Читать книгу The Rake's Unveiling Of Lady Belle - Raven McAllan - Страница 9

Chapter One

Northumberland

Regency England

Really, how pathetic to have been reduced to this sort of behaviour. Skulking around like a thief.

Or a peeping Tom.

At the advanced age of fifteen she shouldn’t still be able to climb trees like a hoyden or indeed if she could, she ought to reject the notion out of hand. Nevertheless, needs must. After all how else would she be able to stay out of sight and drool at the way Phillip, Lord Macpherson—the recipient of all her childhood hero worship and dreams—touched the young damsel he’d taken into the barn, and then into the hayloft of his ancestral estate? Thank goodness they hadn’t thought to close the doors where the hay would be tossed down from inside the loft to the ground. That open aperture gave her the perfect view.

Belinda shivered and went hot and cold, as she clung on to the swaying branch of the old oak tree at the edge of the meadow as if it was about to break. She stared at it dubiously, but any lower and she could well be seen. That really would be beyond the pale.

It wasn’t solely the thought of being discovered that had her legs wrapped around the trunk and her arms the branch, but also the scenario that unfolded in front of her that had her transfixed.

Luckily the man and woman whom she spied upon were oblivious to her presence. Indeed they were so wrapped up in each other, Belinda doubted they would notice her if she ran in front of them naked, waved madly, and shouted beware of the bull, or the hayloft is on fire.

Not that she intended to. She needed to observe and learn.

She let her body sag, just a little, to enable her to watch as the couple sank into the soft bed of hay.

I hope a stalk goes where no stalk ever should.

The long strands of hay embraced them and Belinda tilted her head and squinted to peruse better. Lord Phillip muttered something to his companion that Belinda couldn’t hear, as he proceeded to nibble the neck of the lady, who wriggled and squirmed.

She’ll get marks on her gown if she’s not careful and how is she going to explain that away?

Phillip made his nibbling way lower, downward from his companion’s neck and… Belinda blinked and opened her eyes in a hurry so as not to miss anything.

Would he ever caress her, Belinda, like that? Bare her breasts and put his lips to her skin? Lift her skirts and move his hand upwards? Upwards to where? Her imagination ran riot. Surely not to those places she touched herself? Did a gentleman do such things? If he tried, would she let him succeed? The hay hid exactly what he did, and even if she hung down like a monkey in the Royal Menagerie she just couldn’t quite see what was going on. However… The lady’s skirts went high into the air and they covered his lordship’s head.

Oh, my.

For a brief moment Belinda allowed herself to imagine it was herself, not that beastly Lady Rosemary Minchin with Lord Phillip and she, not Rosemary, was letting him do all those things.

What did he see in Rosemary? She had a shrill and grating laugh, and treated those younger than herself with disdain, or even malice. Plus, it was generally agreed her eyes were unkind. Belinda didn’t know one lady who had a good word for Lady Rosemary, and it wasn’t generally down to sour grapes. According to Clarissa, Phillip’s sister, not a lot of gentlemen thought much of the woman after even a short association.

Even so, Rosemary’s body seemed to be of taste to Phillip, who emerged from his covering of silk and lace and turned his attention to her breasts, feasting on them as if they were all he desired.

Oh yes.

‘Mine I believe.’ His soft and arousing laugh drifted back to Belinda. ‘Such beautiful breasts, begging for my attention.’

The lady who had his attention sighed. ‘Oh, Lord Phillip.’

Phillip rolled on top of Rosemary and out of Belinda’s sight.

Goosebumps dotted Belinda’s arms and her throat went dry.

Oh my.

Then Rosemary gigged. Giggled, for goodness’ sake. It was no giggling matter, more a sigh and a moan situation, surely? What on earth did Phillip see in her? Apart from her breasts and…

Carefully, Belinda edged along the slender branch, peered between the leaves and shook her head in despair. It was a certainty, she decided, if Phillip did ever touch her like that, she wouldn’t be so miss-ish as the woman now pouting and pretending to smack him with her fan. Surely Rosemary was more than aware of why rakes and bucks suggested a walk in the gardens? Even Belinda, at her tender age, knew it wasn’t to admire the roses.

