Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

" A Mrs. Abbot and Lady Mullins have called to see you, my lady," Hadleigh said, appearing in the doorway of Cyn's office.

"Already? When is this going to stop?" she muttered, rising. "Can you not send them away, Hadleigh, stating I have a disease that has me lying feverish and near death?"

"I fear not, my lady, as they were most insistent that they have brought you a tonic for your chest, which is surely paining you due to your brief plunge into the Thames."

"Send Prue to deal with them," Cyn said, sounding testy to her own ears.

"She is gone from the house with the children, my lady. They have gone to the park along with Mr. Dildersdale. He is taking Miss Meg to paint leaves. Lord Lowell has a book, as he stated quite clearly that he is too old for such things."

"I would have accompanied them had they asked." Cyn sighed, and of course, she could not send her maid to deal with two of society's notorious gossips. "Their adventure sounds a great deal more exciting than mine is about to be. Make more tea, please, Hadleigh, and bring plenty of milk. We will prepare their cups lukewarm so they can drink it fast. And if there are any cakes left from two days ago that could be stale, bring those too."

Hadleigh bowed. "I will see to it at once," her unflappable butler said.

"They can wait," Cyn muttered, picking up the letter that had arrived this morning from Mary, who lived and worked at the Phoenix Agency she had started after Kenneth's death.

Last night a woman was found beaten and left for dead in Whitechapel. It's my belief she was one of their women, and she is the fourth in two months. When next you visit the agency, we should discuss this matter, my lady. I've attempted to find out where she is, but it is difficult, as no one will speak out against these men.

Cyn felt the familiar anger she experienced every time word came to her of a lady being hurt because of the life she was forced to live.

Rising, Cyn pushed aside the anger roiling around inside her. She'd go to the agency as soon as she'd dealt with her morning callers and speak to Mary. Hurrying to her room, she tidied her appearance and then made her way back down to the parlor Hadleigh would have put the guests in.

Exhaling at the door, she then pushed it open and entered.

"My dearest Lady Lowell." Mrs. Abbot rose and rushed to Cyn, with Lady Mullins on her heels. "How is it you are from your bed after such a terrifying ordeal just days ago?"

Her callers had spoken in much the same way over the last few days. All sympathizing insincerely over her harrowing experience and then attempting to coax her to tell them everything that was spoken between her and Lord Seddon.

"I have quite recovered, I assure you, but thank you for calling to check on me," Cyn said, waving them back to their seats. A loud meow preceded the family cat entering the room in the same way she did most things—with speed. The furry black beast then yowled loudly at her for no reason, as she did often, and wandered to where the ladies sat.

"No, Berry!" Cyn ordered. "The ladies have no wish for you to put hair over them."

Lady Mullins flapped her hands about, shooing the feline away. Berry stretched, digging her claws into the carpets, and after a yawn that suggested they bored her, she wandered to the windowsill to sit in the sun and clean herself.

"Excuse my cat's manners," Cyn said as Berry licked loudly.

"Quite all right," Mrs. Abbot said insincerely.

"We came, as it is our duty as your dearest friends to do so," Lady Mullins said, bringing the conversation back to the reason they had called.

They weren't her friends, and she rarely spoke to them at society functions, but she kept that thought to herself.

"You are too kind."

"To have run into Lord Seddon in such a way… why, it must have been distressing for you, considering," Lady Mullins cooed.

And so it begins.

The more she thought about that night, the more ashamed she'd become. Yes, Leo should have at least sent her a note, and at the time, he'd left her distraught and hurt because her future had supposedly been set as Lady Seddon. But not once had she considered how he and his family were suffering, as she'd been too consumed with her own grief.

"It was, of course, quite a to-do after you'd left," Mrs. Abbot said. "Baron Ellington was most vocal about seeing Lord Seddon again and?—"

"I have heard what happened, thank you," Cyn interrupted. She could only be so polite and had no wish to hear how Leo was insulted. Although she did like the part about the duchess stepping in to defend him.

