Page 49 of Never a Proper Lady

I am delighted to inform you that I shall be able to attend your soirée. My new employer has agreed to give me a half day off, only because her niece will be in town for a short visit. It’s quite a concession for Mrs. Templemore, I assure you, but still, I am grateful. It’s been ever so long since I’ve seen my friends except unexpectedly seeing Purity at a house party recently.

For one accustomed to traveling worldwide for several years, remaining in England for any period is a blessing. Although I’m not positive if given the opportunity to act as a companion for a world traveler again, I would not seize it. How else does a woman of my station visit so many enthralling places and see so many awe-inspiring sights?

~Miss Trinity Ablethorne, in a brief note to Mrs. Joy Morrisette

Dovetonwick Court upper story

Ten minutes later

Head down and face averted, Faith made straight for Lady Edyth’s bedchamber. Not an easy task with a house swarming with guests, made worse by her atrocious sense of direction. That was the main reason she daren’t walk to the village tonight. She’d become lost for certain.

The whole while Faith negotiated the various corridors and passages, she prayed she wouldn’t encounter anyone and have to offer an explanation for her reddened eyes and why she wasn’t enjoying the festivities or hanging on the arm of her betrothed.

Former fake betrothed.

I rue the day I ever met the mulish, opinionated termagant.

Constantine’s spiteful words replayed in her head, a cruel mantra of her failings.

How stupid of her to have thought they’d turned a corner in their relationship—that they might become friends or… Perhaps something more.

She hadn’t examined what the more might entail. No sense putting the cart before the horse and all that. Since when did she, pragmatic and practical Faith Roth, entertain fanciful daydreams?

Twice on her solitary sojourn to Lady Edyth’s bedchamber, Faith made wrong turns and had to retrace her steps. Once, her heart thudding like a kettle drum between her ears, she’d dived behind a curtained alcove and held her breath when she heard men’s voices in the distance. She feared the Kellinggraves had come in search of her, and she was not prepared to face any of the family just yet.

Thankfully, her crying stint had been short-lived. Not only wasn’t she a hen-hearted weeper or the self-pitying sort by nature, but Faith also refused to allow Lord Constantine that control over her. Her initial despair and chagrin had transformed into justified, fulminating anger. That anger fueled her resolve to be away from Dovetonwick Court tonight—wisdom be hanged.

That he could speak of her so disparagingly after they’d shared that marvelous kiss in the gardens. Well, that clearly indicated the kiss meant far more to her than him.

And why shouldn’t it?

He was a man of the world, after all. Rich, handsome, privileged. He probably kissed women all of the time. Pretty, perfumed, creamy-skinned women who whispered how much they adored him, and not commoners with ink-stained fingers and a smattering of freckles across their nose.

Bah.

So what if it had been Faith’s first kiss?

Those were always memorable.

Weren’t they?

That was the only reason she’d found his firm lips upon hers special. There would be other kisses.

Mayhap.

Faith hadn’t quite planned how to depart the premises without alerting the duke and duchess. They’d try to talk her out of leaving. At least the duchess would.

Faith felt sure of it.

She couldn’t very well order a coach brought ’round, could she?

And she’d gargle hot coals before she asked to use Constantine’s conveyance.

She intended to stay at a lodging house in the village tonight, and tomorrow, she’d buy a ticket to London on the mail coach. That was if Constantine paid her wages owed.

Surely after his contemptible behavior, he’d not begrudge Faith her wages.

He might very well do so to force her to stay and play out the reprehensible charade. The one thing she despised more than lying was being manipulated. The Kellinggraves had forced her to subject herself to both, and it stirred resentment.