Belinda rolled her eyes. If only Phillip looked at her like he did his companion. As if she was the marchpane on the cake, the dessert course of a splendid meal, and… There her comparisons ended. Her youthful self couldn’t think of anything else.

But to be the recipient of such intense attention.

Oh yes, oh my.

Not yet, for at fifteen to his twenty-six, when he only saw her as his sister’s friend, and probably an annoying one at that, it was hardly likely, and Belinda was wise enough to know she wasn’t ready. However, one day?

Definitely, oh yes.

Behind the leaves that concealed her from the older couple, Belinda closed her eyes and indulged in a daydream of him with her, and…

And nothing else. Her imagination was oh so limited.

With a crack loud enough to waken the dead, the branch snapped. Belinda fell head first into a rhododendron bush, missing a prickly blackthorn by inches.

‘Oh, what was that?’ Rosemary’s voice was shrill and sent several birds whirring upwards from the roof of the barn with indignant squawks.

Belinda groaned silently, shut her eyes and waited to be discovered. It was the last thing she needed. To find herself in deep disgrace and probably never to be invited to her friend Clarissa’s home ever again.

Phillip laughed. She opened her eyes expecting to see him looking down at her. Instead she saw the sky.

‘It was probably a pigeon.’ His voice carried clearly back to her. ‘Or a duck.’

Belinda couldn’t help it. She was renowned at school for her ability to mimic. She quacked.

‘See, a duck. Now where were we?’

With stupid Lady Rosemary wittering like a widgeon. Belinda sighed, wriggled and sank deeper into the bush. She had no chance of scrambling out without being discovered. It was going to be a long afternoon.

Nevertheless, that sight of how Phillip appeared to worship his companion stayed with her throughout the years. From school, thence to her father’s house. Through all the stories of the women Phillip was alleged to be associated with, and those who tried to catch him and didn’t. From gossip she and Clarissa picked up and discussed in detail, to what they overheard the servants mention to each other. Even if one tenth was true he had a woman a day and plenty to spare. A typical rake. Why was it that men seemed to be dangerous creatures who gambled and cavorted throughout their lives with not a care in the world for the women they played with?

Although, in Lord Phillip’s case, it was said he never parted with a mistress in anger, and every woman still stayed on good terms with him. However, as not one of them, or indeed his lordship, subscribed to kiss and tell, most of what anyone could gossip about was pure conjecture.

With each piece of information they assimilated, through the scandals that rolled off him and the way he never let himself be caught in the marriage net, Belinda’s fascination and, she admitted, devotion never wavered. Her dreams were of him, only him. Oh to be the one who changed his ways.

To her annoyance and disgust, no other man ever seemed to match up to Lord Phillip Macpherson. Not that anyone really noticed her anyway. Belinda’s father had no intention of letting his daughter be seen and admired. When she wasn’t at school, he kept her mostly in the country, and if she ever came to town, Belinda certainly didn’t get involved in the balls and parties like her father and brothers did. Sometimes she wondered if people even knew she existed.

If it hadn’t been for Clarissa, her life would have been lonely indeed. Both at school and during the holidays. Clarissa’s father—her mother had died years before—welcomed Belinda into his household. As he was a man with many interests the girls were left to enjoy themselves. Hence her chance to watch Phillip and his amour.

Clarissa had the toothache and had retired to bed with oil of cloves. Phillip had turned up unannounced just after lunch and Belinda had stumbled upon him and Rosemary on her afternoon stroll. She still had a crescent-shaped scar on the base of her thumb where she’d had an argument with the blackthorn as she had finally extracted herself from it and the rhododendron.

In general though, Phillip was not around much so it was no wonder on the odd occasion their paths did cross, he never noticed her, other than as his sister’s friend. They achieved an amicable friendship albeit a distant one. No doubt he saw her as an extension of his little sister, and not someone to pay specific attention to. In one perverse way it was a relief. She didn’t want to discover his feet of clay or have her daydreams shattered. Sometimes reality was not the best thing to have.

