Chapter 12

12

T wo men at once!

Tricia buried the papers in her valise.

In the adjacent bath chamber, Trudy was helping Katrina with her bath.

Tricia took the time to read another chapter of the sordid underground magazine.

But indeed, though she was intrigued by the story, nothing set her body on fire more than the thought of Thomas Jameson.

She escaped from him last evening—or should she say early this morning—when they returned in from their stroll. She ran from him, not allowing him to escort her to her chamber. That would of course have been highly improper. Not that she cared one way or the other, but he hadn't danced with her.

He had kissed her, told her he wanted to take her to bed, yet he hadn't danced with her. He danced with Sarah, and by his own admission nearly every other lady there. Granted, Tricia had been absent from the ballroom for quite some time, but did that matter?

Thomas was clearly attracted to her.

And when he kissed her…

Well, she had nothing to compare it with, but it was like heaven.

When Kat left the bath chamber clad in a dressing gown, Trudy curtsied politely. "My lady, the bath is ready for you now."

The bath chambers at the Ashford estate were nothing short of decadent. Running water and a clawfoot tub that could easily fit two people, and in a secluded cabinet, an actual toilet that flushed.

No need for chamber pots here at this estate.

Tricia, clad in her own silk robe, smiled. "Thank you kindly, Trudy."

"Will you be requiring my assistance?"

"I think I should like to relax a bit by myself. But thank you."

"Do hurry, Tricia," Kat said. "I for one cannot wait to go down to the ladies' lawn party."

Tricia was not the slightest bit interested in the lawn party. She wasn't even hungry and had no need to break her fast. The small plate she'd eaten in the kitchen after midnight last night was still holding her steady.

"It shall come soon, Kitty Kat." Tricia then excused herself and walked into the bath chamber. She removed her dressing gown and lowered herself into the steamy water. She had tossed and turned in her sleep, her body throbbing as she thought of the kisses she'd shared with Thomas.

Slowly, she slid her hands up over her naked breasts, lightly fingering each nipple.

The feeling sent a shock to her very core, and she closed her eyes, imagining Thomas's lips where her fingers were.

But something was missing.

Her inner thighs wanted to quiver, and that place between her legs felt so…so… empty .

She glanced at the closed door to the bath chamber.

Trudy wouldn't disturb her without knocking.

Tricia closed her eyes once again and, heeding Sarah's words, glided her fingers down her abdomen through her dark curls and in between her legs.

She found the magic button Sarah had described quickly, and just the slightest touch of her finger sent her into a flutter.

She whisked her hand away, embarrassment colliding through her.

She should not be thinking of such things, should not be doing such things. After all, Trudy and Kat were only a door away, getting ready for the party.

Which is what she should be doing.

She scrubbed her body with soap until she was clean. She scrubbed her face until it shone, and when she left the tub, she dried off on the fluffy bath towels before putting her robe back on.

When she left the bath chamber, Kat was dressed in a lovely light-pink day gown, her brown hair in curls around her shoulders.

"Oh, you look beautiful, Kitty Kat," Tricia said.

"I love this new dress that Rose bought me," Kat said.

Tricia smiled at her gorgeous sister. "It is perfect on you."

"What will you be wearing today, Tricia?" Kat asked.

"My light-blue lawn I think," Tricia said. She favored blue, of course, because it always drew attention to her eyes. They were a much darker blue than Cameron's, and everyone commented on them.

"I've got it all ready, my lady," Trudy said.

Tricia took a breath in as Trudy helped her into her corset.

Oh, would she ever get over detesting a corset?

"You look so beautiful," Kat said. "Your waist is so tiny."

Tricia let out a slightly choked laugh. "My waist isn't tiny. The corset just makes it so I can't breathe. Be glad you don't have to wear them yet, Kitty Kat."

"Will I someday look as beautiful as you do?"

Tricia gave her a smile. "You shall be prettier, Kitty Kat. You have a warm beauty about you that no one will be able to resist."

