Lady Bellingham wished she had another glass of sherry. Julien hadn’t poured her enough, drat him.
Julien, however, seemed to think nothing was amiss and moved gracefully toward Kate.
“Good evening, Mistress Katharine. It is indeed a pleasure to see you again. I hope that you had a pleasant journey to London and have been enjoying the sights.” He took her hand and brushed his lips lightly over her fingers.
14
A dull flush spread over her face. She snatched her hand away. “Indeed.”
“I trust your buttons are now adequately arranged?”
“I said I was sorry that I was a trifle late.”
“I don’t recall asking you for an apology. In fact, I quite understand.”
She wanted very much to cosh him on the head with a poker that was negligently set by the fireplace. He looked very calm, very much in control. She felt stupid and vulnerable and she wanted to scream at him, yes, perhaps even shoot him. “Do we continue this nonsense, my lord, or do we leave to see the play you have so graciously chosen?”
He leaned close to her and said softly, “Cold Kate. Indifferent Kate. Surely there must be something written somewhere about such a Kate.”
Julien turned before she could answer and said to Lady Bellingham, “If you’ve finished your sherry, ma’am, perhaps we should be leaving. I’m certain,” he added, glancing at Kate, “that you wouldn’t want to miss the first act of Macbeth.”
Julien helped Lady Bellingham to her feet and arranged the silk paisley shawl around her plump shoulders.
Lady Bellingham watched Kate turn on her heel and sail from the room, her chin so high she’d trip if she chanced to run into anything. She turned a troubled countenance to Julien. “Oh, dear. Perhaps I should speak to her, Julien. She’s being quite provoking, you know.”
“Oh, no, she’s behaving admirably, I assure you. She’s young, she’s in a situation she can’t control, and she’s just learning to fence verbally. Already she does it quite well. On no account, ma’am, I beg of you, say anything to her.” He took her arm and steered her after Katharine.
As they walked through the front door, Julien leaned down and said, “Believe me, Lady Bella, I have the situation well in control, and that, naturally, is what irks her to wishing she could strangle me and hurl my body into the Thames.”
She saw the calm look of self-assurance on his face, and thought that perhaps he did. She felt a momentary twinge of concern over Katharine. Although she was an ambitious mama, well versed in the art of matchmaking, she would never have dreamed of pushing her offspring into marriages that were distasteful to them. She shook her head in wonder. How any breathing cogent female wouldn’t wish to marry the earl of March was more than she could fathom.
As Julien helped her into the carriage, she cast an uncertain glance at Kate, who was sitting ramrod-stiff, gazing out of the carriage window. She would have given up her medicinal dosage of sherry for a week to know what was going on in the girl’s head.
Julien swung himself into the carriage and seated himself opposite Kate and Lady Bellingham. He tapped his cane on the roof of the carriage, and Wilbury whipped up the horses.
“So we are to see Macbeth,” Lady Bellingham said brightly.
“Yes, ma’am. I do hope you approve my choice.”
She wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about seeing a Shakespearean play, for she found the dramatic lines, delivered with wild gesticulations, beyond her comprehension and thus rather boring. Her thoughts leaped ahead to the sumptuous supper they would enjoy after the play. Even Katharine at her most glacial wouldn’t spoil that part of her evening.
Though London was rather thin of company this time of year, many of the ton having followed the Regent to Brighton for the summer, there was still a sizable crowd to attend Kemble’s performance. Lady Bellingham was able to wave to several acquaintances as they took their seats in the elegant box that Julien reserved each season.
Kate wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but she found herself seated between Lady Bellingham and the earl. She turned her shoulder toward him, fastening her eyes on the stage. Despite her best efforts, however, she quickly became quite involved with Kemble.
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