Even though his actions were of a man who admired women, and thought they were put on the earth for his entertainment and enjoyment, he genuinely seemed to like his companions and none ever spoke a bad word about him. Not the attitude she perceived in her father or brothers. They, Belinda decided, treated women like rubbish, to be discarded when finished with and no longer needed. It was not an attitude she approved of, especially when it so often applied to her. It was no wonder she was wary of any man who even glanced her way.

Her upbringing had taught her that attention generally meant work for her to do, and no thanks or quarter given. If it wasn’t for Phillip, Belinda would have no positive thoughts about the males of the species at all. Even so, as she watched him sail through life, at times she did wonder if there was much difference between him and the others? Did any of them ever think about what they were doing and how it affected the recipients of their attention?

Somehow she thought not.

Especially, when at seventeen, her world as she knew it ended.

* * *

‘What?’ Lady Belinda Howells wiped her suddenly clammy hands on her apron as she stared in astonishment at Cedric, Lord Howells, who unfortunately was also her father. She shook her head and pressed her ears several times, convinced she was hearing things. ‘Are you mad?’

He scowled back at her, and defied her to reply further.

That of course was a red rag to a bull. Especially after his announcement. Which she noticed he seemed to have no intention of repeating.

‘I asked if you were suffering from something untoward in the head,’ she said with perfect clarity. ‘If you were deranged. What did you say?’

‘You heard me.’ He stomped his malacca cane—needed for effect not for illness—on the floor.

If there were any justice in this world he would’ve hit his toes. Sadly he didn’t.

‘You’re not deaf,’ he said irritably. ‘You heard me very well.’

Unfortunately. It was yet another example of how men behaved: Women meant nothing to them except as a commodity.

‘You want me to do what?’ Could she really believe her ears? ‘Are you bosky?’ Surely he had to be? He was her father for goodness’ sake. The man supposed to protect her from all harm. ‘I’m not yet out. Not been presented or had a season. Nothing. And you ask something like this of me? Never. Never, ever. What sort of father are you?’ She paced her father’s study and ignored the way his hands curled into fists around his cane and his cheeks grew red. ‘Actually if you ask this of me you are no father. You dare to tell me I must marry? Just to save you from your gambling debts and my brothers from their…their debauchery.’ Belinda stared at him, willing him to say it was all a mistake, that he was her father and would never do such a thing. She counted to ten. ‘Why should I pay the price for your immorality and spendthrift ways?’

‘You are my responsibility; you do as I say.’ He didn’t meet her eyes. With anyone else she would see that as a sign of remorse. Not with her father. With him it meant he had no intention of entering into an argument. He expected obedience.

Belinda had no intention of giving it to him. ‘You’re selling me to further your own needs. You, my own flesh and blood. How could you? Parents are supposed to protect their children. Love and cherish them, not, not…’ She stopped speaking, and whirled around to stare at him. How on earth could she put into words how abhorrent his demands were? Her stomach churned. ‘You can’t even look me in the eyes, can you? Too scared I’ll see the lack of love and the abundance of self-interest you have?’ Bile rose in her throat and she swallowed heavily. ‘You are pathetic. I will not be sold.’

‘Now look here, Belinda.’ He did look up then, and his eyes were cold and distant. He spoke in a hectoring tone. ‘If I say you’ll marry the man, marry him you will.’

He sounded as if it was a certainty. Belinda so wished to disabuse him of that fact.

‘Mr Featherstonehaugh is a person of substance,’ her father said. ‘He is someone I can not afford to get on the wrong side of.’

Now they were getting to the bottom of it all. Once more she was but a pawn in his game, whatever it was this time.

‘You, all you. Not me. And why, pray? I suppose you’ve lost money to him.’ Belinda looked at her father in disgust. Ever since her mother died, her father and her two older brothers had lived profligate lives, with scant regard for Belinda. Her father had demanded she leave school and come home to manage his house, but gave her precious little money with which to do so. She must be one of the few—if not the only—daughters of the aristocracy with patched and darned undergarments, and only one pair of house shoes to her name. Now it seemed even that money-saving exercise was not enough. ‘What have you wagered this time?’

