Her Master's Touch by Patricia Watters

Author:Patricia Watters
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: romance, british, england, historical, english, london, india, love stories, lord, gypsy, opal, lady, debutante, london scene, london season
Publisher: Patricia Watters

CHAPTER SEVEN

To Elizabeth's relief, Damon did not return to their stateroom that day, but after missing both breakfast and lunch, she decided to venture up to the dining room for dinner. If at all possible, she would sit alone and refrain from talking to anyone. She had no idea where Damon had spent the day, or whether he had let it be known that he was a married man, so the less interaction she had with the other passengers, the better.

After slipping into a plain, poplin traveling dress fashioned in a dark shade of burgundy, with pleated puff sleeves and tiny tucks down the front of the fitted bodice —a relatively unadorned dress she hoped would not draw attention to herself—she made her way to the dining room. She did not wear the diamond-encircled emerald wedding ring that Damon had given her as part of the marriage arrangement, but kept it in her reticule in case she needed to play the role of bride. It was a role that would make use of the acting skills she'd acquired while living with the gypsies, skills she'd successfully used to mislead a merchant into giving her fresh vegetables for her three hungry children, and to hoodwink a traveling salesman into giving her tonic for her ailing baby, and to dupe a lord at the horse fair into buying a dyed black horse.

To her dismay, the maître d' seated her at a table with four other passengers—two sets of married couples, it appeared. The vacant chair beside her demanded an explanation, which she had no intention of providing. After cordial greetings that confirmed the couples' marital and high-born status, the middle-aged woman directly across from her smiled, and said, "I'm sorry dear, but I did not get your name."

Elizabeth looked around the table and realized all eyes were on her, waiting. Offering a tentative smile, she replied, "Elizabeth."

"Have you a husband aboard, or are you venturing to India to find one?" the woman asked, tagging her as one of the many 'fishing fleet' women aboard for that exact reason.

Elizabeth's eyes shifted uneasily with the woman's direct question. She suspected word was already out that Lord Damon Ravencroft had taken a wife, and the woman was intent on learning if the female in the unadorned, burgundy dress sitting across from her was Lady Ravencroft. Realizing she had little choice but to admit to the inevitable, she replied, "I have recently married. My husband is Lord Ravencroft." Uncertain where this interrogation was leading, she covertly withdrew the ring from her reticule and slipped it on her finger, the weight of it more like a manacle than a symbol of eternal love.

For a few moments no one spoke, and Elizabeth surmised that they were trying to digest the juicy bit of gossip they'd just been given. Two years ago she'd heard enough tittle-tattle from the servants at Shanti Bhavan to conclude that Damon was considered a notorious rake, a gem dealer of questionable integrity, and a

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