A Lady Out of Time (Helen Foster) by Hanson Caroline

Author:Hanson, Caroline [Hanson, Caroline]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Romance, Love Story
Published: 2013-12-12T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Edward helped her down from the carriage and led them in. As they entered the room, she felt as if everyone turned to look at them, a mixture of surprise and curiosity on everyone’s face. It was rather odd to think that everyone in this room was probably married to someone else, and that all the women were mistresses. But that’s what it meant to go to an event for the demimonde. The room was overly-warm from the multitude of candles used to light up the room. The smell of perfume cloying, and the noise hit her like an invisible wall, everyone talking loudly and laughing, their voices bouncing off the polished floor.

There were too many damn people in one room.

Edward extended his arm, and she held onto him as he began to move through the crowd.

The women were pale, some to the extent of being sallow, and they all looked at her with flinty interest. That they saw her as blatantly inferior was obvious. And yet the men all looked at her as if they were imagining her doing perverse things. A majority of the men were older, a slightly dissipated look to them, their cheeks florid and their laugh desperate.

But one man stood out, appearing so healthy and handsome, broad-shouldered and dashing that Helen blinked twice. His thick blond hair was parted in the middle, and he was significantly taller than most men in the room. He looks like a damned Aryan poster boy.

And then she saw Roland Black.

She’d seen a very dour-looking photograph of him before she left. An ordinary man in his early forties, he didn’t necessarily look like someone who’d created a weapon that changed the world. He had spent a lot of time on boats, and his skin had a weathered quality to it. His hair was gray, his figure trim, and he was talking very earnestly to a man with a portly belly and a huge monocle. She caught the word deer and deduced they were talking about hunting.

“That’s him,” she said.

“The atrocious waistcoat gives him away. Americans,” he said the word as if it was a fatal disease. Helen squashed a smile. His waistcoat was rather striking. China was newly open to trade, and it was now fashionable to wear Chinese silks. A brilliant red with multi-colored birds cavorting about like crazy.

Edward led them up to Mr. Black who had begun laughing at something the other man said. Edward introduced himself to Mr. Black, who exclaimed in a very American way that it was a great honor to meet such a distinguished peer of the realm.

“And this is Miss Foster, a fellow American,” Edward said, and Helen curtsied very low, so low that all the men could get a good look at her bosom. After all, it couldn’t hurt. She smiled at Mr. Black and he blinked as if dazzled.

“It is a great honor to meet you, sir. My father is a gun enthusiast and speaks quite highly of you.”

Roland Black appeared startled.

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