He stared at her, his eyes narrow.

‘You.’

To her disgust he showed no shame or remorse over his actions. But why should she expect him to? If she were honest, Belinda had long known he only saw her as a way to save—or in this case, make—money.

‘Me?’ Belinda stared back at him as she went cold and her skin became clammy. Spots danced in front of her eyes, and she swallowed. It would not do to swoon at that moment. Not when she had to be strong and as forceful, if not more so, than her parent. All her worries and concerns seemed to come to the fore. She most definitely was a chattel. ‘What do you mean, me?’

Her father poured himself a large glass of brandy and shrugged. He didn’t offer one to Belinda. For one brief moment she considered doing so herself, but she hated brandy, and the way things were going, she would be more likely to throw it in her father’s face. That was not the way to proceed. Not if she was to best him.

‘He wants to marry into the aristocracy. I said he could marry you. I didn’t wager you as such. I just said it as a way out.’ He took a healthy swallow of spirit. ‘Featherstonehaugh agreed to tear up my vowels, and those of your brothers, once you sign your wedding lines.’

Belinda looked at him closely. Did he not realise what he’d done? As she told him earlier and he’d ignored, he, her father, had in effect sold her and it seemed as if he thought it acceptable. What had she done to deserve that? She shook her head. ‘What good would that do? You still wouldn’t have any money. No.’

‘Don’t talk rubbish, girl. He’s plump in the pocket. He wouldn’t want it to be seen his wife’s family were, ah, less than everything they should be. He can afford to help. He might be trade, but he’s as rich as Croesus.’

That was all that seemed to matter to her parent.

He wouldn’t be once you and my brothers got your hands on him.

‘No.’

Her father put his glass down on a table with a thump, and waggled his finger in front of Belinda’s face. ‘Now look here, my girl, you’ll marry him, or I have no daughter and you go. I can’t afford to keep you.’

When have you ever kept me? I earn my way and more. Belinda firmed her lips. She would not demean herself with a shouting match she would be sure to lose.

‘Now.’ He smiled as he obviously thought he had her over a barrel. ‘What do you say to that then, eh?’ He picked the glass up again, refilled it and drank once more, obviously assuming he’d had the last word. ‘I’ve told him three weeks. Time enough to call the banns.’

Belinda thought it was no wonder her father’s colour was always high and he complained of gout. With the amount of brandy he consumed, when he died there would be no need to preserve the body if it was so needed. It would already be pickled. The bodysnatchers would be able to sell it for a considerable sum, and the medical dissectors would have much to interest them. She’d point them in the correct direction.

Belinda stared at him until he coloured further, and twirled his goblet around in his hands. This man was the person who was supposed to look after her, keep her safe and make sure she had all she needed. Had he ever seen her as anything but an object to be used for his own gain? He’d muttered and moaned about the cost of her schooling, threatening her if she didn’t stop asking for clothes—a gown, one gown only a term—she’d be forced to leave. Until Belinda had discovered that in fact he couldn’t touch the money that paid for her lessons. It had been left in trust for just such an occasion. Even so, he’d brought her home to manage the household at the earliest opportunity. She’d become used to watching him and her brothers drink and gamble their way through what little money they had, dressed in finery that they still hadn’t paid for, whilst she made do and mended. It was lucky, Belinda thought, that she enjoyed all aspects of sewing, or she really would be in trouble.

‘Well?’ her father asked her irascibly. ‘Are you going to be sensible or…?’

‘Thank you—in my eyes, eminently sensible, in yours, perhaps not so. Some things are preferable than being forced to wed. And now, as I have no father, I can be honest. You, sir, are contemptible.’ For the first time during their interchange her father looked somewhat uncomfortable. Not for long. ‘I am, in your words, going to “or”.’

‘You should be horsewhipped for speaking to your father like that,’ he said in a fierce tone. ‘You’ll do as I say.’

