Page 9 of The Ruin of Miss Amelia Burrowes (The Matchmaker’s Ball #4)

The next afternoon, Amelia found herself in the small front reception room decked out in her best walking gown—the one of celestial blue with too many ruffles that Mama had insisted she have made up—nervously fidgeting with the strings of her reticule, awaiting the butler’s announcement of Lord Ainsley…Nathan’s arrival. They had agreed last evening, after that whirlwind proposal, that they would meet in the early part of the afternoon to begin their formal courtship, spend some time visiting an art gallery in Old Bond Street Nathan was keen for her to see then end up at Hyde Park for the Strut.

Amelia was skeptical, fearing the outing would become a fiasco. The other night at Lady Hamilton’s had been her first time out in public in years, and she’d managed to avoid the notice of most people—save Lord Ainsley, of course. And even though the evening at Mrs. Doyle’s had gone amazingly well, she’d been holding her breath, waiting for something dreadful to happen the entire time. She’d as soon keep their courtship as private as possible, however Nathan had insisted she continue to be seen in Society, which, admittedly, made sense. So what else could she do but try?

A strident knock sounded at the door, making Amelia jump, and pull the strings of the reticule as tight as they would go. She put on what she hoped was a pleasant smile and tried to relax her shoulders as Lord Ainsley strode in, looking quite dashing in buff and blue with black Hessians.

“Good afternoon, Amelia.” He smiled broadly, and her stomach flipped. The man was simply too handsome for words.

“Good afternoon, Nathan.” She curtsied, more from habit than anything else, and her cheeks heated when his grin grew wider.

“We have fine weather for an outing, which I’m hoping will entice an exceptional number of people to take the air later today.” His gaze pinned her where she stood. “You must become accustomed to being seen with me, my dear, and the ton needs to acknowledge you will soon be Lady Ainsley and accord you the respect of that position.”

“And what better way than by being thrust into the thick of things after being hidden for so long?” Amelia truly wasn’t angry at the situation, but she would’ve preferred to have been courted by Nathan in a less public manner.

“Exactly.” He offered his arm, and she took it with a sigh. “And as you look particularly pretty today, I am more than proud to show you off to the ton .” He patted her hand as they stepped into the brilliant sunshine. “You will enjoy this outing, I assure you, my dear. Just allow yourself to relax and revel in the beauty of the artworks.”

That she certainly could do. She’d had little opportunity to see fine paintings over the past years, so she’d been particularly happy when Nathan had suggested they attend the Old Bond Street exhibition. If only it could’ve been a private viewing, she would’ve enjoyed it more, but she plastered a smile on her face as they set off. “I am looking forward to seeing them, I assure you.”

A brisk quarter-of-an-hour walk brought them to the door of the gallery, and Amelia was awestruck the moment they set foot inside. The walls of the establishment were covered, floor to ceiling, with gorgeous watercolors of all manner of subject. Floral landscapes, still lifes, seascapes in all sizes and shapes mesmerized Amelia’s senses. Never had she seen so many paintings all at once. The sheer magnitude of it made her giddy, and she latched onto Nathan’s arm even tighter. “It’s amazing.”

“I thought you might enjoy seeing some new artwork.” He grinned down at her. “Please let me know if you take a fancy to any of them—perhaps something to hang in the viscountess’s apartments? We can make our first art purchase as a couple.”

Amelia gazed up at him, so stunned her mouth fell open. She could purchase these magnificent paintings?

Nathan chuckled, put a finger under her chin, and gently pushed it upward. “Don’t look so shocked. This is a gallery, not a museum. Anyone can purchase them.”

Shaking her head, trying to wrap her mind around what he’d just said, Amelia had the sudden urge to rise up on her toes and kiss Nathan. Of course, she resisted the impulse. She wasn’t about to behave scandalously in public. Once they were in private again, however, she intended to act on that desire. Thoroughly. “That is a wonderful thought, my lord. I will let you know if any of the paintings strike a chord.”

