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The duke inclined his hand while his wife leapt forward. She grasped one of my hands in both of her pudgy ones and gave it a shake that rattled my whole being. “I am so pleased to finally meet you, Miss Lucas!”
“R-really?” I replied through chattered teeth.
She nodded. “Oh, yes! You are the talk of the town ever since that strange scene at Lord Riker’s estate. Whatever happened there?”
I forced out a laugh and shook my head. “I wish I knew. I only wanted to keep Lord Riker’s property from being stolen.”
Lady Harper moved me along and the duchess was forced to release me. “And these are the Ladies Marjorie and Mary Tailor.” The middle-aged pair were certainly sisters, judging by their identical platinum blond shoulder-length hair and beaked noses. “They have a fine boutique shop on the edges of the Plaza.”
The one called Marjorie raised her cup to me and smiled. “I hope when the time comes you will consider using Bridal Beauties as your shop.”
A choking noise came from behind me, and I looked over my shoulder to behold Ben at Lord Harper’s side. He was recovering from having sipped his tea at the wrong moment. A grin slid onto my lips as my eyes captured his gaze. “We’ll definitely consider it.” The seamstresses gave each other a wink and a nod.
“And this is Mr. Brutus Segreti,” Lady Harper introduced me as we came to the last individual.
Mr. Segreti was about fifty with a head of shocking white hair and a heavy beard speckled with the same color. He wore a tweed vest and slacks, and a hideous bow tie was tucked under his chin. His attire was finished off by a pair of heavy black boots and a gold watch on a gold chain. The man should have been about Ben’s height, or maybe even taller, but he had a stoop to him that made him several inches shorter. His hands were clasped behind himself and his dark eyes looked out from behind a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles.
He smiled and inclined his head to me. “Good evening, Miss Lucas.”
“Good evening,” I replied, giving an awkward bow in return.
Lady Harper smiled at her guest. “Mr. Segreti has been working in the city for the past month uncovering the history of the Halls of Joy.”
“And mining our vast collection of manuscripts about the place,” Duke Ahearn spoke up between sips of his drink. “I had no idea we had so many until he started digging in our library, and the archives have been most useful to him. He’s there nearly every day, I believe.”
The duchess bobbed her head. “Oh, yes! It’s been quite exciting! Who knew Edwin’s family had keptalltheir records back to the time when they were keepers of the emperor’s stables?”
Edwin wrinkled his nose. “Yes. What a pity the emperor gave away so much of the land to the public. Being out of a job nearly bankrupted my great, great, great, great-“
“Would you like some tea?” Lady Harper offered me as she held out an empty cup and saucer.
“Yes, please,” I answered as I took up the saucer as the duke droned on in the background about his long lineage.
Lady Harper poured me some dark tea and smiled at me. “I hope we won’t bore you. You did have quite an adventure during your first party here in our lovely city.”
I smiled and shook my head. “I wouldn’t mind being bored. Excitement isn’t always fun.”
“How true,” one of the sisters spoke up as she bobbed her head. “Just the other day we were practically drowning in requests for black dresses of all shapes and sizes.”
Marjorie wrinkled her nose. “It was all because of those posters.Thatgroup is coming back, you know.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “You mean Phantom?”
Marjorie rolled her eyes. “Good grief, what a dramatic name.”
“And so vulgar,” Mary added with a sniff of her beaked nose. “Who would want to associate themselves with such creatures.” She held out her cup to our hostess. “A little more tea, Lady Harper, if you would.”
Lady Harper refilled the cup and nodded. “Yes. I sometimes worry that Lew will find an interest in them, though he’s currently been captured by this silly card craze.”
Marjorie wagged her stirring spoon at Her Ladyship. “Cards are a good way to pass the time. They involve strategy-”
“And not a little money,” the duke chimed in with a wink at Ben. “I recall one of your family being quite good at cards.”
A chuckle escaped Ben’s lips. “Yes, my Great Aunt Prudence. She was kind enough to teach me some of her tricks before my mother discovered her ‘tutoring.’”
“You must show us some of them!” the duchess pleaded.
The butler made his reappearance in the doorway and puffed out his chest a little. “Dinner is served.”