‘But as you just informed me, you are no longer my father. Now, it is my pleasure, my total and utter pleasure, to be able to say to you, I feel well rid.’ Belinda curtsied putting every ounce of contempt she felt into the action before she straightened. She spun on her heel so forcefully her dress flew out and rocked the fire irons nearby as she turned her back on him. His cane missed her by inches as he threw it in her direction. As with his shooting, his aim was out. Without another word she picked up the cane and, with a strength she didn’t know she had, broke it in two and threw it on the fire.

Then she left the room, ran upstairs and ignored his enraged bellow of, ‘Get back here, young lady. You do as I say!’ Not any more.

Within half an hour she had left the house, carrying only the basic necessities. Her sewing kit, sketchbook and a miniature of her mother were packed in an old and patched carpet bag. In truth she had little else worth taking. None of her clothes would survive another wash, and her hairbrush had so few bristles it was better to finger comb her dark straw coloured locks.

Two hours after she had swept out of the house—via the front door, and under the worried gaze of the doorman for she refused to creep out like a thief in the night—she sat in the sitting room of Clarissa’s godmother’s London town house. She knew better than to go to Clarissa’s home. It was the first place her father would make enquiries. Her association with Lady L wasn’t one she had ever spoken about.

Belinda wasn’t sure that the fact Lady Lakenby was also Phillip’s godmother was a good or bad thing.

The room she rested in, tea in hand and a plate of tiny fancy cakes in front of her, was elegant, understated and homely. It was also usually a haven of peace and tranquillity. Not at that moment, however. Her hostess was enraged, and happy to show it. She stomped across the Axminster carpet and fisted one hand into the other, before she hit the mantelpiece with such a thump the cake plate slid several inches over the polished surface of the table, and the ormolu clock on the mantel jumped upward and rattled back down again. The minute hand slid down to indicate the number six and stayed there. Lady Lakenby ignored it and pointed her index finger at Belinda.

‘That apology for a man might be your father but he is rotten to the core, always has been. The males of the Howells family are all either tight as a duck’s arse or addlepated. He is both.’

Belinda saw the first glimmer of hope she’d experienced for several long weeks. Ever since her parent had spoken about how they needed money and fast, and hinted she was the way they would get it. Then told her how he expected her to behave and it had been the last straw. ‘He…’ What could she say? She agreed with the pronouncement. ‘I fear you are correct.’

‘I know I am, and you were right to come to me.’ Lady Lakenby harrumphed, and patted Belinda’s shoulder. ‘Now I’ll wait a while and send a message to Clarissa. Once we’re sure your father has been there and gone. Simms will go and loiter.’

The way she began to help went a long way to lift the heavy lump of fear in Belinda’s stomach. She knew she had been correct to think of Lady Lakenby as the first person she could approach to beg for help.

‘Now, child, we shall plot,’ Lady Lakenby declared, once her footman had been given orders on how to stake out Belinda’s father’s house. She pushed her turban back from her forehead in an impatient gesture. ‘Damn thing, why do I wear it?’

Belinda knew it to be a rhetorical question. Lady Lakenby took ideas into her head, and followed them until, as she said with a twinkle in her eyes, ‘The damn fool idiots think it’s the newest fad.’ Then she moved on.

‘I think we need to get you out of his reach,’ Lady Lakenby said. ‘He’ll immediately think of Clarissa and then it is easy for someone to remember me. You must disappear. It will annoy Cedric, and make him wonder when and where you will pop up like the skeleton at the feast, and it will give us time to decide the best way forward. Now let me see. Would you like to go to live at Sinton?’

‘Yes, who wouldn’t? However, as much as I adore your country house, I will not,’ Belinda said resolutely. ‘Well,’ she tempered her refusal, ‘not permanently. I need to earn my living.’ She stood up and began to pace the room. ‘As I walked away from my father’s house I vowed never again to be at the mercy of a man. I will make my own way in this world.’