After perusing all the works in the room, commenting now and then, they moved on to another, similarly hung room. Here, the watercolors appeared to be on smaller canvases, which appealed to Amelia because they seemed more…intimate. Nathan had taken her and her parents on a tour of his London townhouse yesterday, and she’d noted empty spaces on either side of the fireplace in the apartments that were to be hers. Perhaps she could find some companion pieces to hang there? Suddenly buoyed by the prospect, she studied the different pictures closely, hoping to spot something that took her fancy. As they moved around the room, she craned her neck to see a pair of paintings near the ceiling.

She nodded to Nathan and pointed upward. “What do you think of those, my lord?”

He peered up as well. “The roses in the white and blue vases?”

She nodded. Something about the composition of the pink and red flowers, very cunningly arranged so the blooms seemed to nod at her, made her smile. “I think they would do well beside the fire in the viscountess’s sitting room.”

“I think you are correct, my dear.” Nathan squeezed her hand. “Would you like me to arrange for their purchase?”

“Oh, yes, please.” Absolutely thrilled, Amelia nodded enthusiastically. If not for the need to maintain decorum, she’d have clapped her hands with glee. “I will continue to look at all the other lovely artwork, but I can see these two already hanging on your walls.”

“Our walls, you mean.” He patted her hand then loosed it from his elbow. “Continue shopping. I will speak to the manager and return shortly.” Nathan moved away then came back. “You might also look at that section of portraiture,” he gestured to the wall to their right, “to see what kind of pose you will like painted of you.”

“What?” Amelia caught her breath.

“All Ainsley viscountesses have their portraits painted during their first year of marriage and placed in the gallery back at Ainsley Manor in Somerset. A family custom I will be happy to continue.” He chuckled. “Although I intend to have your picture hung in my chambers where I can gaze at you whenever you are not by my side.”

“Oh, Ainsley.” Amelia’s throat threatened to close as tears of joy gathered there. His words spoke of his deep affection for her, of the splendid life he expected them to have together. It was almost more than she could have dared to hope for.

“I will return shortly, my dear.” He placed a quick kiss on her hand then strode away in search of the gallery’s manager.

Collecting herself, trying to keep her emotions in check, Amelia dutifully turned toward the section of wall that held portraits of men, women, children, and family groups. Never had she imagined she’d be sitting for a portrait herself. She stepped back, intending to start with the pictures high above her and bumped into someone she’d not noticed standing behind her.

“Oh, I beg your pardon,” Amelia spoke automatically to the middle-aged lady in a dark blue gown, wisps of her graying hair escaping from under a non-descript bonnet of the same material. “I’m so sorry…” Amelia was in the midst of her apology when she realized she actually knew the woman, an old acquaintance of her mother’s. “Oh, Mrs. Sheldon. I didn’t see you there behind me.” Amelia bobbed a curtsy. “How do you do?”

The woman smiled, opened her mouth to speak, then froze, her eyes taking Amelia’s face in then turning as hard as granite. She snapped her mouth shut, sharply tugged her skirts away from Amelia, even though they’d been nowhere near her then turned on her heel and stormed off.

Stunned, Amelia stared after the retreating figure who’d joined a little knot of people also viewing the paintings. Mrs. Sheldon’s head bobbed animatedly as she spoke to the group. Occasionally, she glared at Amelia and pointed toward her, and the people turned to look at her as well.

Amelia turned away, only to be stopped by the gawking stares of others in the gallery. Immediately, she wished she’d worn a shawl rather than a Spencer so she could draw it around her as a type of protection, inadequate though it might be. She felt so exposed now, with all eyes trained on her. Panic made her heart beat like the wings of a frantic bird against a windowpane. Blood pounded in her ears. If she swooned in so public a place, she hoped she would simply die right here and now rather than suffer the lingering death her shame would bring her.

“Amelia?” The soothing sound of Nathan’s voice brought her back from the brink of disaster. “What is wrong, my dear?”

She turned agonized eyes toward him. “Can we please leave, Nathan?”

“Of course, sweetheart.” Without any further inquiry, he immediately tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and led her back through the galleries, outside onto the busy sidewalk. “Is that better?”

She nodded, still somewhat overcome.

“Then let us stroll toward Gunter’s. An ice will be soothing to you, I daresay.” Nathan kept glancing at her but said nothing else. Bless the man for giving her time to recover before having to tell him the shameful truth of what had happened.

