He looked a little startled. “Lord Silverton, at your service. And I’m happy to show you London ways and prepare you for your audition tomorrow. We shall have lots of fun, Miss Hazlett; I promise you. I’m sure being new to London can be quite daunting, but it would be a pleasure to help you feel... less unworldly.”
“That is very kind of you, Lord Silverton,” Kitty said, liking his face, and deciding that being less unworldly would certainly be an advantage having failed to impress the one man who held the key to the future she desired—Mr. Lazarus. “Proceed to show me London, my Lord!” It was exciting she thought, though she’d have to prod him a little so she might recall where she’d heard his name, and she was still a little disappointed he wasn’t the fantastically handsome, raven-haired Lord Nash who’d shown such interest in her earlier.
The ride in Lord Silverton’s phaeton was an excitement in itself, and Kitty felt very grown-up and flamboyant as she held onto her bonnet and, at one point, Lord Silverton’s knee when rounding a particularly sharp corner.
“Got you, Miss Hazlett!” he cried over the sound of clopping hooves on cobblestones, as he threw his arm about her shoulders and literally saved her from being bounced onto the cobbles to a certain death.
By the time they drew to a halt outside the Tower of London Kitty was visibly shaking: from excitement, cold, and fearful exertion. Lord Silverton lifted her down from his sporting vehicle with a wry smile. “I fear I nearly frightened you to death, but it’s preparation for the amazing sights you are about to behold if this is your first time in London.” With a flourish, he signaled the great White Tower before them. “My favorite is Old Martin, gifted to King George from far across the sea, a place called Hudson Bay. And who is Old Martin, you ask? Why, a grizzly bear. And what is a grizzly bear? Take my arm, Miss Hazlett, and I will show you.”
It wasn’t long before any residual misery Kitty felt over her audition with Mr. Lazarus was swept away by wonder and amazement at seeing so many exotic creatures, some of which she’d never even heard about, much less seen.
Lord Silverton was a charming companion, allowing her plenty of time to marvel, if she chose. By late afternoon, Kitty had forgotten all her cares, and only felt a pang of her earlier dismay when she stopped to exclaim at how low the sun was in the sky.
“Time to move on to other entertainments, eh, Miss Hazlett?”
Kitty smiled at him. He really was rather charming, the way he quirked his mouth in that humorous manner he had, and his very blue eyes twinkled at her. And he did indeed cut a fashionable figure in his buckskin breeches, Hessians, and superbly cut blue superfine coat, which stretched across a well-built chest. His hair was fashionably cut, his brown curls slightly longer on top and brushed forward framing a high brow above a strong nose, high cheekbones delineated by a thin line of sideburn, and a very nice-looking mouth, though Kitty quickly looked away—quite surprised at herself—when that thought popped into her head.
“I really should be getting back to Mrs. Mobbs.” She glanced down at her pink and cream walking dress with its two rows of flounces, worried it might have become soiled when she had no choice but to get further wearings out of it before it was laundered. She doubted Mrs. Mobbs would be as assiduous as she was when it came to ensuring it received the care it required. With a pang, she thought of practical Lissa who didn’t worry about such things and who was no doubt industriously toiling away in some dark and dingy attic.
But just as she was starting to feel quite sentimental about the sister who was so different from her, they rounded a corner and almost collided with a couple, strolling arm in arm, the lady occasioning more astonishment and indeed fright in Kitty’s breast than any of the animals. For, lo and behold, it was the young woman she’d viewed so enviously from afar on so many occasions, her half-sister, Araminta.
Lord Silverton greeted the pair with surprise and pleasure. “Lady Debenham, what a pleasant surprise. You look blooming.” He nodded at the gentleman. “Debenham, it’s been a week you since you had the devil’s own luck playing Hazard at Lady Renton’s.”
