Page 19 of One Perfect Dance
Mama gave her a glare. “We don’t have time for that now, Regina. Go out through the back to the mews, Mr. Deffew. The carriage is there.”
“I don’t have any money, Mr. Deffew,” Regina said.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Regina,” her mother said, at the same time as Mr. Deffew objected, “Five thousand pounds, and whatever you inherit from your father.”
Regina spoke over her mother’s insistence that none of this mattered and they must hurry. “The dowry, if I marry with the consent of my guardian. My inheritance from my father goes into a trust, and I cannot touch it—again, unless I have the consent of my guardian.”
Mama protested again, but Mr. Deffew narrowed his eyes and told Regina, “Your mother said her brother has been appointed your guardian and will approve our marriage.”
“Mr. Paddimore is my guardian, Mr. Deffew. You should have met with him this morning, as he asked. It would have saved you the expense of a traveling carriage.”
Mr. Paddimore spoke from the doorway. “Miss Kingsley is correct, Deffew. So, consider this. If you had forced an elopement—one that Miss Kingsley does not want, by the way—I would have put the dowry back into Miss Kingsley’s trust. You and your father would never have seen a penny of it.”
A gleam in Mr. Deffew’s eye hinted he had seen a way out. “If she doesn’t marry me, she will be ruined,” he warned. “And if she does, and you don’t release her dowry—and make us a substantial allowance from her trust—I will tell the whole world your dirty little secret. I know about you and Lord Kingsley, and I know who the true father of the boy is that you have claimed as your own.Andthe identity of his mother.”
Mr. Paddimore sighed. “Well, Elizabeth? Is this what you wanted? A son-in-law who attempted to ravish your daughter, will marry her although she loathes him, and threatens to drag your husband’s name through the mud in order to get his hands on her money?”
Regina’s mother had turned white, with two hectic spots of color on her cheeks. She pressed her lips together and said nothing.
Mr. Paddimore turned back to Mr. Deffew. “Publish whatever lies you can create, you cur. Make your attempt to tarnish the name of a highly respected peer. And I will use every penny I have to destroy you. Yes, and your brother and father, too. But! Mark my words! You. Will. Not. Marry. Miss. Kingsley. Now get out of here before I chase you out with a riding crop.”
He took a step towards Mr. Deffew, who broke and ran.
Regina’s mother broke the silence he left behind him. “Now what, Gideon? He will destroy Geoffrey’s reputation as he has ruined Regina’s. And you are going to let him.”
“He can try, Elizabeth. But you and I will treat his accusations with scorn, as we did last time. And it will all be speculation and hearsay, as it was last time. As to Regina, we have several courses of action.”
He smiled at Regina. “Do not worry, Miss Kingsley. We shall contrive to brush through.”
Chapter Nine
Sardinia, February 1807
Ash’s brooch andthe covering letter had been returned, with no comment. He tucked them both into a trunk and decided to forget both them and Ginny. Despite his best intention, the sylph stayed in his mind, as did the dance that they never had.
He did nothing about it until one day several years later when he came across an ornament—a delicate pair of slippers in Venetian glass—in a street market in Sardinia after they left the Kingdom of Naples ahead of the French armies.
He couldn’t resist buying it.
Elaine, Lady Barker, was the sister closest to Rex in age, and Rex’s most regular correspondent. She had found Regina’s address at Ash’s request, and with it sent a chatty letter full of all the gossip she could find, which was not much:
People remember that she married in haste shortly after her father’s death. There was some talk that she had been compromised, but I remember her husband, Gideon Paddimore, and I must say it seems unlikely. No one seems to know any more. Mr. Paddimore was badly injured some three years after their marriage. Highwaymen, it is said. The villains were never caught, despite the efforts of the authorities. You might be interested to know that Ash’s stepfather, Major Deffew, was shot dead by the same reprobates.
As to the Paddimores, since the incident, Mr. Paddimore has been an invalid, and the family has lived retired in the country.”
So, she was married. Of course, she was. She probably had several children by now, though Elaine didn’t mention them. All the more reason why Mr. Paddimore might allow her to receive a couple of presents from a childhood friend. Meaningless tokens. Nothing threatening.
He packed them with great care and wrote a covering letter. A reminder of who he was. His compliments to her husband. His discovery that a built-up heel allowed him to dance, and his wish that he’d known in time for them to dance. And the story of his discovery of the little glass dancing slippers, and the fierce little street peddler who had eventually consented to sell them to him. For three or four times their value, but he would not tell her that.
Rex wandered into their living room with a glass of Sardinian wine in each hand and gave one of them to Ash. “Is that a reply to Elaine? Read what you’ve said.”
“It is a letter to Mrs. Paddimore,” Ash told him.
“Private, then. I beg your pardon.” Rex turned away, but Ash stopped him.
“Not at all.” He read it out loud, and Rex offered to draw the peddler in the margins.
Ash handed over the letter, and sipped his wine while Rex worked. It was a localVernaccia, dry and full-bodied. Another skill that the duke had conveyed to his son and that Rex had shared with Ash—the ability to enjoy the subtleties of wine.
