A Lady for the Taking

by Bethany M. Sefchick

  Penny sighed, thankful that not everything about her true reason for being in London had been exposed just yet. “Does everyone here know about it?”

  Janie nodded. “Your uncle’s been asking for reports every few days lately. Cook don’t like it, of course. Neither do most of the rest of us, but Harris, the under-butler? He’s a right proper stickler he is. He’s sending off those reports to your uncle as fast as he can write them.”

  “And you?” Penny’s stomach sank into her toes. She would hate to think that this woman was betraying her as well.

  “And I think your uncle’s a tyrant,” Janie scoffed, clearly offended that Penny would think her capable of such betrayal. “He wants you to marry some stuffy old duke? Then he can bring his arse down here and see to the matter himself. Not leave you here alone with no chaperone and just the staff for company.” The maid winced. “Apologies, my lady. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  Penny let out a long breath along with a small chuckle. “No need for apologies, Janie. I am simply happy to know the truth. I had wondered…”

  “If there were spies here for your uncle?” The maid nodded and glanced around. “There are. But mostly only Harris. The rest are his errand boys.”

  “And the others?” Penny wasn’t quite sure she wanted to know.

  “Lord Telford isn’t exactly a generous employer,” Janie offered as she handed Penny her wrap. “Not to mention that when your uncle first came here to see about renting the house, he treated the staff something awful. Worse than dogs, if you can imagine.” Unfortunately, Penny could imagine. Uncle Charles was not exactly known for his kindness.

  “None of us will tell your uncle about your other gentleman friend,” the other woman rushed to assure Penny. “Most of the staff here know Mr. Greer and like him quite a lot. He helped Mrs. Rush, that’s Cook’s mam by the way, out of a bad spot a few years back. He did similar for Carter, the butler. They’re more loyal to him than some uppity toff from Cumbria who don’t know his arse from a hole in the ground. No one will say a word, so long as we’re careful to avoid Harris.”

  As these conversations went, Janie’s speech was rather inappropriate and extremely surprising, but Penny was grateful for the woman’s candor. “Thank you, Janie.” Once more, Penny squeezed the other woman’s hand as the carriage with her chaperone for the evening finally pulled up outside. “I appreciate this more than you could know.”

  “Just be well, my lady,” Janie urged as she assisted Penny to the door. “And enjoy yourself this evening. You deserve it.”

  Penny planned on doing exactly that and by the time the carriage rolled up to the entrance of Vauxhall, she had relaxed enough that she thought she might be able to finally enjoy herself. They were off to a pleasant enough start, as Lady Candlewood had stationed a footman at the garden entrance to escort Penny and Miss Bridget to the box once they arrived. That the footman and Mis Bridget seemed to already share an acquaintance was probably a bit more than a happy accident and the two were chatting eagerly with each other by the time the little group reached the private box the duke and duchess had reserved for the evening.

  “Miss Marshwood. How lovely of you to join us!” Lady Candlewood’s greeting was warm and welcoming, if not a little surprising, since as far as Penny knew, she had never been introduced to the esteemed Lady Eliza. “It is so wonderful to see you again!”

  Penny could do little more than blink at the other woman in confusion as the same footman escorted her into the private dinner box. “It is, ah, a pleasure to see you again, your grace.” She managed to dip into a rather awkward curtsey. “I really must thank you for the invitation. It was quite unexpected but very much appreciated.”

  Though Penny could not put her finger on exactly why, she had the distinct impression that she was currently playing a role in some sort of bizarre play that she had accidentally stumbled into without knowing it. Nothing about this evening made sense, especially as there was no sign of Harry. Then again, if the two of them were to keep their affair a secret, he wouldn’t necessarily be here, now would he? At least not where she could easily see him.

  The duchess waved a hand in the air. “It is my pleasure. Truly.” She gestured to where the Bloody Duke stood chatting – or perhaps glowering was a better choice of words – with Lord Radcliffe, Lord Breckenright and two men that Penny had never seen before but suspected were other lords in the duke’s circle of friends. “My husband does love Curiosities Night so very much and always wishes to share it with as many people as possible.”

