Page 40 of Betting on a Duke
“Oh my,” Letitia whispered, “Greyson and his sisters are coming this way. I had hoped... but didn’t really think...”
“Take a deep breath and relax. You don’t want to seem nervous or overly excited.”
“I know, but it’s difficult. The man is so handsome and makes my heart flutter in song.”
“Song?” Clarice asked. “He makes your heart flutter in song?”
“You know what I mean. Oh my, he’s stopping.”
“Lady Rutherford, Lady Chesterfield, what a lovely surprise to find you here,” Greyson said as he nodded. “You remember my sisters, Lady Aurora and Lady Anastasia.”
“Yes,” Clarice and Letitia said in unison.
“Lady Chesterfield, does His Grace know you’re in town?” Greyson asked, looking concerned.
“Yes. We exchanged correspondence today.”
“Glad to hear it. Will we see you lovely ladies tonight at the Ramsbury Ball?”
“Yes,” Letitia replied, blushing.
“Well, then,” he dipped his head and grinned, “until this evening.”
Both Clarice and Letitia watched them walk away and sit at a table nearby.
Letitia leaned forward in her seat and murmured, “I can’t believeGreyson’s really here. I had dreamed of running into him, but now I’m so nervous. It felt as though I had a cloth tucked inside my mouth; it was so dry and hard to speak. I don’t remember ever feeling that way before.” She patted her hair nervously. “Indeed, when I met Rutherford, I was young and naïve and overwhelmed with his kindness and generosity. I loved him deeply, and he made my stomach constrict and my heart pound. But Greyson, I cannot explain what he does to me, except to say it’s so much more than what I felt with my husband, and I hardly even know him. It makes no sense at all.”
When Clarice spoke, she did so as softly as Letitia, so neither Greyson nor anyone else could overhear their conversation. You never knew when a busybody might be straining their ears, hoping to overhear gossip. “I’ve never heard of anyone falling in love at first sight, but I believe that is what you did.”
“I never thought it happened in real life, only in novels,” Letitia exhaled. “Perhaps it is something else altogether. Perhaps I’m just attracted to him, and it is simply desire and nothing more that I feel for him. It makes sense since it has been... well, you know what I mean. Rutherford and I enjoyed the marriage bed.” She touched her cheeks. “I’m blushing. How embarrassing. However, if I can’t talk to you about it, who can I? Anyway, as I said, perhaps it is a physical attraction and nothing more.”
Perhaps what Letitia felt was only a physical attraction to Greyson, since they hardly knew each other. But Clarice believed it could, and would, if given the chance, develop into something much more. And she wished for both their sakes that it would.
They left their table and entered the hotel through glass doors leading into a spacious salon where guests could enjoy tea or simply relax and chat with friends. On a long, narrow wooden table, the hotel had tea and biscuits ready at all hours, and Clarice and Letitia helped themselves to tea and sat on a settee.
“This inn is very accommodating,” Clarice said as she sipped hertea. “Not that I’ve ever stayed in an inn before, except for last night. And somehow, the Black Pigeon is nothing compared to here. Have you stayed in a large hotel or inn?”
Letitia giggled. “As far as large inns go, this is a first for me as well. Rutherford and I once spent time in Bath, but we stayed with friends and at a small coaching inns along the way.”
“I can see the appeal of a big inn if they are all as nice as this one.”
For a short while, they watched guests of the Red Lion Inn come and go. Clarice recognized several people, but mostly they were strangers. It was sad, really, that she never got to know many of the members of thetonclose to her age. Even sadder that she hadn’t become close to Letitia or Lady Hornsby until she was widowed. And she’d only recently met Emmeline, Lilly, and their husbands. She was thankful to have them among her friends. Adding Mr. Hunter, Greyson, and his sisters, Clarice felt truly fortunate.
During her marriage to Chesterfield, she never thought she would ever be free of him or have friends of her own. He never let her leave the house or entertain guests, which kept her from making friends. So many years lost, trapped in her own home—a home that belonged to the new Marquess of Chesterfield. Part of her was afraid of his arrival. Another part couldn’t wait, so she could move into a townhouse of her own and be free. What troubled her was that he should have arrived by now, and she was worried for his safety.
She forced those maudlin thoughts of the next Marquess of Chesterfield away. “Shall we retire to our rooms and rest before tonight’s ball?”
“That’s a splendid idea,” Letitia agreed. “Sitting here has made me sleepy. I’m having trouble keeping my eyes open.”
“Oh dear,” Clarice chided. “We can’t have you causing a scandal by falling asleep in your teacup and then spilling it down the front of your pretty yellow day dress.”
Both of them stood and giggled. “No, we can’t,” Letitia replied.
Once inside her room, Penny helped her undress down to her chemise, then went into Letitia’s room to do the same. Climbing beneath the soft coverlet, Clarice turned onto her side and exhaled. It wasn’t until she mentioned to Letitia about resting that she realized how tired she was—both mentally and physically. All the worry about sneaking off without her father’s knowledge and the two days of travel had caught up with her in the salon. The door between her room and Letitia’s opened and closed, and she knew Penny had returned. Before long, she felt herself drifting off and enjoyed the sensation of falling asleep.
It seemed only a moment had passed since she fell asleep, but she knew by the sun’s rays entering the room at a different angle that hours had gone by. She sat up and called out, “Penny?”
Penny ducked her head through the doorway from Letitia’s room. “Yes, my lady?”
