Lady Victoria's Mistake_Regency Romances by Amy Corwin

Author:Amy Corwin [Corwin, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scarsdale Publishing, Ltd
Published: 2017-12-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

So, someone had taken Mrs. Stedman’s tiara. John studied the condemning expressions worn by the other guests and couldn’t help but think they were all idiots. Every last one of them.

Even her parents, shame that it was.

Clearly, Lady Victoria was innocent. Any fool could see that.

“What about that chit on the street?” Wickson wailed, gesturing wildly at the bow window behind them. “I tell you—I saw her running down the street!”

“Did you not give your pelisse to Rose, dear?” Lady Longmoor asked plaintively, her eyes fixed upon her daughter’s strained face.

“I told her she could have it—I don’t know whether she took it or not,” Lady Victoria replied, her grip on John’s arm tightening.

Her beautiful, delicate face was pale with tension, and her eyes shadowed. The urge to throw his arm around her was so strong that he took a step closer before he could stop himself. The wound in his side pulled, and a dull twinge of pain made him suck in a quick breath. Ignoring his own discomfort, he focused on the scene playing out in front of him like one of Shakespeare’s more melodramatic moments.

Lady Victoria’s silken gown brushed against his leg as he pressed a steadying palm against the hollow of her back. Slowly, her rigid muscles relaxed.

“Steady on,” he murmured softly. Glancing around, he said, “There is no need to make foolish accusations. I am sure if we permit cooler heads to prevail, we can discover what has happened to Mrs. Stedman’s headdress.”

“Indeed,” Sir Arnold agreed heartily, relief wreathing his round face with a smile as he joined them. “No need for a fuss. Send for this Rose and request her to bring back the tiara. No need to discuss it further. Forgive and forget—that’s what I say. No need for all this bother.” He glanced around as if he’d never been in his drawing room before. “Ring for paper and whatnot, shall I?” His brown brows rose expectantly, and he ran a hand through the curls his valet had so carefully arranged earlier to disguise Sir Arnold’s receding hairline. His brown hair sprung up in response, forming a tangled crown across the top of his shiny head.

Next to John, Lady Victoria sighed, released his forearm, and folded her arms protectively against her waist. “Perhaps it is just as well to request her presence. She will be able to tell you that I did not send for her, or arrange for her to take away anything from this house.”

She sounded so tired, so discouraged, that John wanted to call a carriage and take her away. There was no reason for her to be treated so cruelly by those who loved her best and ought to defend her. Grinding his teeth together, he kept his coiling anger well-hidden behind a bland expression.

“Certainly, we may send for your maid,” he agreed. “However, in the meantime, I suggest we do a bit of investigating of our own.”

Sir Arnold clasped his hands behind his back and glared at the doorway.

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