Page 40 of Dare to be Wicked

“Yes.”

“I know,” Matilda said with a sigh. “I remember as if it were yesterday. I hated Lucien for such a long time, but there were so many secrets, so many lies and things I did not understand. The truth made it so much easier to love him, even though it was far from easy.”

She rose to her feet and smoothed down her gown. “And now I had better think about getting ready for the ball this evening. It is sad to own, but it takes me far longer than it used to.”

“I cannot believe that,” Lottie said, meaning it. “You’re beautiful, and so very elegant.”

Matilda flashed a dazzling smile. “Why, thank you, child. You’ve made the evening quite perfect before it has even begun.”

“It’s true, and thank you,” Lottie said sincerely. “For your advice. I shall think on it.”

Matilda nodded, moved towards the door, and then paused.

“Did you take a dare?” she asked.

Lottie flushed as she remembered, but nodded.

“How perfect,” Matilda said happily. “And so we begin.”

And, with that enigmatic comment, she left Lottie alone.

“How do, Cass.”

Cassius turned at the hand on his shoulder to see his Uncle Jerry grinning at him.

“It’s good to see you,” he said, shaking his uncle’s hand. “Is Aunt Bonnie here?”

“Oh, yes. Causing havoc among your guests, no doubt, or trying to encourage our girls into it. I see your mama is as organised as ever.”

Cassius looked over to where his mother was ticking the final items off a list as long as her arm with calm precision while the staff leapt to obey her. His father was lounging in a chair, idly turning a glass of wine in his hands and watching her with a rapt expression. Cassius smiled.

“Wellington could not better her.”

“There,” his mother said, putting down her list with a satisfied smile and pushing her spectacles back up her nose. “I do believe everything is in order, and I deserve a glass of champagne.”

“Harriet, you are quite terrifyingly efficient,” Jerry said, but dutifully poured her out a glass.

“I am, aren’t I?” she said, accepting the glass with a smile and taking a sip. “Oh, that’s better. Now, Jasper, Cassius, we had better go down. The guests will be arriving soon.”

Though many of their closest friends had arrived earlier in the day and would stay over, many more would come from the surrounding area to attend an event considered one of the high points of the summer. The Countess of St Clair was considered something of an oddity, and no one seemed to have the slightest clue how she’d captured the heart of the most eligible man in the ton all those years ago, but her summer balls had become legendary. Some even said she did a better job of it than her predecessor, the late Dowager Countess St Clair, which was the highest praise any of them could give.

Cassius usually enjoyed the ball very much. It was a chance to catch up with his friends and family, to laugh, and to flirt and dance with a lot of pretty girls. Tonight it would be a test of endurance, for he did not dare spend too much time with Lottie, for fear of what he might reveal. Staying away from her had been damned near torture this past week, and Cassius had decided enough was enough. They must tell Eliza as soon as possible. Keeping secrets would only make matters worse in the long run and he must learn by his mistakes. Tomorrow afternoon would likely be the earliest opportunity and they must take it. He intended to snatch time enough with Lottie tonight to gain her acceptance of the idea. She would not like it, he knew, but she hated deceiving her sister more, and he felt it would be a relief to her to get it all out in the open. Surely Eliza could not stay angry with Lottie for long? He knew her well enough to be certain of that. Or, at least, he had. She was acting so strangely of late.

“I didn’t know you at all, did I?”

That had hurt more than she could know. For she did know him, better than anyone except Lottie. Though perhaps he ought to tell her the same, for he did not recognise the girl she had become in the days since he had admitted he didn’t wish to marry her. She was preoccupied and short-tempered, just as Jules had said. Was that all his fault?

He had no time to consider as it was time to greet their guests.

Cassius was so distracted most of them passed in a blur of polite nothings, but some stood out.

Cat’s oldest sister, Phoebe, and her husband, Maximillian Carmichael, The Earl of Ellisborough, were among those he was only too pleased to welcome.

“Your father is in the ballroom,” he told Phoebe. “He’s been worse than little Cat for demanding what time it is, he’s so impatient to see you.”

Phoebe laughed with delight and tugged at her husband’s arm. “Oh, do come along, Max. I can’t wait to see them all.”

Cassius watched in amusement as she bore her husband off in search of Montagu and her mama. Minerva and Inigo de Beauvoir arrived next, with their adopted son, Hartley, who was some years older than Cassius.