Kat twirled around in her new gown. "I don't know why you don't like pink, Tricia," she said. "I simply adore it."

"It clashes with my eyes, Kitty Kat. But not with your gentle brown ones."

She sucked in a breath again as Trudy tightened the strings even further.

Then she sat at the dressing table and Trudy brushed out her hair and styled it, pulling it off her shoulders and into a loose knot from which her dark curls fell about.

She assessed herself in the looking glass, pinched her cheeks to make them rosier, and at the risk of being vain, admired her large blue eyes and the long black lashes that fringed them.

"You are such a beauty, my lady," Trudy said.

"I do wish my lips were a touch darker," Tricia said. "Would I look like a strumpet if I used a bit of lip stain?"

Kat gasped. "No, Tricia. Don't!"

"Simply bite on your lips a bit, my lady," Trudy said. "Same as when you pinch your cheeks. The blood will flow through them and give them a bit more color."

Tricia did as Trudy bid, and she was pleasantly surprised that her maid was correct. Not only were her lips slightly darker, but also a touch fuller as well.

"Excellent trick, Trudy. Why have you not told me that one before?"

"You never asked about lip stain before." Trudy chuckled. "Your dear mother would have my head if I let you wear it."

Tricia didn't think her mother would have any problem with her wearing a bit of lip stain. Cameron, on the other hand, would not be happy about it.

She thought back to the ball the previous evening. Had she truly only danced with two men?

Hardly a good showing for the first ball of the season.

But then, the true festivities of the season would begin in earnest next month in London. That was where she needed to make a more elaborate showing if she wanted to attract the best suitors.

That's what she would have to do if she wanted Thomas to fall in love with her. She would have to show him what he was missing.

* * *

Tables draped in white linen stood under the shade of sprawling oaks, their surfaces graced with an array of delectable treats—delicate finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, and pastries that glistened under the soft sun. Ladies adorned in silk and lace fluttered from group to group, whispering secrets only the summer breeze could hear.

Tricia, clutching her fan, navigated through clusters of chatting women, each the center of her own small orbit. She overheard snippets of conversation—gossip about absent friends, the latest fashions from Paris, or the prospects of a suitable match—and she felt once again overwhelmed by the intricacies of high society.

At the far end of the lawn, the dowager countess presided over the festivities, her demeanor as regal as the pearls at her throat. The lady offered a gracious smile to each guest, her poise unfaltering, a beacon of the nobility's charm and confidence.

Goodness. If she were to actually marry Thomas, these would be her duties, as the lady of the manor.

The thought made her corset feel even more constricting.

Finally, she spotted Sarah talking with two other young ladies. One of them she recognized, Lavinia, daughter of Baron and Baroness Pokingham. She didn't know Lavinia personally, but the gossip was that she was not a nice person, that she would just as soon stab you in the back as look at you.

What on earth is Sarah doing with her? Tricia thought.

Tricia approached, looking around, but why was she looking? Was she hoping to catch a glimpse of Thomas? He certainly wouldn't be at a ladies' lawn party.

"Sarah," Tricia said as she approached them.

"Oh, Tricia, there you are." Sarah gave her a quick kiss on her cheek. "Do you know these lovelies? This is the Honorable Lavinia Pokingham and Miss Clarissa Smythe."

"Enchanting to meet you," she said, doing her best to actually sound enchanted.

Lavina fluttered her fan over her bosom that was a bit lacking. "Oh, you are the beauty they say you are."

Tricia's cheeks burned. "I'm sure I don't know who says that."

"Goodness, everyone. Weren't you the May Queen several years back in Bath?"

Now her cheeks burned even hotter. She was the May Queen before Cameron received his title. Perhaps the gossip about Lavinia was correct. She was not nice.

It was also not lost on her that it didn't take Lavinia long to bring up Tricia's lowborn status.

"Of course she was," Sarah said, smiling at Tricia. "Lady Patricia Price-Adams is easily the most beautiful woman this season."

