Nine Buck's Row by Jennifer Wilde

Author:Jennifer Wilde
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781497698321
Publisher: Open Road Media Romance

12

The invitation arrived Monday afternoon, personally delivered by a servant in a black suit, his nostrils sniffing with disdain as he looked up and down Buck’s Row. Nicholas Craig was out, so I took the large creamy envelope myself. The servant climbed into his carriage and drove away, eager to be gone from such a shabby neighborhood. I hurried into the shop, showing Maggie what he had brought.

“It looks like an invitation,” she said.

“It is,” I replied. “I’m sure of it. From Lady Cordelia Belmount. She’s giving a ball on the twenty-fifth. See the back of the envelope—‘Belmount House, Kensington Gardens.’ It’s bound to be an invitation.”

“Very likely,” Maggie agreed.

“He won’t go, of course,” I said glumly. “We met her at the theater. She invited us then. He said he had no time for anything so frivolous. She wanted me to come, too. Her nephews will be there. She wanted me to meet them.”

Maggie laid her hand over mine, squeezing it gently.

“You have your heart set on going, don’t you?”

“Ever since she invited us that night at the theater, I thought—but he’s never mentioned it since. He’s much too busy. He has to work on that blessed report. There’s not a chance in the world he’d go.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Maggie said firmly, a determined look in her eyes.

Maggie put the envelope in the pocket of her apron. The bell over the door rang and a customer came in. I took Scrappy out to the courtyard, determined to forget all about it. I put him down, and he scampered away to examine a caterpillar that had fallen from one of the trees. There were footsteps coming down the narrow passageway that led to the courtyard from the street. I stood up, brushing my skirts. It was probably Daniel Lord coming back from some afternoon errand. He always came around to the courtyard and went up the backstairs so as not to disturb anyone in the house. I hadn’t seen him over the weekend, but I knew he hadn’t moved. That had probably just been a fancy. Perhaps he would be in a sunnier mood today.…

It wasn’t Daniel Lord. It was Millie.

She stepped hesitantly into the courtyard, looking extremely nervous. I hardly recognized her. Coppery red curls were stacked on top of her head, fastened with a black velvet ribbon. The new hair style made her look older, and there were shadows under her eyes. She was wearing a dress made of the red silk patterned with tiny black flowers. The bodice was tight, and the skirt was very full, billowing over her petticoats. A black feather boa was wrapped around her arms.

“Millie!” I exclaimed.

She looked at me with startled eyes.

“Why didn’t you come in the front door?” I asked.

“I—I thought you might be back here. I was going to go on up to your room if you weren’t.”

“You look—different.”

“It’s the dress,” she said, eyes flashing brightly. “Isn’t it smashing? I—I came to show it to you. That’s why I came.

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