Page 6 of Duke with a Lie (Wicked Dukes Society #4)
Curse the man. Unfortunately, it would seem that her feelings for him couldn’t be extinguished by his poor behavior alone.
A sigh interrupted her thoughts.
“Quite the handsome devil, isn’t he?”
Rhiannon turned to find a lady in a blue mask hovering over her. The woman’s eyes were warm. Her voice wasn’t familiar, which filled Rhiannon with relief. One of her greatest fears had been that she would come across someone who knew her and would easily see through her ruse.
Aside from Richford, who was busy attempting to ruin everything.
“You mustn’t say so in his vicinity,” she told her newfound companion. “He’s already intolerable enough.”
The woman chuckled. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”
“Of course not,” she said, smiling. “In fact, I’d be delighted.”
Her companion settled her repast on the table and then seated herself. “It is lovely to find a friend here. At least, I hope we shall be friends.”
Rhiannon’s need for an ally was even more obvious, given Richford’s campaign to continue locking her away in rooms.
“Nothing would make me happier,” she said sincerely. “It is going to be a dreadfully tedious house party if I only have Richford to speak with for the duration.”
Unlike most of the other guests, Richford hadn’t been masked this morning, so there was no need to shield his identity from her fellow revelers.
Perhaps he only bothered with the pretense on the first night.
She couldn’t be sure, and she hadn’t spied any of his fellow hosts yet either to determine whether he was alone in eschewing a disguise.
This was a new, dangerous world in which she found herself. It was thrilling to be a part of it, even if her chance was to be short-lived and even if Richford refused to see her as a woman.
The notion left a bitter taste in her mouth.
“The two of you are well acquainted, then?” her new friend asked at Rhiannon’s side.
“He is a friend of my family’s,” she answered, taking care to keep her response politic. “Do you have any acquaintances in attendance?”
“Yes, unfortunately, I do.” The woman’s lips pinched with distaste. “Only one, however.”
Rhiannon cut a delicate bite of pineapple. “Oh?”
She didn’t wish to pry, instead allowing her companion to reveal as much or as little as she preferred. This was a game they were all playing. One of secrecy and scandal.
“My husband,” the woman elaborated, bitterness tingeing her voice.
Sympathy swept over Rhiannon. Perhaps her friend was trapped in an unhappy marriage and both she and her spouse had come in search of comfort in the arms of another. Such arrangements were commonplace enough in polite society.
“Did the two of you arrive together, then?” she asked carefully.
“No.” The woman sliced her Bayonne ham with vigor. “He hasn’t even the slightest inkling that I am here.”
That certainly added another layer of mystery to their conversation.
“I see,” she offered, though, in truth, she didn’t see at all.
It wasn’t her place to pry, however. Heavens, they had only just met, and Rhiannon had a host of secrets of her own to protect. Starting with who she was and why she was in attendance.
“If we are to be friends, then we ought to call each other by name, do you not think?” her companion asked. “Not our true names, mind you, as I expect that given your mask, you’d like to remain anonymous, as would I for now. But a nom de plume , if you like.”
“Lady Blue?” Rhiannon suggested, considering that the woman was wearing a mask of that color which matched her silk morning gown.
“And Lady Pink,” her friend countered with a wry grin. “Perfect. But I do think we ought not to be so formal. You may call me Blue.”
“And you must also call me Pink,” she agreed, smiling at their silly game and grateful to have met someone who at least seemed friendly.
They shared a chuckle at the foolish names.
It would have been a long and lonely house party indeed if she’d been forced to rely on Richford for company. He had already proven himself an annoyance rather than a boon.
The two ate together for a few moments, their fellow houseguests moving about, gathering food from the sideboard and sitting in various seats a convenient distance away, affording them privacy.
“May I be bold enough to ask why you’ve come?” she asked Blue.
Her new friend sighed. “I’m not certain I know the answer to that. Why are you here, my dear?”
“I’m about to be betrothed,” Rhiannon answered quietly, making certain that no one else overheard. “I wanted…I don’t know…perhaps to understand what I shall be missing.”
And if she were brutally honest with herself, she would admit that she had come because she had known he would be in attendance. The Duke of Richford.
“You are not in love with your future husband, then?” her companion asked softly.
“He is a kind man. He has professed his love for me.” She paused, thinking about the earl and feeling none of the flames sparking to life that happened whenever she was within proximity to Richford.
Even when she was furious with him, and even after he had locked her in a room twice, her attraction to him was as magnetic as ever.
“You do not return the sentiment?” Blue asked shrewdly.
“I’m not certain I do. But perhaps, I hope, in time…”
“My dear, you mustn’t marry anyone thinking that your love will grow. Pray, trust me on this matter. The only thing that will grow is your resentment of him, until one day you’re choking on it, and by then, it shall be too late. You’ll be saddled with him until death do you part.”
Poor Blue had a very grim notion of marriage. Rhiannon wondered what had transpired between the woman and her husband to make her feel thus.
“Yours is not a love match?”
Blue laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “I’m not certain my husband is capable of that finer emotion.”
“He sounds perfectly dreadful,” Rhiannon said, feeling sorry for her new friend. “I scarcely think I would have come to this house party in search of the villain if I were you.”
“I’m not here to seek him out, my dear,” Blue said serenely. “I’m here to commit adultery so I can persuade the rotten man to divorce me.”
She finished her words with a beaming smile.
The woman’s husband was about to have a rather unpleasant surprise, Rhiannon decided. But whoever he was, it would serve him right.
They continued on with breakfast in a companionable silence.