‘How?’ Lady Lakenby, always known to her god-daughter Clarissa and therefore to Belinda as Lady L, asked placidly. She seemed much more composed now she had ideas and plans and had decided how best to carry them out. ‘Sit down for heaven’s sake. You’re giving me a crick in my neck looking up at you, to say nothing of making me giddy following you around the room. What are your skills?’ She cackled with laughter. ‘Apart from upsetting your fool of a father.’

‘To do so is not a skill, it seems it was my purpose in life. A very easy one. Apart from that? I can sew. Very well as it happens.’ Belinda gestured towards her shabby gown. ‘Not that this shows my sewing skills, but it does advertise my patching and darning ones. I’d like…’ Belinda hesitated, and then rushed on. ‘Mad though it may seem, I’d like to make apparel for the ton. But not just for anyone, only for a very few. A select and chosen few. To be the one person people yearn to have a garment made by.’ She sat down on the nearest chair with a thump that rattled the cups on a nearby table. ‘Incognito.’

‘Oh yes.’ Clarissa entered the room just to hear the last remark. ‘Incognito. Dressed by Belle.’

‘I expect I’ll need to go somewhere unassuming like Leamington Spa, or Bath where the tabbies are,’ Belinda said, with less enthusiasm than she had for the idea in general.

Lady L looked thoughtful. ‘You could do that,’ she said slowly. ‘But you know if you are going to hide, ’tis best to hide in full sight. Here in London I think. Oh yes indeed, we can manage that with ease. Dressed by Belle is the perfect designation for the way your clothes will be known to all and sundry. A label to aspire to acquire.’ She smiled delightedly. ‘All is coming together now. Clarissa, ring for the Madeira and then please inform the staff we leave for Sinton in the morning. It is time for us to put our heads together and plot. Belinda—no—henceforth you will be called Belle. Belle, how is your French?’

* * *

Six months later, Belinda hummed as she put the last stitches into a frilly and very feminine evening cloak to be used as a teaser to draw ladies’ attention to her work. Clarissa, who had arrived unexpectedly a few hours earlier, looked up from the book of sketches she was studying closely.

‘These are marvellous you know, Bel. Your talent holds no bounds. This chemise? The one with the scalloped hem? It is outstanding. Sexy hinting of all things arousing but demure and innocent. I love it.’

‘Good.’ Belinda snipped off her thread and held the cloak in the air to see it better. ‘I designed it with you in mind.’

Clarissa blinked and went into peals of laugher. ‘To drink my chocolate and talk to the cat in? That’s the only picture I can foresee. And happy I am with it. Men are nothing but trouble.’

‘Hmm.’ Belinda decided that one day soon Clarissa would receive a rude awakening. Her father was too prominent in the ton to be allowed to keep the status quo, surely? ‘I’m sure the cat will appreciate it. But if not, well one day maybe someone else will.’

‘Put it in your portfolio,’ Clarissa advised. ‘That way it will see the light of day. Or should I say light of the candle?’

Belinda laughed and shook her head. ‘Incorrigible.’

‘Oh yes. Oh and I meant to say, Lady L should be here soon.’

‘Lady L is here,’ the lady in question retorted as she erupted—there was no other word for it—through the doorway from the hall, and discarded her pelisse by throwing it over a chair back. ‘Did she forget to tell you?’ she asked Belinda in French.

Belinda grinned and answered in the same tongue. ‘We got carried away with flounces and scalloped hems.’

‘Slow down when you talk, you two,’ Clarissa pleaded. ‘I’m a novice in French compared to you both. I didn’t forget so much as I got distracted. Well, Godmama, so would you be, with this.’ She held the chemise up. ‘Isn’t it perfect?’

‘Perfect,’ Lady L agreed with satisfaction. ‘Which brings me to the reason for my visit. I think you’ve achieved everything necessary. I believe it is time for Belinda to return to the capital, with the new persona of Madame Belle. Your French, ma p’tite, has improved beyond all recognition.’

It was true. Belinda and Lady L spoke in that language constantly. Even Clarissa now professed herself to be proficient, and she had, as she cheerfully admitted, no aptitude for languages other than her mother tongue.