Kitty was too busy to pay attention to how Lord Debenham responded. She was transfixed by the very large belly sported by the beautiful Araminta, at the same time as she suddenly realized where she’d heard Lord Silverton’s name. Good lord, he was the man she’d overheard Mr. Cranborne denounce as being so often in company with Lord Debenham and another man, Smythe, regarded by the Government as potential plotters. Traitors. She put her hand to her mouth to stifle her gasp as Lord Silverton said, “Allow me to introduce a young friend, Miss—”
“La Bijou,” Kitty blurted out hurriedly. “It’s my first visit to London, and his Lordship has kindly undertaken the task of showing me the sights.” She noticed the faintly derisive look Araminta sent her, though it appeared her sister did not recognize her. Nor would Kitty have expected her to, which was one of the reasons she despised her. Araminta was so self-absorbed, she’d never have noticed her sitting every Sunday in a pew farther back in the church than the district’s first family, Lord Partington, his wife and two daughters, vain, spoiled Araminta and her younger, plain and placid sister, Hetty.
Lord Silverton sent a faintly amused glance at Kitty before corroborating her new identity. “You will see much of Miss La Bijou in the future for she arrived yesterday with the sole purpose of taking London by storm.”
Kitty was unsure how to respond, but decided to stay silent in the face of Lord Debenham’s faintly snide laughter and Araminta’s raised eyebrow, which was accompanied by only the hint of a smile.
“So you are an actress, Miss La Bijou,” she said in tones of the greatest condescension. “Indeed, I shall look forward to seeing you on stage.” The way she said it, tugging at her husband’s sleeve as if it were now imperative to move away from the contamination of such a lowborn creature, sent the blood rushing to Kitty’s head together with a renewed determination that she would secure the prize role, and she would do whatever—save compromising her virtue—was necessary to do so. Perhaps the charming Lord Silverton would champion her, though it was worrying that he was obviously such a skilled actor to hide the fact he was a dastardly traitor to his country. The idea was horrifying and thrilling in equal measure. Kitty ought to despise a man who would compromise his own country however he exuded enormous charm. Yet, she determined with a burst of patriotic fervor, she would not be swayed from doing her duty, no matter how charming he was. If she stumbled upon evidence he was a traitor, she would immediately alert Mr. Cranborne, even if that did mean Lords Silverton and Debenham would rot in an English cell.
Though she’d much rather see that fate befall the latter. Kitty did not like Lord Debenham one bit. His eyes were cold, his mouth thin indicating a cruel character, and he appeared vain and arrogant, rather like his wife.
No, Kitty decided, the less she had to do with Araminta and her new husband, the better.
“Lady Debenham is very beautiful,” Kitty remarked, just to see what Lord Silverton would say, when they’d passed on. She picked up her skirts to avoid her lovely gown being ruined by the channels of dirty water that washed over the cobblestones from the rain earlier that day. For a moment, she’d been terrified Araminta would recognize it as hers. However, Kitty had trimmed it with contrasting ruffles and was wearing a pelisse and a bonnet festooned with flowers, so the ensemble would have looked very different to anything Araminta would have remembered.
Lady Debenham had also looked a trifle careworn, despite her beauty, Kitty reflected, and wondered how Araminta was coping during the latter stages of her pregnancy. She did not look the kind who would bear it very well at all.
“Lady Debenham is, I am afraid, rather too much hard work for a man of my tastes, though I’m sure she and Lord Debenham do very well together. No, I far prefer golden-haired beauties such as yourself.”
Kitty was interested by Lord Silverton’s ironic tone and surprised he would speak so bluntly to her. But then, he assumed she was sim
ply the lowborn young woman it had amused him to take on an afternoon jaunt. Which, of course, was true. No doubt he didn’t expect ever to see her again unless he came to throw flowers at her on stage.
This reminded her of the urgent need to repeat her audition for Mr. Lazarus, and she gripped Lord Silverton’s arm to draw his attention back from the pig that could apparently spell, though Kitty hadn’t seen evidence during the three minutes they’d been observing it.
“Please, Lord Silverton, what do you think Mr. Lazarus is looking for to cast me in the role of Juliet?” she asked. “When I met him at the theater in my village during their tour of the provinces, he said he felt in his bones I would be his next leading lady. He even said I looked perfect for the role of Juliet.”
Lord Silverton transferred his fixed attention from the pig that could spell to Kitty’s no-doubt anxious face. “Did you flatter him?”