"The Duchess of Raven and Lady Raine," Hadleigh said from the doorway.

Mrs. Abbott actually gasped, and Lady Mullins clutched her chest at the exalted company entering the room.

Both women were stunning with their dark locks and beautiful faces. Both had figures anyone would die for. The duchess had threads of silver now shot through her hair, which of course looked wonderful.

Cyn had overheard a group of women talking about her one evening and stating how unfair it was that those of Sinclair blood tended to age so well. She had to agree.

The duchess wore a deep red, and Lady Raine, emerald.

"Hello," the duchess said, coming to where Cyn now stood. "We heard you had been inundated with nosey morning callers and thought we'd join them."

"Exactly," Lady Raine said. "Can't abide gossips, personally, but what can you do in society? We're surrounded by them. Isn't that right, ladies?" she said to the two women who were still seated, open-mouthed. They both nodded.

"How are you?" The duchess gripped her hands.

She wasn't terribly close to many people. Letitia and Charles obviously, but after Leo had left, many had gossiped and pitied her. The duchess had not been one, and Lady Raine had not been in society.

"I am well, thank you, Duchess."

"I knew you would be. You're not someone who falls about the place like many. Now where is the tea?"

As if on cue, the door opened, and in walked Hadleigh with a laden tea tray. He lowered it to the table before the still silent Lady Mullins and Mrs. Abbot.

"I shall pour. Thank you, Hadleigh," Cyn said.

The butler left, closing the door behind him .

"It is a shame my brother Cambridge and the Duchess of Yardly are not present. We could have a literary saloon," the duchess said.

Cyn shuddered at the thought. Thus far, she'd avoided the infamous occasions by running the other way if she saw a group forming with the duchess in it.

"Lady Mullins, how is your husband's delicate condition?" Lady Raine asked, making the other woman choke on air.

Cyn busied herself pouring the tea while Lady Raine and the duchess proceeded to fire questions at the two women, who had just been doing exactly that to her. In that moment, she could have hugged them both.

"Mr. Bramstone Nightingale and Mrs. Ivy Nightingale," Hadleigh said from the doorway seconds later.

Dear Lord. Why had Leo's aunt and uncle called upon her?

"How wonderful to see you," the duchess said, rising. "We are having quite the tea party."

"And as Lady Mullins and Mrs. Abbot were just about to leave, there are enough seats for you both," Lady Raine said, giving the women a hard look.

"Oh… well, of course," Mrs. Abbot said, looking like she could think of nothing worse than leaving. But when you were in the company of two powerful, high-ranking women of nobility, you did not offend them.

"I hope your nephew has fared well, Mr. Nightingale," Lady Mullins said as she passed him on her way to the door.

"How incredibly kind of you to ask," Mrs. Nightingale said with a sweet smile that did not reach her eyes or her lips. "He is quite well and showing no ill effects, I assure you. We, of course, heard a few rumors that when he dived heroically into the Thames, some members of society were not polite to him. I know, of course, you ladies were not counted among those?"

The two women gobbled like turkeys briefly and then stammered out that of course they were not and would never do so.

"Excellent. Good day to you both." Ivy Nightingale then followed the two women to the door and shut it with a decisive snap behind them.

"Good riddance," the duchess said, dropping onto the sofa like Simon sometimes did, as if his limbs had given up working. "Can't abide those two gossip-mongering biddies." Berry took that moment to wander over and leap into her lap. "Well now, you are sweet," she said, uncaring that the animal was covering her in black fur.

"But they are simply two of many that walk among us," Lady Raine added.

"Yes, society is full of idiots," Ivy Nightingale agreed.

"We will not stay long, Lady Lowell," Bramstone said with a gentle smile. "We simply wished to enquire as to your health after falling into the Thames, my lady."

Cyn saw Leo in him. In his size and the shape of his eyes. Her eyes went to Ivy Nightingale. Where her husband was tall and broad shouldered, she was slender.