  “I beg your pardon, your grace, but Curiosities Night?” Penny reached out a hand to steady herself on the edge of the box. All around her colors whirled and spun as people moved quickly through the growing darkness while torches and lanterns flickered, casting pools of soft light everywhere. It was enough to make one ready to cast up their accounts if one wasn’t careful.

  And Penny had already come to the conclusion that she had a problem with crowds, at least in some fashion, as they tended to make her a bit ill and light-headed. Especially lately.

  Lady Candlewood nodded quickly. “Curiosities Night.” She swept an arm to encompass the bizarre scene spread out before her. “Tonight is the night when every type of performer Vauxhall offers comes out to display their talents in a grand carnival of sorts. It is always so much fun and nearly everyone of note in the ton is here. Sometimes, the crush is so large you don’t even see everyone and you might be sitting right on top of them for all you know! Oh! And then there are the masks! I had nearly forgotten!”

  “Masks, your grace?” Penny felt her stomach begin to roil again as if she might truly be ill, but she had a feeling that this time, it was merely a case of the nerves.

  Reaching down beside her, Lady Candlewood produced two bejeweled masks. One was rather plain but the other was extremely elaborate and had been bedecked with feathers and glittering jewels that made it resemble a peacock’s plumage. Penny now saw several similarly colored masks in the crowd beyond the box and decided that must be the current fashion at the moment.

  “Yes! Masks!” Lady Candlewood handed the plain mask to Miss Bridget who was still preoccupied with the footman. “They are a staple of Curiosities Night. Everyone is wearing them. People always do! It is part of the fun, so that no one knows who is who, and everyone is free to partake in such scandalous events as watching the tightrope walker or the fire eater or even the Oriental dancers without being judged for indulging.” Looking around, Penny could see that nearly everyone around her was, indeed, wearing some sort of mask. Not just the peacock-hued ones she had noticed before, but others in pastel tones and still others that glittered and sparkled as if adorned with the finest rubies and diamonds. “I meant to send the masks over with the invitation this morning, but I forgot. Silly me.”

  Except that Penny once more had the impression that the duchess was anything but forgetful or silly, and that handing Penny the mask this evening in front of a crowd had been deliberate. Once more, she wondered if somehow Harry had uncovered her uncle’s plan and if this was all a part of some other plot that she knew nothing about.

  But no. That could not be. Harry was an honest man, almost exceedingly so, and if he knew about her uncle’s plan for revenge against Fullbridge, he would say something. Wouldn’t he? Or was he simply trying to get closer to her in order to thwart what he knew would likely be an attempt by her family to embarrass and humiliate the duke? Oh, drat it all! Penny had no idea what the truth was, but she wanted very much to believe that Harry had no idea what she was up to and that the duchess had simply forgotten the masks.

  Deciding she had no choice but to trust this woman – and Harry as well – Penny took the mask the duchess offered and once more dropped into a curtsey. “Thank you, your grace. I appreciate you thinking of me. I had no idea a mask was necessary.”

  Once more, Lady Candlewood waved off the praise. “Think nothing of it, my dear. And please! Cease with the ‘your grace’ and ‘Lady Candlewood�
�� nonsense. I am Eliza. Lady Eliza if you must. Those other titles make me feel so old and decrepit and I am hardly that. Not with such a rogue for a husband.”

  There was nothing old and decrepit about this woman, Penny decided. Not in the least. Like her friend Lady Julia – another duchess who seemingly hated the proprieties – this woman still shone like a diamond of the first water. She was elegant and poised, not to mention gracious, and Penny could very easily see how this woman had captured the Bloody Duke’s heart.

