The Scandalous Adventures of the Sister of the Bride (16 page)

“It’s obvious to me—” Teddy sucked in a sharp breath. “You called him Sam!”

“So did you.”

“Yes, but you refused to do so as you once had a dog named Sam. A faithful and loyal
companion you said.”

“And indeed he was.”

“Have you decided Sam—Mr. Russell—is faithful and loyal as well?”

“He does play a fine game of tennis.”

Teddy stared. “What has come over you?”

“Nothing really. I simply decided I needed to stop being so . . . unpleasant.” Delilah
heaved a heartfelt sigh. “It’s not at all like me and frankly I was tired of it.”

“Perhaps but, I know you, Dee, and . . .” Teddy blew a frustrated breath. “You’ve
been odd in recent months. Decidedly odd.”

“Threat of financial disaster, remember?” Delilah shook her head mournfully. “It’s
like the sword of Damocles hanging over my head.”

“You said this threat appeared six weeks ago.”

“Give or take a few days.”

“Ah-ha!” Triumph sounded in Teddy’s voice. “I first noticed a change in you when you
returned from New York. I thought perhaps travel did not agree with you.”

Delilah rested the back of her hand against her forehead. “Travel is so dreadfully—”

“Stop it, Dee. Stop it at once.” Teddy’s brow furrowed and she glared at her friend.
“You’re keeping something from me and I want to know what it is.”

“May I point out, until we arrived here, you and I had barely seen one another at
all since my return from New York.”

“Even so—”

“Don’t you think if something truly significant had happened in my life I would tell
you?”

“I have always thought so until I discovered you were hiding this threat of a new
heir from me.”

“I wasn’t hiding.” Delilah shrugged. “I suppose as long as I didn’t have to admit
it, it wasn’t real. I could ignore it completely. Surely you understand that?”

“Of course I do but—”

“There’s really nothing more to it than that.” She cast her friend her brightest smile,
rose to her feet, and started toward the door. “Now then I must gather my things if
we are to make our train.”

“I still think there’s something you’re hiding.”

“My dear sweet friend.” Delilah paused in the doorway. “You’ve become entirely too
suspicious. Looking for things that don’t exist.” Delilah shook her head in a sympathetic
manner. “It’s not at all becoming.” She smiled and took her leave.

“Dee!” Teddy called behind. “This discussion is not over!”

Delilah grinned and continued toward her rooms. It was rather remarkable how, when
one dipped one’s toes in the pool of deceit, one did seem to be pulled farther and
farther in. At this point revealing the truth about Sam to Teddy would do more harm
than good. She’d always shared everything with her friend. That she hadn’t shared
this would no doubt injure Teddy terribly. Why, it was in the other woman’s best interest
to continue to keep this from her.

Besides, she still had no desire for anyone to know about her adventure—
adventures
—with Sam. It would be different if she intended to, well, keep him. As she didn’t,
it would still be best if no one knew. There would be no explanations to make and
no recriminations.

No, Sam Russell was her secret and hers alone.

And wasn’t that every bit as delicious as the sausage?

“. . . and if you’ll look down that street you’ll see . . .”

Now this was the Delilah Sam had met in New York. This delightful woman sitting beside
him in a hansom cab pointed out the various sights of London with unrestrained enthusiasm.

“. . . and then of course that particular gallery is where . . .”

No, that wasn’t entirely accurate. The woman he’d met in New York had been enjoying
the sights of his city but had been more reserved than the one sitting next to him
now. This Delilah was in her element. This Delilah was home.

“. . . and yet, I must confess, I am not at all fond . . .”

Regardless, she was a far cry from the Lady Hargate he’d recently met at Millworth
Manor. He was not so arrogant as to take credit for her change in demeanor but he
was not so humble as to think it had nothing to do with him. Still, it was confusing.

“Who are you?” he said without thinking.

She laughed. “Many things to many people I suspect. Let me think.” She paused and
her brow furrowed. “I am, of course, Lady Hargate, Delilah Channing Hargate, widow
of the late Lord Phillip Hargate. I am the younger sister of Ladies Lydingham and
Dunwell and the youngest daughter of the Earl and Countess of Briston. There, that
should cover it all.”

“It doesn’t.” He shook his head. “You’re not the same woman I met in New York, although
you bear much more of a resemblance to her than to the Lady Hargate I met a few days
ago.”

“Dare I ask how I am different? From the woman in New York that is.”

“
Mrs
. Hargate was charming and engaging but somewhat more subdued than you are today.”

“Ah, well, in New York I was a visitor. A bit out of place really. But here . . .”
She swept a wide gesture at the city around them. “Here is where I belong.”

“You love London, don’t you?”

“I can’t imagine living anywhere else. Much of London is not at all pleasant, as I
suspect is true of most cities. There is entirely too much poverty and crime and more
should be done to solve those problems. It’s the responsibility of those of us who
have more to do what we can to assist those who have nothing.”

“Do you?”

“Of course I do.” She raised a brow. “You sound surprised.”

“My apologies. I don’t mean to.”

“I may not have the skills needed to be a teacher or governess, but I have organized
several charitable events that have been most successful.”

“I don’t doubt that for a moment.”

“Excellent. The next time I am engaged in such an endeavor I shall expect a sizable
donation.” She cast him a firm look. “Even from the other side of the ocean.”

He grinned. “You can count on it.”

“Oh, I shall.” She nodded and continued. “Any number of people I know prefer living
in the country. I do like the country but, well, London is the most exciting place
in the world.” Pride colored her words. “It’s the heart of the empire, the largest
empire man has ever known. London is the center of theater and art, intellect and
literature, politics and history. It has been a community for nearly two thousand
years. And . . .” She smiled in a teasing manner. “The shopping is excellent.”

