An Affair for the Season by Michaels Leigh

Author:Michaels, Leigh
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2014-01-08T05:00:00+00:00

“My lady?” her maid said tentatively the following afternoon as she laid out a dress for Julia and arranged her hair in preparation for receiving callers.

Julia barely heard her, for she was bemoaning the fact that once more it was her regular afternoon at home to entertain her friends and callers. Though it was a warm, sunny, beautiful day, there would be no ride this afternoon—and therefore, no James, only a whole lot of very dull women munching on cakes and nattering on about everyone in the ton.

It was somewhat reassuring to know that as long as she was actually in the room, Julia herself wouldn’t be the subject of gossip. Besides, listening to a couple of hours of that sort of discussion might serve to remind her to be more careful of her own reputation—which she certainly had not been at the opera.

How easily James had drawn her into making love with him! It had been sheerest chance that she’d recognized the final aria and realized how much time had passed. Of course, they could have waited for the entire crowd to clear—though how would they have known when it was safe to come out? And if they had waited too long, and been locked in together for the night…

James would have managed to keep me entertained.

She felt herself coloring as she thought about all the things he might have done, given complete privacy and the entire night. With an effort, she dismissed that daydream. She could hardly have trailed back to Bruton Street barely in time for breakfast, when the opera had been over for hours.

No, she simply must be more careful. At the Spragues’ upcoming ball, she would not allow James to lure her away from the crowd. She had an advantage this time; she would not be surprised when he turned up, for he’d told her he was coming. And he’d whispered something about an alcove under the stairs at the Spragues’ house—so she knew exactly in which direction danger lay. Stay away from the stairway, she reminded herself, and you’ll be just fine.

Belatedly she realized she hadn’t answered her maid. “Yes, Mary? What is it?”

“Your blue gown, ma’am—the one you wore to the opera last night. I thought at first the seams had simply come unstitched and I could fix the damage, but as you can see, the fabric tore right down the skirt.”

Julia sighed. “I know. I was there. I don’t suppose there’s enough extra width in the skirt to take that section out?”

“It would make a very awkward seam, ma’am.”

“I was afraid of that. Well, put it aside for now. Perhaps next year, round gowns will be out of fashion once more and we can make a virtue of that gash up the front.”

When she finished coiling her mistress’s glossy dark hair, Mary looked at Julia as if she feared Julia had lost her reason. “I just don’t understand how stepping on your hem while you climbed the steps at the opera house could have caused all that damage, ma’am.

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