The Appearance of Impropriety by Kate Dolan

Author:Kate Dolan [Dolan, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical, Regency
ISBN: 9781419958229
Google: HetJPgAACAAJ
Publisher: Ellora's Cave Publishing, Incorporated
Published: 2009-01-08T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

As Sir Thomas made his announcement, Miss Bayles came forward to hand Heyward a folded piece of paper with the directions for the fortunetelling game. If it were as simple as the mathematics “mind reading,” he figured he would have no trouble.

That is, he would have no trouble if he kept from looking at her. With increasing frequency, he noticed that his admiration for her beauty, quick wit, consideration and most of all her smile drove him to distraction. That she seemed to show some regard for him, or at least had taken an interest in his affairs, made his heart soar. Nothing could come of it, of course. But her attention still left him giddy and a little breathless—in a word, happy.

Sir Thomas nodded for him to begin, so there was no time to read the paper before he started. “Gentleman and ladies,” he announced. “The art and science of foretelling the future is but little understood even among its practitioners. I shall need quiet for concentration and time to still the mind.” He read the first few directions on the paper while hiding it in his hands and pretending to look down in contemplation.

“For this particular demonstration, I will need a volunteer whose fortune is to be read.” He felt his face flush and he tried not to look at Miss Bayles. “I need a young lady, and she must be supplied with paper and a writing implement.”

The crowd vying to be chosen lowered their hands, for most of them were men and older at that. But the instructions on the page from the young lady who conducted experiments—Heyward only knew her as Helen—specifically stated that the person to be questioned should be unmarried and female.

One of his dance partners, a young woman of uncommon grace and unnerving confidence, stepped forward and gave an elegant curtsey. “Please tell my fortune, Lieutenant.”

Heyward asked for a chair and used the moment’s delay to read the next instruction.

“Very well. Now I give you a series of choices and you are to write the answer that comes into your mind. Think carefully before you answer, for I will be giving you the questions that enable you to foretell your own future.”

Some laughs and excited conversation followed, but the lieutenant silenced the noise with a look. Then he stole a glance at his paper. He would never remember all the questions, so he would only read a few at a time. “Number one. Write yes.”

The girl—her gown said that she was of age and officially out, but she looked no older than his sister Jane and therefore he could only think of her as a girl—wrote her answer and looked up expectantly. “Now, pray tell, what is the question that I have just answered?”

“You do not find out until the end. Your answers must come from the infinite beyond and not from what your conscious mind supposes.”

She nodded demurely. “Very well. What is number two?”

“This time, choose between yes and no.”

After she wrote her answer and he repeated the question two times.

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