She knew little about Leo's family—only the gossip she had overheard. But she knew that the Nightingale siblings had left London with their aunt and uncle.

"I am well, thank you," Cyn said. "And your nephew? He is well also?" She had to ask. It would be rude if she didn't. But everyone in this room knew what lay between her and Leo. That was never in doubt, even as they were too polite to mention it.

"He is, thank you," Bramstone said. "My nephew has learned resilience, my lady, and, for the most part, can handle a great deal."

For the most part . What did that mean?

"It was a terrible time for you all," the duchess said, and there was only sincerity in her words .

Cyn did not want to give a damn about the man who had broken her heart, even if she had today realized she needed to forgive him and move on. But she could be curious about what had become of him, seeing as she noticed he was a vastly different person from the man she'd once known.

"Leo suffered, as they all did" was all Bramstone added.

"I can only imagine. Society is both wonderful and horrible," Lady Raine said, "and seeing as I was once a piano teacher who did not know she was, in fact, French nobility, I have had firsthand knowledge of just how malicious some of its members can be."

"And we are much happier for your entrance into our lives," Bramstone said graciously.

"Will you take tea?" Cyn asked them.

"We won't, thank you," Ivy said. "And we can see you are in excellent health, so we will bid you good day, as the children will create havoc if we do not return home soon and take them out."

"How many children do you have?" Cyn asked.

"Charlotte is ours, and then we have our nieces and nephews that we think of as ours too, and of course, Anna," Bramstone said, smiling down at his wife with so much love.

She'd never had that. Kenneth had cared for her and treated her well, but he had not loved her. Cyn knew there would be no grand passion in her future.

"Essie told me about Anna," Lady Raine said. "It is a wonderful thing you have done taking her into your lives."

The Nightingales smiled. "It is us who are blessed. She has brought us so much joy, and everyone loves her."

She wanted to ask who Anna was, as she knew all the Nightingale siblings' names, and she was not one of them.

"Good day to you all," Mrs. Nightingale said. "I hope we can meet again soon," she added, her eyes on Cyn.

"Well, that was wonderful," the duchess said after they had left. "They live in Crabbett Close, which is quite an amazing little street. The locals are colorful, and the entire place is like this little pocket of unusual in London. We have attended two weddings there now, and we are hopeful we will be invited to more."

"Crabbett Close is where the Nightingales live?" Cyn asked. "I've heard of it, because Simon and Meg have been there. I believe they go to the park and meet with friends."

"I wonder if they have met the younger Nightingales," Lady Raine mused.

Both women looked at Cyn then.

"What?"

"What happened between you and Lord Seddon did so many years ago, Cyn. You have both moved on, and perhaps this could be a way of showing society that," the duchess said.

"He doesn't walk in society."

"But if he wanted to, it would be less awkward if you and he were at least nodding acquaintances. Especially after what happened when he pulled you from the Thames."

Could they be ? Considering the grudge she'd harbored against him for years, the idea seemed a foreign concept to her.

"My husband said that we need the Nightingale family—all of them—back in society to raise the intelligence level of the ton," Lady Raine said. "Perhaps you could help with that?"

"I don't think so." Cyn bent to pick up Berry because she felt the need to hold the soft, heavy weight in her arms.

"He's no longer the spoiled man he was, as you are no longer the young lady you were," the duchess said. "And now that we have given you our sage advice and scared away your noisy morning callers, we shall leave also. But not until I hand you this, which was my real reason for calling. It was simply a bonus that we could scare away Lady Mullins and Mrs. Abbot." She handed over a thick plain white card embossed with gold.

"It is an invitation to my husband's charity ball. I expect you there."

"Of course."

"And this year our violinist cannot make it, so you will have to play," the duchess added. "And do not tell me you can't, because Kenneth may not have been an exuberant fellow, but he often talked about you playing that instrument."

Cyn sneezed at the thought.