Scandal's Heiress by Amelia Smith

Author:Amelia Smith
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Regency romance
Publisher: A. Smith
Published: 2013-09-09T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10: Georgiana's Soiree

Hyacinth waited in the front parlor where Sophie was sulking, dejected at being left behind.

“At least you have something to read,” Hyacinth said.

Sophie brightened. “Thanks to you! It was such an adventure.” A puzzled look crossed her face. “Where did you go, though?”

Hyacinth glanced at the door and listened for any sound of her aunt's approach. She didn't want to lie, but maybe a half-truth would do.

“I was... I had to find out something about the other half of my family,” she said.

“And did you?”

“I did, but I can't tell you about it, not yet.”

Sophie's eyes went wide. “Mama is coming!”

Hyacinth hadn't heard anything. It was her turn to be puzzled.

“I heard her door,” Sophie said. “It creaks just a little, like this.” She leaned forward and made a soft, high-pitched sound which Hyacinth could barely hear. She looked very childish when she did it.

“I couldn't hear a thing,” Hyacinth said, “but I believe you.”

Sophie flounced her skirts and straightened her posture. “I will be so bored,” she complained loudly.

“I don't know that the soirée will be very exciting, either,” Hyacinth offered.

“Mama tells me that the Pentlys are never boring.”

“I see,” Hyacinth said, though she didn't really. Clearly, Aunt Celia hadn't obeyed her own rule about never mentioning the Pentlys.

“She often visits Georgiana, who is an old maid,” Sophie confided.

“Is she?” Hyacinth asked. “She didn't seem much older than I am.”

Sophie shook her head vehemently. “I don’t know how old she is, only that she is considered to be on the shelf. And she is nearly as obsessed with fashion as Mama is. That’s what they always talk about, Mama says.”

Finally, Hyacinth heard the sound of Aunt Celia coming up the hall, skirts swishing. Sophie picked up her embroidery.

Aunt Celia entered and inspected Hyacinth. “I think that is quite a good color for you,” she declared. Hyacinth's gown was made of soft, pale blue silk, which set off her eyes perfectly. “You will have a good complexion once another month here drives that Mediterranean sun off your face,” she added.

Hyacinth wished there were a bit more sun in London to keep her complexion ruined.

“Your gown is exquisite as always, Aunt,” she said, instead. Aunt Celia favored bright, intense colors. She wore a dress of lapis lazuli blue velvet with ornate gold trim. She looked nearly regal.

She acknowledged Hyacinth's compliment with a brief nod. “Well, we really must be going,” she said. “It is good to be late, but not too late!”

#

Aunt Celia spent the entire drive to Windcastle House enumerating her daughter's shortcomings and worrying about her entrance to society, still nearly five years away. Hyacinth could not agree with most of her aunt's judgments, but the carriage was dark and her aunt ignored her long silences. She ought to tell Aunt Celia about her inheritance. She ought to mention her plans to build a school, but not yet, and not on the way to a soirée.

“Well,” her aunt said. “Which do you prefer?”

“Which what?” Hyacinth said.

Aunt Celia let out a deep, exasperated sigh.

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