“Flatter him?”
“Of course, every man loves to be flattered. Especially a man like Mr. Lazarus. You need to show enormous admiration for his theater skills and add to the cocktail a dose of personal flattery. He’s not getting any younger, but he wants to believe he is as handsome as he was when a young buck of thirty.”
“Is that what you like to hear, Lord Silverton?” Kitty asked with a flash of a smile.
“Oh, I don’t need your flattery, Kitty, and if you start now, I shall know not to believe it after this little lesson I’ve given you.” He patted her shoulder. “Besides, I’m only just past thirty, very handsome and athletic, so, in fact, in my prime. I fancy I am also too intelligent not to recognize false flattery, but Mr. Lazarus is an altogether different beast. I suggest you return to see him at the theater, looking suitably tragic and contrite. Ask if you can audition again because you’re heartbroken to have been so green as to have flubbed your first chance at what you’ve always desired...to be directed by the incomparable Mr. Lazarus, a theater director greater even than David Garrick.”
Kitty considered this as they left the spelling pig and wandered off to visit the tiger where she shrieked when it lunged at her, though it was of course repulsed by the bars of its cage.
“Do you think Mr. Lazarus will want to kiss me again?” she asked after a while.
“I expect so. That’s why he chose that passage from Romeo and Juliet.” Lord Silverton gave her a considered look as they were about to move on. “No doubt he wants to see if you are able to pretend to like being kissed by someone you hardly know. You will need to be very convincing if the audience is to believe you’d rather take your own life than be parted from your Romeo. Perhaps you’d like to practice with me later this evening.”
Kitty jerked her head up, shocked, to find he was grinning at her. He pinched her cheek. “I am joking, but I’m also quite happy to help you perfect this difficult role you must master if you are to secure Juliet from Mr. Lazarus.”
Kitty put her hand in the crook of the arm he offered. “I don’t know if I can do this...if I’m not in love,” she said doubtfully. She thought of the dashing young buck with his inky curls and blazing eyes who’d so flattered her earlier that morning and added softly, “Or, what if I am in love with another?”
He shrugged. “Well, I am in love with another, but sometimes kissing a stranger can be quite the antidote.” Almost distracted, he added as he assisted her over another channel of dirty water, “Well, that’s what one tries to believe.”
“You are in love with another? Oh, Lord Silverton, she would be so jealous if she saw you squiring me around.”
“Not at all. She’d be delighted since she was so very sorry to have hurt my feelings last night when she rejected my marriage proposal in favor of someone far inferior.”
Kitty saw he was trying to inject humor into his tone for she did not miss the bleak flare of his eyes. Despite being highly suspicious of him in view of what Mr. Cranborne had said, she felt a surge of sympathy. “I’m very sorry for it, Lord Silverton.”
“It’s an episode relegated to the past, and now you are here to help take my mind off my pain. What do you say to a night of dancing?” Suddenly, he was all exuberance as he took her hand and whisked her back toward the Tower entrance.
“But what about my landlady?”
“When I escort you back, I’ll have a more than adequate excuse and a few pennies to take the edge off her anger. But first, we must have some dinner. Come, Miss La Bijou. If we are both bearing broken hearts, then we must console one another, and tomorrow you will prove your worth to Mr. Lazarus. What do you say to such a proposal?”
Chapter Four
Kitty had never been dancing before. Not even to the Assembly balls held in the village. Her mother had kept her daughters close, perhaps wanting to shield them from the whispers. Kitty realized the plan had always been for Lissa to find a post as a governess, Ned to be apprenticed to some worthy occupation—boys were not so damaged by the stain of bastardy—but Kitty, despite her love of adventure, was expected to stay at home to help her mother.
Clasped in Lord Silverton’s arms, she once again felt pangs about abandoning her mother as she skirted the dance floor of the insalubrious salon above a row of unprepossessing shopfronts. This was a place, she supposed, where young bucks could take their fancy pieces without demur. As for herself, Kitty didn’t expect to be recognized by anyone, and she assuaged her conscience with the knowledge she wasn’t doing anything wrong.