During those happy months spent at Lady L’s country house, Belinda had hardly had time to think. Most of the time, either Clarissa, Lady L or both of them were there with Belinda and provided willing bodies to be dressed. Every time one of them appeared, they brought with them bolts of silk and lace and anything else they or Belinda thought might be useful.

‘The shoes are ready?’ Lady L asked. ‘You have enough pairs to begin with? Do you need more? She had sought the help of the local shoemaker who was now contracted to make footwear for Belle, and the comfortable but fashionable boots and shoes she wore were testimony to the fact that his work was well above average. To be able to offer that extra service was ideal.

‘Certainly enough for now, and Jones has the templates ready for whichever are needed next. We’re as ready as we can be. I have a book of sketches, enough silks, satins and whatever to create several wardrobes.’ She thought for a moment. ‘All I need now is customers and somewhere for a salon and workshop.’ That was the one thing that gave her sleepless nights. Where would her customers find her?

Belinda had practised her designs on both Lady Lakenby and Clarissa, as well as creating new work clothes for the servants and the best clothes Lady L gave them as part of their Christmas box. Belinda was relieved when all were received with pleasure. Belinda waited with bated breath as Clarissa and Lady L wore her designs to one event or another in London and then reported back to her how much they had been admired. Gradually she’d learned how to add her own special touch to clothes so they would be recognisable as a gown, or pelisse or whatever, made by Belle.

Belinda hadn’t missed the city at all, working diligently to increase her basic stock—the gowns and undergarments to show prospective clients her work—and accepted Lady L knew best. Each item of clothing had footwear to go with it, and Lady L said forcibly that anyone who balked at buying that as well as the garment didn’t deserve to be accommodated again.

‘Well ’tis but three weeks to the start of the season and I have news,’ Lady L said triumphantly. ‘I’ve found your premises.’

Belinda jumped as her heart missed a beat. ‘Pardon?’

‘The perfect spot for your salon. And I’ve taken the liberty of arranging the paperwork to buy it.’

‘But…’ Belinda began to speak as Lady L held her hand in the air in an imperious manner. ‘No more—don’t argue, child, it’s so wearying. It’s done and it is in your name. Saves me trying to explain why I’ve left half my fortune to you.’ Lady Lakenby held her hand up again, as Belinda knew her jaw dropped.

‘You…t…’ she stuttered as her mind became blank. ‘You can’t.’

‘Don’t be stupid, of course I can. There are only three people who matter to me. Phillip, who wants for nothing and whose fortune is more than enough, Clarissa and you. Phillip has long known he’ll get the long case clock and all the books in the study, and he is satisfied with that. Clarissa agrees with me that you should get half of the rest and everything is tied up tighter than a gnat’s cravat.’

Clarissa nodded enthusiastically. ‘Although I do wonder at your turn of phrase, Godmama. A gnat’s cravat indeed.’

‘Better than a duck’s arse or some such thing. Now that is vulgar,’ the lady replied with a smirk. ‘Right, so listen well, both of you. No one will be able to get their hands on what is yours. If you try to pass it to anyone, other than a child of your own or failing that the offspring of one of the others, it will all go to a home for cats. In your case, Belinda, so will your cottage.’

‘What?’ Belinda blinked and held on to the elbow-height cabinet for support. Where did Lady L find her expressions? However, that was the least of her thoughts—she was more concerned with the majority of Lady L’s statement. ‘I what?’

‘You need a bolthole. As much as I love having you here, I know you would adore somewhere to call your own. Honeysuckle Cottage is that somewhere.’

Belinda sat down with a thump. ‘That’s not a cottage, it’s a house.’ It was also gorgeous. And it was hers? Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. This unconditional love was something she would never take for granted.

‘Don’t quibble. It is also yours. Now, hold fast, don’t go dashing off to look at it—not yet.’

Belinda’s vision was blurry, and she had bitten her lip so hard, to stop herself crying with joy, that she had punctured the skin, but nevertheless she smiled. She hadn’t moved.