  Much like Lady Julia, Lady Eliza was the sort of woman Penny had always longed to be. Not wealthy necessarily, though that would be nice as well, but warm and welcoming and everything Society dictated that a lady should be, but not so high above everyone else as to be cruel and unfeeling. Lady Eliza was also everything Penny would never be, especially if she followed through with her uncle’s plans and wed Lord Fullbridge only to humiliate him in the end.

  For the first time since she had come to London, an anger welled up within Penny and she wanted to lash out – at her tyrant of an uncle, at her dead cousin Elizabeth who had been nothing more than a selfish ninny and at herself for becoming entangled in such a wretched plot. She could have run away. She could have secretly become a governess or a maid or a companion. But no. She had stayed with her uncle out of fear and a need for security and allowed herself to become trapped. Therefore, she was as much to blame for her situation as anyone.

  And it was time she began trying to find a way out. Before it truly was too late.

  Determined now, Penny straightened her spine and dipped her head, thinking that Lady Eliza would likely not appreciate another curtsey. From the tiny half-smile on the other woman’s face, she had guessed correctly.

  “Thank you, Lady Eliza. I appreciate the mask very much.” With Miss Bridget’s assistance, Penny quickly affixed the mask to her face and secured the ties tightly around her head. “I also thank you for the invitation. I am certain I will enjoy myself ever so much.”

  Once more, the duchess offered Penny a surprisingly serene and knowing smile. “I am certain you will, my dear.” Then she cocked her head to the side as if suddenly noticing someone standing behind Penny near the entrance to the box. “Oh, there you are. I had thought you weren’t coming.”

  “I would never wish to disappoint you, your grace.”

  Penny knew that voice and turned to find Harry, his face hidden by a simple black domino-style mask, standing at the box entrance. He looked different tonight. His clothes, though still in the mostly all-black that he favored was set off by an emerald green silk waistcoat, nearly the same color as at least part of her mask.

  His shoulders were somehow broader, as if his coat were cut just a little differently. He also looked extremely imposing, even though Harry had always been significantly taller than her, something she had noticed during their first encounter.

  “It is so good of you to come.” The duchess took Harry’s hands in hers and squeezed them in a rather intimate fashion, as if they were equals rather than of two different social classes. That was…peculiar. But not entirely unexpected, as Penny was quickly coming to learn.

  “As I said, I would never disappoint you, Izzy.” Harry bent down to kiss the back of Lady Candlewood’s hand, making Penny frown. Once more, she felt as if she had been dropped down into the middle of a play where she didn’t know the plot, the lines, or the characters but yet was expected to function as if she did. “I would also never wish to disappoint a lady as lovely and charming as Miss Marshwood.”

  Penny was about to utter some sort of likely inane reply but before she could, the duchess interrupted almost far too brightly. “Oh! Look! There is Lady Hallstone! I haven’t seen her in an age. I really must say hello.”

  Which was very odd, as Penny knew Lady Candlewood had spoken with Lady Hallstone just the other evening. She had seen them conversing. But again, before Penny could say anything, the duchess turned back to her and Harry.

  “Would you be a dear and please escort Miss Marshwood about the grounds?” Eliza asked as she picked up her own mask and quickly tied it around her head. Penny noted that it was not nearly as elaborate as the mask Penny herself now wore but still very pretty – and with all of the diamonds and rubies surrounding the eyeholes, probably worth a good deal more. “I had planned to take her myself but I really must speak with Diana. It is an urgent matter, I’m afraid.” Then, without waiting for an answer, Eliza was gone in a flash of scarlet silk, leaving Harry and Penny alone in the supper box.

  Or as alone as any two people could be in the middle of Vauxhall on Curiosities Night when the entire place was teeming with people of all social classes.

  “That was…” Penny began.

  “Very well done of Eliza,” Harry finished for her, a twinkle in his eyes once more. “I really must compliment her. She is far better at subterfuge than I initially gave her credit for. Then again, she is married to Nick and he does tend to rub off on people when he is not threatening to either shoot or disembowel them.” He offered Penny his arm. “Shall we?”