He laughed. “It suits you. London that is.”

“Do you think so?” She arched a brow. “Why? A moment ago you asked me who I was. You
scarcely know me.”

“On the contrary, my dear Lady Hargate. I know you better than you think.”

“Oh?” She studied him with amusement. “Then tell me what you know.”

“Everything?”

She blushed. “Perhaps not everything.”

“All right. Let me think.” He considered her for a moment. “I know even while you
say you are a stickler for tradition, you find a great deal of enjoyment in something
new.”

“You mean like a motorwagon?”

“No, I mean you like seeing something new to you. Unless I’m mistaken, you very much
enjoyed the sights of New York.”

“True.” She nodded. “I suppose I haven’t traveled enough to be nonchalant about seeing
somewhere I have never been before. I’ve never been outside of England except to accompany
Camille and Grayson to New York. Oh, and I have been to Paris, of course.” She bit
back a smile. “The shopping is excellent there too.”

“I have heard that.” He chuckled. “As have my mother and sisters. I doubt that I can
avoid accompanying them to Paris for too much longer.” He grinned. “But I am trying.”

“You’ve mentioned your sisters before. How many do you have?”

“It seems like dozens.” He blew a long breath. “But only five, one of whom is married.
The others are still too young.” He drew his brows together. “And growing up entirely
too fast.”

She laughed. “The next years should be interesting for you.”

“I am not looking forward to it.” He shuddered. Of all the tasks he had taken on in
the wake of his father’s death, watching over his younger sisters was already proving
to be the most difficult.

“What else do you know about me?”

“I know you have never been close to your own sisters but you are all making efforts
to improve your relationship.”

She scoffed. “That scarcely counts. Grayson told you that.”

“He did but he didn’t need to. You and Camille aren’t completely comfortable in each
other’s presence. There’s a tentative undercurrent between you, as if you are both
carefully feeling your way along. It’s apparent to anyone the least bit observant.”
He shrugged. “Or maybe it’s just apparent to someone with sisters.”

“That’s very good.” She studied him coolly. “And I think that’s quite enough. I’m
not sure I want you to know everything about me and I’m a bit concerned about what
you already think you know.”

He grinned. “Scared, Lady Hargate?”

Something akin to acknowledgment flashed through her eyes so quickly he might have
been mistaken. “Of you? An arrogant American? Don’t be absurd.”

“I see I have improved in your eyes.” He smiled. “I used to be an insufferable American.”

“Perhaps I know
you
better than you think.”

He laughed and glanced at the passing scenery. “How long have you been staying at
the manor?”

“Just a few weeks.” She paused. “I assume you know I closed my house here in town
and the country house.”

“Gray mentioned that.”

“I would have come to Millworth even without the excuse of Camille’s wedding. I had
nowhere else to go. It’s not at all pleasant to be without funds when one has never
had to be concerned with money before.”

“I can imagine,” Sam said. He suspected Delilah’s offhand manner hid a much deeper
fear. His family had always had an adequate income, not the vast fortune he had amassed
now. He could live a simpler life but his mother and sisters would not do well without
money. Nor, no doubt, would Delilah.

“Oh, I could have thrown myself on the mercy of friends but the only thing worse than
being a poor relation is being an impoverished friend.” She wrinkled her nose. “There
is nothing that makes others more uncomfortable than having a friend in their midst
who has fallen upon difficult financial times.”

“And these are friends?”

“One does wonder.” She smiled. “I imagine it’s because it could happen to anyone.
There but for the grace of God, you understand.”

He nodded.

“Precisely why it’s best to keep such difficulties quiet. No one would talk about
it to your face anyway. Everyone usually pretends life is as it always has been.”

“Isn’t that when you discover your true friends?”

“Perhaps, but I’m not sure I wish to test that theory,” she said wryly.

“You remained friends with Teddy when her family lost its money.”

She cast him a sharp glance. “Grayson again?”

He shrugged. “He has his suspicions.”

“I’m not surprised. I imagine Camille has her suspicions as well. One doesn’t go from
throwing the kind of elaborate soirees Teddy and her mother did to managing weddings
and parties for other people simply on a whim. Although they want people to believe
they’re simply bored and this is a way to fill their time.” She gazed at the passing
scenery for a moment. “Teddy is as close to me as any sister, closer than my own have
been in the past. She has built a new life for herself. I’m not sure I can do the
same.”

“I suspect you are stronger than you think.”

“And you suspect that because you know me so well?”

“Perhaps I suspect it because I don’t.”

“As much as I hate to disappoint you, strength is not my forte. I find the unknown
nothing short of terrifying. I like life to be planned and expected.” She shook her
head. “I certainly didn’t have the courage to tell my family about my financial quandary
until I had no other choice. If not for Camille’s wedding, and everyone gathering
at Millworth, I probably would have hidden that as long as necessary.” She sighed.
“It’s not easy to explain, even to those who know you best, that your world has been
upended. There’s an inherent failure in it, as if what has befallen you is your fault.”

“That’s ridiculous.” He drew his brows together. “The fact that your late husband
might have an unknown heir has nothing to do with you.”

“You’re looking at this rationally, Sam, and I am speaking of perceptions.” She thought
for a moment. “One does what one is supposed to do in life, you know, with certain
expectations.”

“That things will turn out as they should?”

She nodded.

“And if they don’t?”

“If they don’t, well, somehow, you’ve failed.” She smiled. “And that is the twist,
isn’t it?”

“What is?”

Her gaze met his. “Regardless of expectations, even if one does exactly what one should,
plays the game according to the rules if you will, life does not always turn out as
planned.”