Page 24 of Visiting Miss Austen (Miss Austen #2)

Derbyshire, August 1799

‘Mark my words, you are going to fix this, Felicity!’

Seraphina Fitzroy stood before the mantelpiece, hands on her hips, and fixed me with a thunderous glare.

I met her accusing gaze in silence, my mind still reeling from Lucinda’s shocking revelation.

We’d moved to the privacy of the parlour after Max heard Seraphina screeching and strode into the entrance hall to see what was happening. He’d taken one look at Lucinda’s tear-streaked face and ushered us into the adjoining room. Our servants were discreet, but only human. Any hint of a drama would naturally draw their curiosity, and this was a juicy piece of gossip indeed .

‘Calm down, Seraphina,’ said Max, now positioned between Lucinda and me on the sofa. ‘What on earth is going on?’

Seraphina’s sapphire eyes pierced me like a dagger. ‘Are you going to tell him, or should I?’

I gulped and twisted my hands in my lap. ‘Uh, be my guest.’

Of course Max had to know, but it was marginally better coming from Seraphina’s lips. I had a feeling the less I said about my acquaintance with Dorian Hart, the better.

‘Very well.’ She took a deep breath and lifted her prominent chin.

‘I placed my daughter in the explicit care of your wife, Max. She agreed to chaperone Lucinda in Bath and introduce her to society with the intention of meeting a suitable husband.’

I screwed up my nose at that. Seraphina had forced me into the role of chaperone! But I kept my mouth shut and let her continue.

‘When Lucy wrote to me saying she was being courted by a man called Dorian Hart, I immediately turned to you for further information from your wife about his character. She wrote back saying everything was in hand and Lucy was quite safe!’ Her voice rose an octave.

I shifted in my seat as I felt Max’s thigh muscle twitching .

‘But now I discover this wasn’t the case at all,’ she continued. ‘My daughter was never safe with that man, and it is all Felicity’s fault!’

‘I don’t understand,’ said Max, sounding confused. ‘Yes, we know Dorian Hart is a rogue, but I thought he was no longer on the scene. Has he been writing to Lucy or—?’

‘She’s expecting his child, for God’s sake!’ spat Seraphina, deciding not to mince words.

Max’s whole body jerked; and Lucy, on his other side, started sniffling anew. ‘Oh no,’ he breathed, sounding horrified. ‘No no no! ’

‘Oh yes yes yes! ’ said Seraphina tightly. ‘She’s two months gone. My doctor has confirmed it. She was seduced at Hartmoor Castle, where your wife was supposed to be chaperoning her.’

Max’s head swivelled slowly round to me, and my heart sank when I saw his face. His usual healthy complexion was deathly pale, and his eyes were wide with shock. His jaw clenched and unclenched in quick succession, and I knew I was in deep trouble if I did not defend myself immediately.

I leapt up from the sofa and rounded on Seraphina. ‘I did everything in my power to protect Lucy at Hartmoor! I even locked her into her room. In fact, I locked all of us ladies in!’

Max gaped at me. ‘You locked everyone into their rooms?’

I rubbed the back of my hot, sweaty neck. ‘Well, yes, after I found out Dorian wanted to marry Lucy for her money. He and his friend Mr Smith-Withers were on the port ... It was a precaution ...’

Max’s eyes narrowed.

Too late I realised that my nervousness at being confronted by Seraphina had caused me to slip up. This was a detail of our stay at Hartmoor that I had not previously given to Max. Neither had I relayed my bribery attempt or Dorian’s subsequent attempt to seduce me. It was purely for Max’s own protection that I had not done so. He had a hot temper and was very protective of his womenfolk. There was no telling what he would do if he found out that Dorian had tried to ravish me with raspberries and cream.

The steely glint in Max’s eyes suggested that he was about to interrogate me further, but fortunately, Lucinda came to my rescue.

‘Please, Mama, Uncle Max. It was not Aunty Fliss’s fault!’ she cried. ‘She had no idea what was happening ... Dorian used a secret passage ...’

Now it was my turn to be confused .

A secret passage?

But even as I thought it, I surmised it was possible. For a rogue who knew Hartmoor castle like the back of his hand, anything was possible. There had been a secret passage from my bedroom to his art studio, so why not one to hers? And had I not escaped through one in the dungeon to the inn? The entire castle was probably riddled with them !

‘I ... I don’t know where the passage led to. He didn’t tell me. All I knew was that it was in my wardrobe. He came through on the first night we arrived, and I almost died of fright when the wardrobe door creaked open, especially as we had just been talking about ghosts ...’

‘Wait a moment,’ I said. ‘The first night?’

She nodded, lowering her eyes, and I groaned inwardly.

Locking her in had not made the slightest bit of difference! Dorian had planned on having access to her from day one. He had even gone so far as to tell her to pick the pink room because it matched her ‘pretty colouring’ .

I had thought I was clever, but I was not. If I had been really smart, I would have kept Lucinda in my room with me, where he could not touch her.

Still keeping her eyes downcast, she said, ‘It was not entirely Dorian’s fault either. I wanted to learn ...’ She drew a quick breath. ‘ Things . I thought that if we were going to be married, then I should know how to please him. And he agreed. He said to think of it as a higher education, one that I would not receive from a governess or my parents ...’

Seraphina’s face turned puce.

Oh Lord, I thought. If she ever gets her hands on Dorian Hart, she’s going to kill him.

Want to keep reading?

Trusting Miss Austen is available on lok_epub.