kindness, I truly do, but I am not convinced this is a wise idea.” Margaret gripped her sister’s arm tight and stopped her from walking any further into the room, for she feared Evelina had some plans to introduce her to others in the room. “You belong in this world now. It would be a greater kindness to leave you to this world and for me to leave, so I do not stain your reputation.”

Margaret turned to put down her sherry and leave, but Evelina was too fast. Expertly, Evelina had collected the glass and returned it to Margaret’s grasp, then shifted her to escort her around the room once again.

“You know I would never leave you alone in this world,” Evelina whispered protectively in her ear. “Have I not always vowed to protect you?”

“Dearest sister.” Margaret smiled indulgently at Evelina. “You have always taken care of all of us. Of me, Louise, Alexandra, and Penelope. Is it not high time that you looked to your own family and your own happiness? I daresay it’s high time we all stood on our own feet without relying on you.”

Evelina smiled, too. Since she had married Gabriel, there was no denying that much had changed in her life. She had a stepdaughter she was quite devoted to, Eliza, and judging by the small bump she was trying to hide with a large fitting gown, it would not be long before she had her own daughter to run around after, too.

“You have been the epitome of kindness to me,” Margaret assured her sister, “but you have done enough. Look to your family, and I…” She sighed, looking around the room. “I will look after myself from now on.”

It was plain in the way that Evelina chewed her lip that she was not fond of this thought.

“We are family. We always protect each other,” she said urgently, her pretty eyes downcast.

“Of course we do.” Margaret nodded in earnestness. “Yet I do not wish to be a burden.”

“You are never a burden!”

But Margaret could see she was. A fine lady dressed head to toe in lilac bustled over to congratulate Evelina on such a beautiful party, and how much she looked forward to the events over the coming days. The whole time she spoke, her gaze lingered on Margaret’s poor gown.

“The shooting party, oh yes, that should be a fine thing, and the piano recital, too,” the lady said, giggling with her double chin shaking like sausages that had been bound together. Her beady eyes looked down Margaret’s dress. “One has to wonder… have you been cautious enough with the guest list though, my dear Duchess? One would not blame you for being… choosy now that you have been elevated in this world.”

Margaret tried to walk away, but Eveline grasped her hand and pulled her back so swiftly that she was in danger of falling over.

“I invite the people that matter, Lady Sedgwick.”

“Ah, you are too good of heart.” Though it was said in a praising tone, Lady Sedgwick glowered down at Margaret’s dress.

Across the last couple of weeks, their father, Viscount Edlerglen, and his failing finances had graced the scandal sheets many times.

“If you would excuse me, I must introduce my sister to some gentlemen this evening.” Evelina tried to steer Margaret around Lady Sedgwick.

“Oh, you intend to see her married, do you? Well, yes, yes, of course. I daresay, pigs may fly yet!”

“That awful, horrible –” Margaret was hissing under her breath, though Evelina gripped her hand tight to stop her.

“I will deal with her.” But before Evelina could say anything to her, Lady Sedwick had wandered off, her great bulging form swaying side to side as she made her way to the three gossiping young ladies, no doubt to join their whispers and talk disdainfully of how the hem of Margaret’s gown was now an inch too short for her as she had mended it so many times.

“I daresay she is right,” Margaret murmured. “How am I ever supposed to marry now?” Evelina chewed her lip in response. “Let us face it. The dream of marrying for love is probably an impossible one.”

“Why is it? I married for love, why could you not?”

“Our reputations are a little different, sister, may I remind you?” Margaret whispered.

Evelina blushed pink but didn’t argue with her.

“Men do not care as much for finances and reputation as ladies insist they do. Men want other things.”

“Do they?” Margaret was a little suspicious of this insistence.

“They want good hearts. They want a woman who can make them smile. They desire kindness. All these things you have in abundance.”

“Just because you have a good man who will look past a poor father without two shillings to rub together, does not mean all men have such kindness in them,” Margaret reminded her, taking a rather large gulp of her sherry.

Evelina seemed to think the better of giving her such a glass and took it away swiftly.

“Enough of this. Come with me and I shall introduce you to many eligible gentlemen.”

“Poor things. I do not doubt they will run and hide the moment you say my name. Perhaps it would be kinder to introduce me to them tomorrow on your hunt? At least then they could go and hide in the woods. There aren’t so many hiding places here in your parlor.”

“Oh hush.” Though Evelina smiled at her jest all the same. “Come, these are the gentlemen I wish you to meet.”

Rather than introducing Margaret to the circle of gentlemen who were sharing a drink with Gabriel in the corner of the room, they stood at a distance as Evelina pointed out each one in turn.

