The Duke Conspiracy (6 page)

“What a shame,” Elizabeth answered briefly
before turning her attention back to Lord Edgecombe. “Have you ever
visited Vienna? I must admit I am a little envious of my dear
friend as I have really been nowhere.”

Rose nearly rolled her eyes as the young
viscount hastened to reassure Elizabeth. “But my lady, that is not
the case. You have been to London and really that is all that
matters. It is true that I have seen a little more of the world
than you, having made the Grand Tour with my tutor after I finished
school, but there is nowhere finer than our fair country, and the
greatest city in the world is our very own London.”

Lady Yorkleigh had remained with the small
group during this exchange and she stepped into the conversation at
this point. “Your patriotic loyalty is to be commended, my lord. It
is a shame the prince is not here to hear your words. He would no
doubt be heartened by them. Now if you gentlemen will excuse us, I
would like to bear off my friends to introduce them to a few of my
other guests.”

With those words the countess swept Elizabeth
and Rose off with her. After they were out of earshot, she paused
briefly to comment to the girls in a tone low enough not to be
overheard by the other guests. She kept a poised smile on her face
so no one would be able to guess what they were discussing.

“I apologize, my dears. I had not noticed
that Sir Broderick was in company with Lord Edgecombe. Otherwise, I
would not have directed you there for the introduction. While I
think the viscount is a sweet, charming boy I cannot quite bring
myself to like Sir Broderick and would recommend that you be wary
if you ever find yourselves in his company. He is an associate of
my husband, which is how he ended up on my guest list this evening.
I would normally not be so indiscrete as to tell you of my real
feelings in a matter such as this, but I have decided that I like
the two of you and thus needed to plant the warning in your
ear.”

Rose decided then and there that she quite
liked the lovely countess. “Have no fear, my lady. You can be sure
that neither of us will bandy about your words. And I had already
come to my own conclusions about Sir Jason long ago. You can count
on the both of us to be cautious if we find ourselves in
association with him in the future.” Dropping into a respectful
curtsy, Rose continued, “We appreciate your kindness in taking the
time to perform some introductions and for having a care about us.
But we truly have no wish to monopolize your time, my lady.”
Glancing around with shrewd eyes Rose concluded, “You have already
done us a world of good just by singling us out in such a way, but
we should really allow you to get back to the rest of your
guests.”

With a trill of pleasant laughter the
countess grasped Rose's hand in a warm clasp. “You are a dear minx.
I shall enjoy furthering our acquaintance in the coming weeks. You
really must call upon me at my next at home, which is two days
hence. You are probably quite correct that the rest of my guests
will not be overly appreciative if I spend too much time with any
one guest so I shall see you back to your mothers.”

Lady Yorkleigh took a moment to greet Lady
Smythe before she hurried away to speak with others.

“What a perfectly lovely lady she seems to
be,” Rose's mother commented a moment after the countess left them.
“How kind of her to take some time to see to your introductions.
You should cultivate the connection if possible, my dear. It could
do you well. To be sure, you need all the help you can get as the
awkward daughter of a mere baron.”

Rose intercepted Elizabeth's sympathetic look
and felt the heat rising in her cheeks. Despite her heightened
color, Rose kept her face impassive. She excused herself from her
mother's side with a few choice words. “Elizabeth and I had been on
our way to check out the refreshments when we encountered the
countess. With your permission, we will return there for a few
moments.”

“Very well, my dear, but see that you do not
stray too far. We should be taking our leave before too long.”

The two girls strolled away. When they were
out of earshot they shared a brief giggle.

“Oh, my dear, I should not laugh as it really
is at your expense, but your mother is just terrible at times.”

“Laughter is the best way to handle her. But
never with her around, of course,” the two girls shared another
giggle over this before Rose continued. “In her defense she has
faced many disappointments in life and it has molded her into the
lady you now see. It is unfortunate that I did not make my debut
before my brother's death. She was a much different person back
then. Of course, I was much too young then, but you know what I
mean.”

