Page 35 of Would I Lie to the Duke
He tapped her fist with his fingers. “Good lass.”
“Anything else I might need to know about the gardens?”
“Only that you ought to enjoy yourself.”
A quick nap—which involved mostly lying on her bed and staring at the ceiling—followed by a bath revived her for the night ahead. Her abigail attired her in a diaphanous gown of saffron-hued silk and secured pearl pins in her hair. A white satin wrap draped around her shoulders to protect her from an evening chill.
Jess examined her reflection in the pier glass. She tried to resist the impulse to run her hands over the fabric, though it wasn’t easy. Never again in her life would she have the opportunity to wear such fine clothing, and she wanted to savor it, even as she felt a sting of resentment that, with the people of the Bazaar, she could not fully be herself.
With Noel, she feltmoreherselfthan she had in a long, long while. She wasn’t the eldest sibling responsible for everything. She wasn’t the deferential paid companion. She did not have to curb her tongue or wear a smothering cloak of humility.
But even that was predicated on a lie.
“Awful pretty, my lady,” Nell said admiringly.
Naturally, an abigail would praise her mistress, but Jess hoped Nell was sincere. Jess wanted to look her best tonight. It was only natural, all part of her plan. It had nothing to do with a duke who gave her his coat when she shivered, and possessed impossibly dark eyes.
Fortunately, the night was fine, making her walk to Lord Trask’s pleasant enough. Each step wound her excitement higher and higher—her first time at Vauxhall, her first evening with Noel.
Pleasures to savor.
She entered the downstairs parlor, where everyonehad convened. Looking around, she searched for Noel. Then she froze when she saw him.
His simple, elegant evening clothes only reaffirmed how exquisitely his garments—and he—were made. He looked at her from across the chamber, and she was bolted to the spot.
Briefly, he looked stunned, as though witnessing something extraordinary, something beautiful.
Her.He looked at her as though she was beautiful.
His gaze heated. Then he smiled, a true smile, wide and white and dazzling. She took a step toward him, drawn forward by the insistent need to be closer.
Someone said something to him, and the moment between her and Noel broke apart. But not completely, because he shot her one more glance that clearly said,This isn’t finished between us.
After a quick exchange with Lord Trask, Noel clapped his hands together. “We’re all here. Shall we venture forth, my friends?”
There was a chorus of agreement. Noel strode forward and offered Jess his arm. He started when someone tapped a fan on his shoulder.
“You havetwoarms, you know,” Lady Haighe said pointedly.
“Horrendously remiss in not offering it to you.” Noel extended his free arm to her. She glanced at it as though debating whether or not to grant him her favor, and then, with a sly smile, she rested her fingers on his sleeve. Noel murmured, “You honor me.”
“Don’t I, though?” The older woman sniffed.
Jess couldn’t stop herself from smiling. Men faroutnumbered the women of the Bazaar—there was no shortage of other gentlemen to escort Lady Haighe. Yet how could Jess begrudge Lady Haighe her desire for Noel’s attention?
Mr. Walditch attended Lady Farris, and with all the company accounted for, they went down to a row of waiting carriages. Jess, Lady Haighe, and Mr. Parley climbed into Noel’s coach. Then they were off.
Other than her walk to Lord Trask’s, she hadn’t been out after dark in London. Nights at the family farm or in her village were long and quiet, and she had often taken solitary rambles through the darkened countryside.
In London, she had to return to the town house and spend the evening with a solitary meal and her stack of newspapers. When she’d walked tonight, she had been too preoccupied with thoughts of the coming evening, and being with Noel again. Now it was all she could do to keep from hanging her head out of the carriage window and watching the city at night. There were people, so many people, parading up and down the lamp-lit streets as though it was high noon. Shop windows were also illuminated like glowing jewel boxes, and orange sellers and piemen cried their wares.
“It’s a risk for me to show my face at Vauxhall,” Noel said, snaring her attention. “Last time I was there, I caused something of a disturbance.”
“Surely not,” Lady Haighe insisted. “A man of your rank.”
“The management was a trifle displeased when Iborrowed three carts full of colored lanterns. And the singers. And the orchestra. And the cooks, and—”
“Essentially, you stole Vauxhall,” Jess said, fighting a smile.
