Page 42 of More or Less a Countess
He’d noticed.
Oh, no. There was no telling what Iris would do when she was on a tear, and once she found out they’d been to—
“We went on a drive to Wapping, Lady Huntington, so Miss Somerset could take a sketch of Execution Dock for her book.” Lord Dare chuckled. “It was nearly underwater by the time we arrived, however, and I’m afraid her slippers and my boots got rather wet.”
“How unfortunate, but I’m certainHyacinthwill agree with me, my lord, when I say I can imagine many things far worse than a pair of wet slippers.”
Lord Dare gave Iris an uncertain look. “Ah, yes, well, I suppose we could have tumbled headlong into the Thames.”
“Hyacinthmight yet find herself at the bottom of the Thames,” Iris snapped, ignoring Lord Dare’s frown and narrowing her gaze on Violet.
“I’ve kept you far too long today, Lord Dare.” Violet turned to him with a stiff smile. “And I’m certain you wish to change your boots. I’ll just call Eddesley to show you out, shall I?”
Lord Dare’s frown deepened as he looked from Violet to Iris. “No need, Miss Somerset. I’ll see myself out.” He bowed to each of them, and in the next moment he was gone, and likely relieved to be so.
“Lying, sneaking about, and toying with a gentleman’s affections?” Iris demanded as soon as the drawing room door closed behind Lord Dare.
Violet kicked off her damp slippers and threw herself into a chair. “Hyacinth is perfectly dreadful at keeping secrets. I should have known she’d tell you.”
“Don’t blame Hyacinth for your behavior, Violet,” Iris scolded. “She didn’t want to tell me. I teased it out of her when you didn’t appear in Grosvenor Street.”
“I don’t see why you should have felt the need to rush over here.” Violet’s tone was resentful, but she didn’t meet her sister’s eyes.
“Itoldyou why. Lying, sneaking about, and toying with a gentleman’s affections!”
“What, do you suppose Lord Dare is madly in love with me? I couldn’t toy with his affections even if I wished to.” His affections, or any other part of him. “It was a drive to Wapping, Iris—that’s all. Perfectly harmless.”
“I see. So youaren’tpretending to be Hyacinth and encouraging Lord Dare in a false courtship for the sake of your book?”
Violet opened her mouth to object, realized she had no defense, and then snapped it closed again. Dash it all, why must Hyacinth insist on such unrelenting honesty at all times? It was quite tedious of her.
Iris sighed. “I don’t know what’s come over you, Violet. It’s not like you to be so careless with another’s feelings. This preoccupation with your book has brought out the worst in you.”
“But it’s only for a week or two, Iris, until Grandmother returns from Bath, and it’s not as if Lord Dare truly cares for either me or Hyacinth. He can’t even tell us apart!”
“Yes, and it’s dreadful of him, but does that mean you have to do something dreadful in return? His poor behavior doesn’t excuse your lying, Violet, and you know it very well.”
Violet tucked her feet underneath her and rested her cheek on her raised knees. Iris was right. Shedidknow it, and after today, she knew something else, as well.
Lord Dare deserved far better treatment from her.
Hehadnearly concussed Lady Uplands in Lord Derrick’s library, of course, and there was no question he was a rogue. That night at dinner Honora had whispered that Lord Dare had left a trail of broken hearts from Paris to Rome, and Violet could believe it of him. He was far too handsome and charming for his own good.
Or for hers.
But there was an innate kindness to him—a gentlemanliness, and a rare gallantry Violet would never have expected in a man like him. Today, when she’d shown him her book, he hadn’t laughed at her or mocked her, and the way he’d insisted on standing between her and the Thames while she took her sketch…
Well. Lord Dare was much more than a debauched rogue with a careless disregard for the sanctity of a private library, and really, what had he done to justify her shabby treatment of him? He’d simply mistaken her for her sister. It was hardly a dastardly crime, and it wasn’t as if he was the first to confuse them.
Iris must have seen the flush of guilt on her face, because she knelt down in front of Violet’s chair and took her hand. “I know how important your book is to you, Violet, but this isn’t the way to go about it, and you know you can always bring Hyacinth or me along if you need a companion.”
Take Hyacinth to Execution Dock? No, indeed, and it wouldn’t do to take Iris to such places, either. Finn wouldn’t appreciate his wife and unborn child wandering about a place like Cockpit Steps, or Tyburn Tree, and Violet would never ask Iris to lie to him.
No, once she sent Lord Dare away she’d give up the chance to get the sketches she needed. A dry ache pressed behind her eyes at the thought, but she didn’t know whether the unshed tears were for those lost moments of freedom, or for the loss of Lord Dare.
But it didn’t matter, because either way, she had only one choice.
She pressed Iris’s hand. “When Lord Dare calls tomorrow, I’ll confess I’ve deceived him, and beg his pardon.”