“Indeed I do. Now, let us go and see if there
are any of those scrumptious-looking pastries left that I had spied
earlier.”

As the two girls sampled the treats and
enjoyed another glass of the punch, they made small talk with some
of their fellow guests for a few moments before being left on their
own again.

“Do you plan to take Lady Yorkleigh up on her
invitation to call on her?” Elizabeth asked with curiosity.

“I do believe the invitation was directed at
the both of us.”

“Perhaps, but it seemed to me that she took
to you much more strongly than to me. And as your mother so kindly
pointed out, you need the connection much more than I do.”

Rose grinned at her friend's words. “How true
it is.” She paused in thought for a moment before continuing. “I
quite enjoyed making her acquaintance, so I actually do plan on
accepting her invitation. It did seem to be quite sincere. Do say
you will accompany me.”

“I do believe that wild horses could not keep
me away,” came Elizabeth's prompt reply. “Oh dear. It would seem
our time is up. I see your mother bearing down upon us. Shall I
call upon you tomorrow? I would think it is my turn.”

The girls shared one more grin before Rose
was borne away by her mother.

As they rode home in their carriage a while
later, Lady Smythe took her daughter to task. “You really should be
making more of an effort to further your acquaintance with
gentlemen rather than always being in company with your friend,
Lady Elizabeth. In fact, I saw that Lady Yorkleigh introduced you
to that attractive Sir Broderick but you hardly exchanged a few
words with him. What is the matter with you, girl?”

Rose just barely managed to keep her jaw from
dropping open at her mother's words. How could the older woman
possibly find the terrible knight to be the remotest bit
attractive, she wondered. Keeping her thoughts to herself, as was
her wont of late with her mother, Rose used her mother's own
reasoning upon her.

“But, my lady, Elizabeth is an earl's
daughter,” she explained. “Would you not agree that it is a
marvelous connection for me to cultivate? In her company I am much
more likely to make the acquaintance of a more eligible
parti
than Sir Broderick.”

“Well, I can see the wisdom in your words,
but you cannot expect to look too far above your station. As the
daughter of a mere baron, you are rather insignificant in our world
and you would do well to bear that in mind.”

“Yes, mother,” Rose answered meekly, while
feeling torn between amusement and pain at her mother's words. She
was relieved when they pulled up in front of their townhouse.

Rose dithered in the foyer after saying
goodnight to her mother, waiting as Lady Smythe glided up the
stairs silently.

“Is my father home, Hartley?” she asked of
the butler.

“Yes, miss, he is in his study working,”
Hartley answered, smiling fondly at his young mistress. “I am
certain he would not mind being disturbed by his favorite
daughter.”

“I am his only daughter,” Rose answered dryly
before inquiring, “Has he been working long? Do you think he is due
for an interruption?”

“He has been in his study all evening, he is
more than due, miss. Although, I must say, I am certain he would
always welcome your company.”

Rose appreciated the faithful old servant's
loyal affection and accepted his words with a grateful smile as she
headed off down the hall to scratch on her father's door.

“Enter,” came Lord Smythe's quick
response.

Rose entered the comfortable space with a
sniff of enjoyment. She always loved the smell of her father's
study. A combination of wood, spice, and old spirits. She was not
sure how it was achieved, but this was the only room in the house
with that particular scent, and it always felt like home to her
whenever she could spend time there.

“Good evening, my darling daughter. Did you
have a good time?” He welcomed her warmly before trailing off for a
moment. “Forgive me, my dear, I seem to have forgotten where your
mother told me the two of you were going this evening.”

“That is quite all right, Papa, I am sure you
had plenty of other, more important things on your mind.”

“Your mother assures me that all this Season
business is as important, or even more so, than what I am occupied
with.”

Rose sighed. “My mother does not appreciate
that without the work you, and others like you, do, there would be
no Season. There is nothing more important than that. The Season is
a bunch of social nonsense, to be perfectly frank.”