  Penny took Harry’s arm without thinking and he led her out of the box. Her head was spinning wildly. Shooting? Disemboweling? Surely not? Then again, with the Bloody Duke, anything was possible, she supposed.

  “I don’t understand.” Penny shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. “Actually, I don’t understand much of anything, I’m afraid. Including how either of us came to be here this evening.”

  Looking down at her, Harry beamed, his perfectly straight, white teeth – obviously a product of being raised in a duke’s household – gleaming in the darkness. “Well that, sweetheart, is easy to explain.”

  “It is?” She had no idea how.

  “It is,” he confirmed as he led her away from the box and the crowds of people, and down a much less crowded path. One that she hoped would offer them a bit of privacy. “After our morning, ah, encounter in the park, I wanted to see you again. Sooner rather than later, preferably. I hoped you felt the same.”

  Penny bit her lip again. She really needed to stop doing that. Especially around Harry who noticed far too much about her. “I did. I do. Very much.”

  “But we need to be discreet. That hasn’t changed.”

  “We do.” Hadn’t they just agreed on that this very morning?

  “So I asked Eliza to issue you an invitation to Vauxhall this evening, knowing very well that the place would be a crush of people wearing masks and that we could be seen together without anyone knowing for certain who we are. Or at least who I am.” He gestured to his evening clothes. “Black is every gentleman’s favorite, you know, and trussed up like this, we are all almost indistinguishable from one another and therefore easily confused. I could be anyone, really.” Then he eyed her appreciatively. “You, on the other hand, my dear, look like the true diamond that you are. Absolutely delectable, as well, if I may be so bold.”

  Penny had been about to ask Harry something about, well, she wasn’t quite certain any longer, though it probably had something to do with her still-lingering suspicion that he knew something of her uncle’s plans. However, the moment he complimented her so beautifully, she forgot all about her uncle, the plot against Fullbridge, and, in general, just about everything other than Harry’s delicious compliment.

  “I do? I am?” She found his words very difficult to believe, though she still very much wanted to believe them. They also made her just a touch fuzzy-feeling inside.

  “You do and you are.” Harry tucked Penny’s’ hand down further into the crook of his arm. “And I would also very much like to show you how delightful an evening here in Vauxhall can be. You’ve never attended the gardens, have you?”

  Penny shook her head as she allowed Harry to lead the way. “No, though I’ve always wanted to attend.” She didn’t mention that her uncle firmly believed that Lord Fullbridge would not be caught dead in such a place and had forbidden her from even setting so much as a toe inside of the pleasure gardens.


  A smile, one of Harry’s rare true smiles broke over his face. “Then allow me, my lady, to be your guide.”

  Again, the rational part of Penny’s mind screamed at her to say no. Even masked as they were, this was still a risk. What if Uncle Charles found out? Worse, what if he discovered that she was out with Harry and not the duke? Then her earlier anger returned and Penny decided that she had endured enough of living under her uncle’s tyrannical rules.

  She was never going to even meet Fullbridge, let alone have an opportunity to seduce him. The man wasn’t returning to London any time soon and she could hardly seek him out in the country. Her uncle’s plan was doomed to failure. Though he didn’t know that yet, which meant that she still had some measure of freedom. And she would spend that freedom in Harry’s company.

  Her last gift to herself before her world fell apart.

  She deserved this, didn’t she? Yes, she did, everything else be damned. In fact, Penny didn’t even care if Harry did know about her uncle’s plans and was simply using her to find out more about them. She enjoyed Harry’s company and the way he made her feel. For now, that was enough.

  “I would like that very much, kind sir.” Penny smiled up at Harry, careful not to use his Christian name.

  For despite everything, she was not stupid enough to believe that she was no longer being watched. Someone, somewhere who reported back to her uncle was usually always watching. And if they weren’t watching, a gossip rag was. If she wanted the most time possible with Harry, she needed to be careful. Not reckless.

  She should tell him the truth. She wanted to tell him the truth. About everything, including her uncle, Elizabeth, and Fullbridge.