As they walked, her heart stopped its racetrack rhythm and her breathing slowed to normal. “Thank you for understanding that I needed to leave the gallery without asking me to explain.”

“I will never press you, Amelia, if you do not wish to tell me something.” He kept them to their leisurely pace. “It’s the only way I know to deal with a woman, having learned it the hard way with my sister. Woe be to Haversham if he ever tries to force her to tell him anything before she’s good and ready.”

Amelia chuckled at that and suddenly felt immeasurably better. Nathan could raise her spirits like no one else she knew.

“Are you now ready to tell me what happened?”

She nodded. “I received the cut direct from my mother’s acquaintance, Mrs. Sheldon.”

“I see.” His eyes were focused straight forward, but his whole body tensed. “And you have not met this Mrs. Sheldon before now?”

“I have been in the country for ten years, Nathan.” Amelia sighed. If not for the wonderful man whose arm she held onto for dear life, she would’ve wished herself back at their home, The Burrow, this moment. “I’ve not met anyone outside our village and market town since the summer of my come out.”

“Forgive me, my dear. I keep forgetting you have not been in London for such a while.” He turned them into Berkely Square. “So Mrs. Sheldon has not seen you since that summer, but she obviously knows of the scandal.” Nathan knitted his brows. “I’d hoped the ton would have mostly forgotten about it, but I fear now that is not the case. And not having forgotten, they are not ready to forgive it either, if we take your mother’s acquaintance as the Society weathercock.” He patted her hand. “But we will take action to remedy this, my dear. Trust me. And look there.” Nathan pointed to a smart black curricle across the street from the entrance to Gunter’s. “Allies.”

Amelia couldn’t see who was in the conveyance, but Nathan turned them toward it, so he obviously knew the owner.

“Well met, Haversham.” They came alongside the curricle just as Lord Haversham put a large mouthful of some purple ice into his mouth. The distraught gentleman made several hilarious faces as he struggled to down the ice without freezing his mouth.

His companion, Miss Locke, was laughing outright at his antics, her lemon-looking ice held in her hand. “You are well caught out, Haversham. Take care your whole head doesn’t freeze.” She beamed at her brother. “That was excellently timed, Nathan. I told him not to eat such big bites, but does the man listen to me?”

“Perhaps he’ll take heed from this incident and succumb to the inevitable in the future.” Nathan chuckled as he waited for his friend to be able to speak.

“What is inevitable, my lord?” Amelia was diverted enough to be able to ask.

“That Haversham listens to my sister and does as she bids him.” He shrugged. “It took me long enough to learn. I’d hoped he’d be smarter than I was, but now I think not.”

“You are all insufferable wretches, save for you, Miss Burrowes.” Lord Haversham wiped his lips and breathed through his mouth, gulping in the warm afternoon air as though it was a lifeline. “This elderflower ice is exquisite. Am I to be faulted and frozen simply because I wished to eat more than a spoonful at a time?”

“Apparently you are.” Miss Locke took a dainty bite of her ice, shooting her companion a speaking glance.

“What flavor of ice may I get you, Miss Burrowes?” Nathan turned to her, his mouth puckered as he tried not to smile at the banter between his sister and friend.

Suddenly, Amelia was hungry for her favorite. “Chocolate, please.”

Nathan’s brows shot up. “I would never have pegged you for a traditionalist, my dear. I’d have thought bergamot or perhaps even brown bread would be to your taste. Where is your sense of adventure?”

“Not in iced confectionery, I assure you.” Amelia made a face. “Brown bread sounds truly hideous for an ice.”

“Then I shall have to put myself forward for the experiment.” Nathan squared his shoulders then sighed. “I will say I prefer parmesan, but today, brown bread it is.”

“Oh, no, my lord.” Amelia giggled and hung onto his arm. “You needn’t sacrifice yourself. Choose whatever flavor you prefer. We need not be adventurers today.”

“I hear and obey, my lady.” Nathan bowed and hurried across the street, dodging nimbly between a landau and an ox cart.

“You have made the greatest change in my brother, Miss Burrowes.” Miss Locke turned her intense blue eyes on Amelia, causing her to quake in her shoes. She wasn’t entirely certain she wasn’t afraid of Nathan’s sister.