“There’s Lord Featherington. A good man, if a little… older,” Evelina said uncertainly.

“He must be double our age at least,” Margaret muttered. Though his age was not so much her objection. She didn’t like the way he dominated the conversation, talking over any other man who endeavored to speak, even Gabriel, who seemed to find great amusement in this as he hid his smirk behind his port glass. “Arrogance is so desirable in a man.”

Evelina sniggered and covered it up with a cough when Gabriel looked their way with suspicion.

“There’s Mr. Kendrick, too. Now, he is a good man, a kind one, there is no denying that.” Evelina gestured to a shorter man, rather wiry in appearance, with a kindly face. Margaret smiled softly in the gentleman’s direction.

For all the kindness he may have possessed now, clearly, he took great pride in himself than to smile at a woman who had no money. Far from returning that smile, he looked away, scandalized, as if her look had burned him.

“A kind man can still value the worth of a good purse,” Margaret murmured.

“Hmm, that is unfortunate.” Evelina nodded, clearly having observed the awkward moment. “There is Lord Bates, too,” she gestured to another older man. “Though he would probably prefer the company of any man to a woman. There’s Mr. Urwin. Oh, he has enough money without needing a bride with a good dowry, so you do not need to worry about that. There’s Mr. Peters, too –”

“Pray sister, tell me something. Is every gentleman you invited to stay in your house on this little visit unattached and in need of a wife?” Margaret pinned her eyebrows together, knowingly.

“Perhaps.” Evelina took no great pains to hide her smile of mischief. “I see no reason to shy away from the fact you want a husband.”

“I need a husband,” Margaret muttered. There had been a time when she had dreamt about love, though that was long past. These days, she simply wanted a new life, a new home, with a man that could afford to look after her.

It was plain their father was running out of money so fast, that they could be homeless someday.

“Who else have you invited?”

“Well, there is one other gentleman. I do not know much about him. Others whisper about him, though I choose not to believe the rumors. After all, he is Gabriel’s friend, and if Gabriel likes him, he cannot be all bad.”

Margaret found this highly suspicious.

“Are you set to approve of people now just because your husband does? Did your own capacity for judgment disappear the day you were married?”

“Come, sister,” Evelina tutted. “That is not what I meant and you know it. I merely mean that there must be some goodness in his character, or surely the man would have no friends at all.”

“Who is this man you speak of?”

“The Duke of Thornfield,” Evelin said simply with a shrug. “Have you not heard of him?”

“I’ve read of him.” Margaret chewed her lip. His name was almost as often in the scandal sheets as her own had been, perhaps even more so. “ A cold shadow of a man, with a heart as black as ink. Isn’t that what the scandal sheets say?”

“And yes, because scandal sheets speak the truth, don’t they? You should know better than anyone.”

“Oh, I know.” Margaret shrugged off the matter. “Then tell me what you know of him?”

“I know him to be…” Evelina frowned. Clearly she was searching for something good to say about the man but struggled.

“Straining your brain?”

“I’ll get there, give me a minute.” Evelina smiled, emphasizing the jest, then flicked her fingers with delight. “I know him to be a loyal friend to Gabriel. He has been there for Gabriel in times of trouble.”

“And the rumors?” Margaret urged her on.

“Well…” Evelina looked most reluctant to share them, but in the end, they escaped her in a torrent. “They say he’s cold and distant for a reason. That he has no capacity for love. They say, too, that he bears scars, from what, no one knows. He meets few people, talks to even less, and keeps himself to himself. He lives like a shadow, as if he is no man at all.”

Margaret blinked when her sister had finished.

“Some rumors,” she murmured. “And where is this shadow of a man?”

“Well, I haven’t yet seen him here, oh…” Evelina broke off her, eyes on the doorway.

The footman was taking a tailcoat from someone, his face unseen for he still stood in the shadows of the hallway. As he stepped forward, into the candlelight, a hush fell over the room.

“There was one thing you forgot to mention about him, sister,” Margaret whispered as she watched the man appear.

Who would think a shadow so handsome?

The Duke of Thornfield was indeed a handsome man, though he wore it with a darkness in his features.

Chestnut brown hair was arranged perfectly, with no wisp out of place. He had neat sideburns but was otherwise clean shaven. Everything in his appearance was excessively neat, down to the black cravat and waistcoat. The square jaw gave way to angular cheekbones and a strong stare, though at this distance Margaret could not see his eye color.

He glowered back as everyone stared at him. As Gabriel hurried forward to greet him, it was if a spell had been broken over the room. Everyone went back to their conversation, though some now whispered more animatedly than before.

“I shall not introduce you to him,” Evelina declared with finality. “I do not think the Duke of Thornfield would make any lady a happy husband.”