Page 420 of From Rakes to Riches

Her mother said nothing else, just silently helped her to dress.

Just before leaving Banstead House, Victoria looked at herself in the reflection of the entrance hall mirrors that surrounded her. Her bodice was cut straight across beneathher shoulders, and the very tops of her breasts were daringly evident. The bodice sloped to a point deep below her waist, making her appear somehow slimmer. Lace gathered beneath her breasts and flowed down the front of her green silk gown, parting to show her underskirt. She looked…like a woman, and not a naive girl.

Could she do this? Could she really face a roomful of strangers without David? She clutched her reticule, where she’d hidden her journal with its many lists, suddenly impatient to be leaving.

“Victoria?”

She turned to find Lord Banstead laboriously trying to wheel himself down the hall from his suite. She rushed to him, and he stopped, sitting back, breathing heavily as he looked her up and down.

He cleared his throat. “You look…well tonight.”

She beamed at him, so relieved. “Thank you, my lord. I’m attending my first dinner party with members of Parliament.”

“Is David to meet you there?”

Her happiness faded. “I don’t think so. He does not like this sort of thing.”

There was an uncomfortable silence between them. Would he forbid her from going? She would feel the need to obey him.

“Go on, go on,” he said gruffly. “I’ll get Nurse Carter to read to me, though she doesn’t have your voice.”

“You could ask my mother. She had a gift for making characters come to life when I was a child.”

He shuddered. “Stupid idea. Get on with you.”

Victoria went out to the carriage, where Wilfred the footman grinned as he helped her inside where Anna was already waiting.

David satin his office at Southern Railway, looking through paperwork, although everything was as ready as he could make it. They owned enough shares in the three smaller railways; the final buyout should be easy, as long as no one interfered. They’d kept their secrecy intact.

He just couldn’t stop thinking about Perry’s behavior at the dinner party, even though the man had assured him he was over Staplehill’s remarks.

Was David missing something crucial? He was so distracted by Victoria lately, something that he’d never imagined. He’d once wanted her for so many reasons that had nothing to do with the person she was. And now all he could do when he was with her was be swept up in her emotions, in her needs.

But still he was hurting her.

There was a knock on the door. David called for the person to enter and was surprised to see one of the Banstead footmen.

“Yes, Henry?” he asked, realizing that the servant seemed different without his wig and livery. A person, instead of just someone to meet David’s needs.

More of Victoria’s influence.

“I was to bring ye this letter, my lord,” Henry said, holding up a folded piece of parchment spotted with rain.

“Who is it from? And why the urgency?”

“It’s from Your Ladyship’s mother, my lord. And she told me it was important.”

David nodded, even though his insides clenched. “Is something wrong with my wife?”

“No, my lord.”

David tried to relax. “Very well. Did she need a response?”

“No, my lord.”

“Then you may go. Have something hot to drink when you get home. It’s the devil of a night.”

Looking confused, Henry left. David broke the wax seal on the letter and spread it open beneath the desk lamp.

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