“Have I, Miss Locke?” She tried to make her voice light, but it turned out rather shrill instead.

“Yes, indeed.” The lady spooned up more of her ice and nodded. “I’ve never seen him this…happy. Have you, Haversham?”

Lord Haversham shook his head gravely. “No, I confess I have not. And I’ve known Ainsley almost my whole life.” He turned kind eyes on Amelia. “You bring out the best in him, Miss Burrowes. He is content at last.”

“Thank you, my lord. Miss Locke.” Amelia didn’t quite know what to say. She’d never thought of Nathan as other than loving and kind, but she’d never known him when not in her presence. If she truly helped him to be happy… “I know Lord Ainsley has given me a joy I had long despaired of. And if I have done the same for him, I can only thank God for it.”

“He’s much easier in his manner. Much less dictatorial toward me.” Miss Locke cut her eyes toward Lord Haversham, who returned her gaze with an innocence that would fool no one. “If for nothing else, Miss Burrowes, I thank you wholeheartedly for that.”

“Here we are.” Nathan appeared as if out of thin air and handed her a glass dish filled to overflowing with the sweet, chocolatey confection she loved.

“Thank you, my lord.” She managed to restrain herself from taking a large spoonful, remembering Lord Haversham’s recent difficulties. Still, she popped the spoon into her mouth quickly, reveling in the sweet taste she so seldom got to enjoy. “Umm. This is delicious. How is yours?”

“Delicious as well, although it’s as savory as it is sweet.” He spooned up a rather large bite then, with a glance at his friend, wolfed it down.

Amelia held her breath, waiting to see if there were to be ill effects, but Nathan continued to scoop the ice into his mouth in larger and larger spoonfuls, seemingly completely unconcerned about the possibility of a frozen mouth. When he’d finished, he smiled at them all before his countenance grew serious.

“I’m glad we came across you here, Kate, Haversham, as I am going to ask your help with a matter of grave importance to me and Miss Burrowes.”

The joy of the outing dimmed for Amelia. He was going to tell them about the incident in the gallery. Well, they had a right to know what kind of woman Lord Ainsley was marrying—one who might be snubbed publicly at any time, any place. They should be prepared for that possibility.

“Has something happened, Nathan?” Miss Locke’s voice turned serious, her demeanor suddenly alert.

“Yes, an unfortunate unpleasantness at the Old Bond Street Gallery just now.” Nathan’s face grew grim. “A woman known to Mrs. Burrowes gave Miss Burrowes the cut direct.”

“Good Lord.” Miss Locke glanced at Amelia, an uncharacteristic softness coming over her. “Are you quite all right, Miss Burrowes?”

“I am, Miss Locke.” She sighed, this confession coming hard. “It is not the first time such a thing has happened, although it is the first time in years.”

“And the fact that it has happened, and likely will continue to happen, has made me realize we must all work together to uncover the true circumstances from all those years ago to convince the ton that Miss Burrowes had acted in a scandalous manner when she actually had not.” Nathan’s gaze traveled from one to the other of the little circle.

“What do you think we can do to help, Ainsley?” Lord Haversham spoke up, his face drawn into sober lines.

“I’m requesting that we all meet tomorrow morning, at my house, to discuss what course of action we can take to remedy the situation.” His voice grew harsh. “I will not have the ton refusing to accept my wife in Society. So Miss Burrowes will tell us all exactly what transpired ten years ago with Lord Carrington, and we must figure out how that led to the misconception that she acted in a wanton manner.”

“So you want us to go sleuthing around town, brother?” Miss Locke perked up, as if this was a challenge she would love to undertake.

“Not around town, most likely, but if it takes a sleuth to get to the bottom of this, I’ll put my money on you, Kate.” Nathan turned to Amelia. “Are you ready to take this on, my dear? It may be painful to recall what happened all those years ago.”

Amelia shook her head. “I’ve lived with the shame of a ruined reputation this whole time because my family couldn’t convince the ton of my innocence.” It made her humble that Nathan had such rock steady faith in her virtue. If they could prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt before the wedding, she would relate everything to them. “But if you all are willing to try again, I will tell you everything I know.”