Page 48 of One Perfect Dance
Ash rounded the carriage and leapt up beside her. “Monsieur Fournier is your chef for the evening?” He gave the horses the signal to move away from the curb. They were ahead of Regina’s carriage for the moment, as it was still being loaded, but his own guards were still in place around them.
“Not precisely.” Regina tucked her hand into his arm, and he could feel his body heating on that side. She seemed oblivious, continuing, “My own cook, as well as William’s and Cordelia’s are all contributing to the supper, but Monsieur Fournier will be supplying several of his signature dishes, including a dessert that he has promised will be truly spectacular, but has refused otherwise to discuss!”
Ash was astounded. “He won’t tell you what he is making for your own ball?”
Regina’s eyes twinkled as he looked down into them. “He is an artist, you see. ‘Madame shall be pleased with my creation,’ is all he will say. And, indeed, he has the finest of reputations, Elijah. The Duchess of Winshire herself employed him until he married her secretary, and both the Duchess and her son have invested in his restaurant!”
The china warehouse took up a whole building, with one side on the riverbank and the other fronting a street of shops and display rooms. Ash drew the curricle up outside of the display room for the china merchant.
He hurried around to assist Regina down from the carriage, one of the grooms trotting forward to take the heads of his team. She nodded her thanks to the groom, and he blushed as he nodded back.
“What is the mission here, Ginny?” Ash asked.
“Vases. I have a mind to decorate the ballroom with spring flowers, which William, Geoffrey, and Deerhaven can supply in great quantity from their estates. But even all three households can barely supply enough vases, and they will be a mishmash of sizes, shapes, and colors. I hope to find some inexpensive, round, white vases that will not take attention away from the flowers.”
She repeated the requirement to the salesman who hurried to serve her as soon as they entered, and soon she was happily examining a range of samples.
Ash followed her around the room for a while, but his eye was caught by a display of china ornaments. They illustrated popular tales. There was the Green Knight in battle with the Black. Thomas the Rhymer being tempted away by the Fairy Queen. The Laidly Worm about to be kissed by Childe Wynde. And Cendrillon sitting on the kitchen floor leaning against a large pumpkin, with a tiny dancing slipper on one fair hand.
Ash managed to catch the salesman to one side while Regina was giving her footman instructions for the careful transport of the vases she had chosen. “I will have the Cendrillon,” he told him. “Wrap it after the lady and I are gone, and I’ll be back later today to pay for it and collect it.”
Cendrillon would make a perfect birthday gift for his Ginny.
Chapter Eighteen
Over dinner, Geoffreyentertained Regina with stories of his various adventures since he had arrived in London. Or, at least, that was his intention.
Regina’s vague disquiet about his unknown friends turned to alarm as he spoke of stupid stunts and risky wagers—of stealing a couple of milk cows from the St. James Park herd and harnessing them to a friend’s curricle in place of his pair, of riding a horse backwards down Bond Street, of nailing a dozing night watchman into his sentry box.
Since these were the pranks he felt comfortable sharing with her, she was sure there were others, much worse. Still, remembering the discussion with Elijah and William, she kept her opinion to herself.Perhaps it is perfectly normal behavior for a wealthy young man. But those poor cows. The poor watchman.
“I will look forward to meeting these friends of yours,” she told him
Geoffrey nodded, eagerly. “Oh, they are great sports, Mother. I’m sure you will like them.”
They were all known by nicknames, apparently. Chalky, Muggers, Thatch, and Dex. Since Geoffrey now proudly bore the soubriquetPadders, Regina assumed all of the boys’ surnames had been shortened.
When she met the young men, they would be introduced by their proper names, and she could then find out something about their families. This would either soothe her worries or introduce new ones, yet still, she would have to do nothing. It was very hard to let go, and to allow Geoffrey to make his own mistakes.
She managed to smile and nod and keep any critical outcry to herself. She could not help, though, saying to him as he left for his evening out, “Do be careful, Geoffrey. I could not bear for you to be hurt, or worse.”
He kissed her cheek, a rare gesture of affection. “You do not need to worry about me, Mother. I know what I am doing. Have a good time out with Mr. Ashby.” He accepted the coat and hat that Charles offered him and paused in the doorway. “Don’t worry if I am not home in the morning. We’ll probably be out most of the night, so I’ll sleep in a chair in Thatch’s rooms.”
Don’t worry, he said. As if Regina could switch her concern about him off like a tap.
She went upstairs to allow her maid to put the final touches to her appearance for the theater. They were attending with a party—Rex and Rithya, of course, and some other members of Rex’s family.
Geoffrey’s accounting of his activities continued to niggle in the back of her mind. It wasn’t until she was coming downstairs again to wait for Elijah that it occurred to her she’d never heard him mention any of the young men before. Not in his sporadic letters from Cambridge. Not during his week-long break at home over Christmas. Were they all new acquaintances? And if so, how did he meet them?
She set the question to one side so she could focus her attention on her escort and his party, and it wasn’t hard to do so when Charles let Elijah in the door just as she descended the last flight of stairs. He stopped to watch her, a glow in his eyes that spoke of desire and affection.
“Mrs. Paddimore,” he told her, “I shall be the most envied man in the theater.”
“Just the theater, Mr. Ashby?” she teased. “Not the whole of London?”
He was ready with a response. “The whole of London, delight of my eyes, has no idea what it is missing.”
This was Regina’s first visit to the theater this Season. It had been a favorite activity when she and Gideon lived in London, and before her marriage, during her first Season, she and her mother had often prevailed upon one of her mother’s admirers to escort them.