“We can both agree that that social nonsense
played a key role in our work in Vienna.”

Grinning, Rose answered, “That is very true,
but sadly we are no longer in Vienna and here the balls and such
are just for socializing, from what I can see. And husband hunting,
of course.”

“Well that is very serious, important work,
is it not, my dear?”

Rose merely shrugged at this before turning
the subject reluctantly. “Sir Jason Broderick was at the musicale
tonight.”

Her father's face tightened with this news.
“Did you talk with him?”

“Very briefly; it could not be avoided.”

“You be sure to steer clear of him in the
future.”

“I will, Papa, you can rest easy on that
score. I have absolutely no desire to pursue the acquaintance.” She
paused for a moment, wondering once more if she could talk to her
father about what she had overheard. Deciding to keep it to herself
for the moment, she tackled a different, but still uncomfortable,
side to the subject. “Mother will disagree with us if she becomes
aware of our thoughts on the matter.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“In the carriage ride on the way home tonight
she admonished me for keeping my conversation so short with him.
She thinks I cannot look any higher than a knight in my social
aspirations and she thinks he would be a handsome choice for my
husband.”

The baron was a very self-controlled man, a
quality that served him very well as a diplomat, but these words
caused him to come very close to losing his composure. Taking a
deep, calming breath, Lord Smythe smiled sadly, but kindly at his
beloved only daughter. “Your mother means well, I am sure, but you
must remember that she has been through a great ordeal in the past
few years and cannot be held accountable for any strange things she
may say. She loves you dearly, you know.”

“I know, Papa, but sometimes she has a
strange way of showing it.”

“Rosebud, my darling, you know your papa
loves you, do you not?”

“Yes, Papa,” Rose smiled through the mist
that filled her eyes over her father's endearment.

“And you do trust my judgment, do you
not?”

“But of course!” While Rose was aghast at the
thought that he might doubt it, a niggle of unease
did
creep
into her conscience at the thought that she
was
keeping
something from him out of concern for his lack of judgment with
regards to the Duke of Wrentham. Pushing the thought from her mind,
she looked at her father expectantly.

“Your mother is a good woman and has been an
excellent mother, but her own judgment is slightly askew at the
moment. I am uncomfortable speaking ill of her, so we shall not
delve any deeper into this topic. Suffice it to say that you have
my complete trust and I would ask that you use your own good
judgment as best you can over the coming weeks. And if you have
need of discussing anything with someone, you may come to me at any
time. You have quite proven your dependability and soundness of
mind many times over when we were in Vienna. The information you
were able to dig up was invaluable.”

“Thank you, Papa. I just find that life is
rather dull now that we are back in England. And everything about
the Season just seems so trivial. Everyone gossips all day and the
only thing they seem to be concerned about is the latest fashions
or who said what to whom. It is rather grievous after the
excitement of life in Vienna. Is there not something I could be
doing to help you here?”

“Oh no, my darling. You did quite enough to
help out in Vienna. You must just apply yourself to the task of
finding a sensible spouse so that you can set up your own
household. It is well past time for that, I would say. We would
have seen about it much earlier, if not for our mourning.”

Rose was saddened at this reminder and felt a
pall fall further over her night. Bolstering her own spirits by the
force of her will, she set herself to cheering her father.

“In my mind it is just as well that I have
not come up for the Season prior to this. I feel that I am in a
much better position to make a sound decision after having had a
little bit of experience under my belt, as you would put it. And I
would not have wished to miss the time we spent in Vienna. It was
something I will be remembering for the rest of my life. In fact, I
have half a mind to find myself a diplomat to marry so that I could
follow him about and help him with his work, as I did you.”

“I am not so certain that that would be a
sound choice for you, but take your time and look about at your
options. You should be a good girl and settle down to a normal
life. I would not want my daughter to be involved with espionage on
a regular basis.”