“Well, Kitty, how have you enjoyed your first night painting the town red, as they say?” Lord Silverton asked as he drove her back in his phaeton.
“You’ve shown me such wonderful things,” she whispered, raising her eyes to the clouds. “I never imagined having so much fun!”
“And more to be had.” They’d drawn up in front of a smart townhouse, and now he was jumping down before reaching up for her hand.
“But I need to go to Mrs. Mobbs’s. It’s late.” Suddenly, she felt nervous. “Where have you taken me?”
“For a snifter of brandy at my townhouse before I return you to your landlady’s premises. Didn’t I promise you I’d help you practice your lines?”
The prospect seemed enormously compromising. Kitty drew back from the hand he offered her. “Lord Silverton, I don’t want you to think that I...that I would do something unladylike.”
“Well, I certainly shan’t force you into doing anything unladylike. I won’t even make you do something you don’t want to do, but we had agreed that a little practice for your part of Juliet before you have Mr. Lazarus putting you through your paces might be in order.” He cocked his head, regarded her a moment then jumped back up beside her. “You’re right, though. You are an innocent, and I might turn into a rogue. I’ll take you home.”
But as he picked up the ribbons, Kitty saw the value in his argument and put her hand on his. “Stop. I shall come inside and we shall practice, yes indeed, but very quickly because I need a good night’s sleep, and I suppose it’s very wrong to be out and about with a gentleman besides.” She smoothed her skirts as she stood up. “Only certain adventuring women who are branded ladies of the night do such things, and I am by no means one of them. Though I suppose, who is to know what I get up to?”
“Indeed,” he agreed with a quirk of a brow as he helped her down, occasioning a quick clarification from Kitty.
“Not that I intend doing anything I ought not.”
“Of course not, as you have already made clear, Miss La Bijou. Now, isn’t it much warmer inside? Thank you, Garvey,” he added to the butler who was on hand to help divest them of their outerwear. “Two brandies in the drawing room, if you please.”
Kitty had never had more than a sip of medicinal brandy in her life, and after two snifters, she was feeling quite lightheaded and more than ready to step into her assigned role. Lord Silverton, with his handsome face and friendly, easy manner, was a much more welcome proposition than Mr. Lazarus to practice her lines.
“Fair Juliet, the time has come,” he said the moment she’
d put down her glass.
With a nervous smile, Kitty stood up full of expectation in the middle of the elegant Aubusson rug, surrounded by elegant Louis XIV chairs and handsome gold and purple curtains, which reminded her of the home her father and two half-sisters—the ones upon whom fortune smiled—lived. When Lord Silverton looked down at her with a very warm brown-eyed gaze, Kitty felt quite molten inside and had to remind herself that not only was she in love with another man, but that Lord Silverton was, more than likely, a villain. A very charming villain, but surely they were the worst? Besides, he’d just told her he was in love with a young lady who’d rejected him the night before. Knowing such a thing, how could she possibly trust him when he looked at her as if she were the most heavenly creature he’d ever set eyes upon, and when he took her into his arms and brought his mouth gently to hers, tickling her with the softest brush of his lips against hers before deepening the pressure? How could Kitty trust a man who made her legs feel suddenly like jelly, and who filled her head with wicked ideas totally foreign to her, but which she knew could never be indulged by a young lady of even tenuous respectability? This, she had to remind herself, was playacting.
His cheek was warm against hers as he paused, his right hand gently stroking her hair and twisting a tendril of it as they paused in the aftermath, Kitty to gather her wits and he to...think of the young lady who’d spurned him?
It did not matter. She stepped back as he nodded approvingly. “For a young lady in love with another lucky gentleman you’ve proved yourself a convincing actress. Well done, Miss La Bijou; you’d have convinced the most critical audience that you were ready to end your wretched existence if your father discovered what we’d been up to.” He cocked his head. “Hmmm. What would your father have done if he could see you now, Miss La Bijou?”
Kitty considered the question. “He’d be furious. Now, no more questions, please, Lord Silverton. I do not wish to speak of my father or my past. It’s the future that counts.”
Beyond Rubies (Daughters of Sin Book 4) Page 4