‘Hear me out,’ Lady L said. ‘Then you can dash off, dance around the rose bush or whatever, but do not jump into the fountain naked. It’s bloody cold, the bottom is slimy and the servants do look askance when you do.’

‘Lady L.’ Belinda giggled until tears rolled down her cheeks. ‘You haven’t.’

Lady L winked. ‘No? Ah well you youngsters are so staid compared to me and my compatriots. Now where were we? Ah yes. Belle’s salon will be in Bruton Street, where only the best will survive. You are the best. And as I know full well what a worrywart you are, it’s a big enough building for you to live very comfortably over the shop so to speak. Don’t you dare cry, Belle, or I will and that will ruin my rouge.’

She patted Belinda’s shoulder. ‘There now. I must get used to calling you Belle, eh? Just pour three glasses of Madeira, so we can celebrate, and then we’ll see how soon we can get back to London and start the next phase of your journey to become the best shared secret in the ton.’ She smiled mischievously. ‘Oh after you’ve decided what furnishings in Honeysuckle Cottage are not to your liking, of course. I know you youngsters, your ideas are probably much too outré for me.’ Lady L gave a barking laugh, as she contradicted herself. ‘In furnishings anyway.’ The cat, which had been snoozing on the hearthrug, opened one eye and closed it again. He was well used to his mistress’s ways.

Lady L winked. ‘In all seriousness, Belinda, if you don’t like the way I furnished it, it is of no consequence. However, I thought that if you want to retire there at any time you can. Mrs Perris will keep an eye on it for you, and Violet and young Bessie are to be available whenever you want them. All are very happy with that arrangement. But mind, no stealing my housekeeper.’

Belinda giggled, sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, before she poured Madeira into crystal goblets. ‘As if I would, or could for that matter. All your staff are incredibly loyal, which is how it should be. Ah, Lady L, I do love you so. But are you sure?’

‘That you mustn’t steal Mrs Perris away? Very sure. As for the rest. Of course I am. Just you be the best of the best.’

‘Oh I intend to.’

‘Then that is my reward. Now, Clarissa has decided to return to town early from her father’s house and be your first customer.’

Clarissa nodded enthusiastically. ‘I’m going to be the one who is in the know and prepared reluctantly to share my knowledge with a select few.’

‘As you know, there’s a lot want to see you and use your work, and few who deserve to,’ Lady L said. ‘Clarissa will sort out those who she deems worthy. It is up to you to accept them or not. Don’t forget exclusivity will bring you more cachet, and you must decide who you wish to have the honour of wearing your garments.’

‘True, and it damned well will be an honour. There’s just one thing…’ Belinda hesitated. How could she phrase it without sounding ungrateful? ‘Are you certain that I’m not about to be unmasked? I do not want any scandal or difficulties attached to you. And…well…’ She stopped talking as Lady L fixed her with a gimlet-eyed stare. ‘Oh, Lady L, I’m scared.’ There she’d been honest.

‘You’d be a fool not to be. However, once we’ve got you settled and sorted I declare no one will recognise you, not even your fool of a father. Look at you. Do you see any resemblance to the girl you were six months ago?’

Put like that, Belinda could only agree with all Lady Lakenby had said. Helped by lemon juice and careful cutting and styling, her hair was now a soft blonde instead of a dirty straw colour, and it framed her face in tiny elegant curls instead of hanging long and lank down her back. Her skin was clear, bright and blemish free, and she’d lost almost two stones in weight due to eating sensibly and not on leftovers or food that filled her grumbling tummy but did not nourish her. Her clothes suited her, fit her, and there was not a darn in sight.

In short she was nothing like the girl who had defied her father, except in temperament. That was no different.

‘I’m no longer that person.’

‘Exactly. So take this new you off to your new home and let Jessop or Mrs Perris know if anything needs changing. I’m going to rest before dinner.’ Lady L walked to the door, and then turned around with a swish of travelling gown. ‘Should I ask your maid to start to pack?’

Belinda laughed. The butterflies in her tummy were ones of excitement not worry, and she was happy that the next phase of her life was about to begin. ‘If she needs to. Just tell me when to be ready to leave.’