Page 10 (2/2)
Adel scowled “Now is not the time to use ‘full blown’ and ‘scandal’ in the sa from the door We only need a hint of impropriety to convince Papa, and I daresay the very notion of h I am a bit anxious at how my actions will affect Helena’s debut”
Evie plucked two glasses of cha footman and handed Adel one “Your sister is fourteen She has two e ht stir, it would certainly be squashed by then With her beauty, the beaux of the ton will be very agreeable and forgiving”
Adel sighed “Very well Onith our plan”
Evie gave her an approving look, then with a wink, she darted away
Adel turned toward the large potted palm to her left, and with the utmost secrecy, slipped the keys into the neckline at her boso jostled loose, for it was unlikely she would partake in any of the night’s frivolities
She strolled along the edge of the ballroo softly to the lively music of the quadrille She hadn’t been asked to dance all evening, though she had worn the own she owned Her underdress of palest blue silk had t
he bodice decorated with tiny forget-me-not flowers embroidered with seed pearls The three rows of ruched ribbon showed beneath her siht she looked particularly fine She also wore her mother’s pearls in her ears and around her throat, and had caught her hair in a loose chignon with a few loose tendrils cascading in a becolances had drifted her way, but none of the young men had made any overtures for even conversation
With a soft sigh she directed her gaze to the dance floor, an ache building in her chest When was the last tinizant of only being passably pretty without e But surely the gentleh to dance with the young ladies without obvious partners
She straightened her spine, refusing to daement would be announced, and she would be free as much as it was possible to be unencuht, for Mr Atas a dear friend, and when they wed he would treat her with respect and gentle regard, not as property
She lifted the cha if she should make Mr Atwood privy to their plan Evie had been adas went awry, but Adel wanted sohly compromise
Compromised
Nerves erupted in her stomach and her hands trembled What if the resultant scandal was so vast, she was unable to return to society? And Mr Atwood’s a a successful barrister were destroyed in the aftermath? And Helena was tarnished by association?
You are being a ninny Only Lady Gladstone will know, Adel sternly reminded herself The countess was very discreet After all, she had already spied Evie in a shocking embrace with the scarred and aloof Marquess of Westfall, and none in society had been any the wiser The countess had swept it under the rug, no doubt because of the man’s dastardly reputation
Adel mentally ticked off all the scandals of the past season
Lady Sophie was seen kissing her father’s valet That young lady was now being welco rooms after only a few short months Of course, she was now the Viscountess of Rayburn
Lady Thornton had cuckolded her duke, and she was somehow still a powerful force in society