Page 17 of The Unfortunate Debutante
“A bit?” Josette questioned.
Directing her next comment to Emma, Eliza asked, “Are you ready for your next lesson, or would you like to take a break?”
“Break, please,” Emma declared loudly.
Eliza laughed. “Fair enough. Let’s have some breakfast first.”
They walked over to a table where a buffet was set up and each picked up a plate. After Emma served herself, she walked over to a round table and accepted the proffered chair from the footman. He placed a napkin on her lap and filled her teacup.
“Thank you,” she acknowledged as she reached for her fork.
Sitting down next to her, Eliza asked, “How are your fingers?”
Emma looked down at her red, blistered fingers. “They hurt.” She glanced between Eliza and Josette. “How do you both make it look so easy?”
Reaching for her teacup, Josette gave her a mischievous smile. “The more you practice, the more it becomes second nature. Besides, every self-respecting lady should know how to climb down a wall.”
Emma arched an eyebrow. “For some strange reason, my boarding school curriculum did not offer a class in climbing down walls.”
“Pity,” Josette said before taking a long sip. “It’s quite a useful skill.”
Taking a moment to admire her friend, Emma couldn’t believe the transformation in Josette since she’d married Lord Morgan. She seemed freer, happier, and the sadness that had lurked in her eyes had been replaced with joy.
“I’m surprised that Morgan is letting you out of his sight,” Emma teased.
Josette let out a soft, airy laugh. “We arrived home late last night from our wedding tour, and he tried to persuade me to skip training this morning with Eliza.” She brought her fingers to her lips. “He was quite persuasive, I must admit.”
“How disconcerting,” Eliza chided in a mocking tone.
Josette brought her hands down to her lap. “But, in the end, I convinced Morgan to join me.”
Glancing around the veranda, Emma said, “I didn’t realize Morgan came along. Where is he?”
“He followed Benedict up to the nursery to play with Caroline,” Josette shared.
Eliza picked up a newspaper resting next to her plate. “Have you had a chance to read the newspaper, Emma?” she asked with a pointed look.
“No.” She shook her head. “Luke refused my request to see it.” Pushing her food haphazardly around the plate with her fork, she inquired, “What does it say?”
Opening the paper up to the Society page, Eliza read, “ ‘Miss Pearson was so inebriated that she passed out during the opening set with her guardian, Lord Downshire.’ ”
Emma’s fork stilled. “Everyone thinks I was inebriated?”
“Not to worry,” Eliza declared, folding the newspaper back to the first page.
Emma frowned. “How can you say that? My reputation is in tatters, and I have embarrassed my family.”
“You did no such thing,” Eliza contended. “Besides, the ton is a fickle lot. Once a new scandal comes to light, your accidents will become a forgotten memory.”
Josette wiped the sides of her mouth with her napkin. “There was a time when the Society papers dubbed me ‘Black Josette’ due to the timing of the unfortunate deaths of my family members.”
“Truly?” Emma asked, knowing Society now adored Lady Easton.
“It’s true,” Josette confessed. “I was sixteen at the time, and I chose to run from the horrible gossip and spiteful words being spewed at me.”
“What happened?” she found herself asking.
Lord Morgan’s smug voice came from the doorway. “She married a most dashingly handsome man, and Society fell at her feet.”