Tricia forced a smile. "You're too kind to me, Sarah, when you know yourself that your red hair is the talk of the season. Have you ever seen hair quite as beautiful as hers, ladies?"

Lavinia, who was quite pretty despite her nasty personality, simply looked away.

But the other woman, Miss Smythe, smiled. "Indeed. I was just telling Sarah how envious I am." She frowned. "My hair is the bane of my existence."

"Whyever do you say that?" Tricia asked. "It's a lovely dark blond."

"But my tresses aren't nearly as thick as yours and Sarah's. And Sarah, the color is just so unique."

"Thank you so much for the compliment," Sarah said. "But I fear it's my complexion that is the bane of my existence. All these silly freckles, and I can't stay out in the sun for more than about thirty seconds before my cheeks burn."

"You're both absolutely gorgeous," Tricia said.

Lavinia was still looking away. But then she turned back. "Have you heard the latest gossip?"

Sarah and Clarissa both perked up at that.

Tricia did not smile.

She was sure she had been the subject of much of Lavinia's gossip in the past, especially when Cameron first received his earldom, which elevated their family from mere tenants on the Lybrook estate to members of the peerage.

A lady of the peerage would never be chosen May Queen at a pagan festival.

And Lavinia knew it.

Patricia examined Lavinia. She was beautiful in her own way. Pale blond hair and fair skin, bright blue eyes. But they lacked the depth of Sarah's or Clarissa's eyes. Or indeed even of her own.

Lavinia was long and lean. Small busted. Some men liked that, Tricia supposed. Tricia considered herself lucky to have inherited her mother's ample bosom.

She listened with only one ear as Lavinia chattered on about someone or something.

When she became bored, she excused herself discreetly, walking toward her mother and Kat, who were talking to the dowager countess herself.

"Why, Patricia," the dowager countess said. "How beautiful you look this morning."

"Thank you, my lady." Tricia curtsied. "You are looking lovely as ever."

Indeed, the countess was what Tricia's sister-in-law, Rose, would no doubt look like in the next few decades. While Thomas and Lily favored their late father, Rose favored her mother, Flora Jameson, who was blond and blue-eyed and simply beautiful.

"The countess has invited us to join her for tea this afternoon," Tricia's mother said.

"Of course we would be honored," Tricia said.

"And I'm invited too!" Katrina beamed.

"Oh, little Kat," Tricia said to her. "You are going to be the belle of the season in just a few short years."

"Won't she though?" The dowager countess agreed. "You are such a lovely thing."

Kat curtsied flawlessly. "You are very kind, my lady."

Lady Clementine smiled at her younger daughter. "We shouldn't take up any more time of yours, my lady," she said to the dowager countess. "I'm sure many of the other ladies here are waiting to pay their respects."

"Of course," the countess said. "Though I do enjoy talking to all of you. Rose just couldn't have made a better match than Cameron."

"You're very kind to say so," Lady Clementine said. "Of course we adore Rose just as much."

Tricia curtsied politely and then followed her mother and sister away from the dowager countess, resisting rolling her eyes.

She'd been taught from a young age by her mother, who was gentry born, how to address numbers of the peerage.

Still, though, it was all a complete bore to her. Of course she enjoyed the privileges that such membership provided. She now had everything she could want—a lovely wardrobe fashioned by the most sought-after modistes, enough money from her allowance to purchase whatever her heart desired, and even though, as a woman, she didn't have a title, she was now a lady of the peerage. And she was treated as such, even with all the gossip Lavinia and her followers spewed.

Although she loved Sarah dearly, she had no desire to return to her, as she was still with Lavinia and Clarissa.

So she found another group of ladies she had made acquaintance with in the past and walked toward them, forcing her smile to be bright and contagious.

All the time wishing she could leave the party and go back to the fourth floor of the mansion, where she and Thomas had almost…

She drew in a breath, willing her racing heart to calm.

Then she joined the ladies.