Page 29 of The Lyon and His Promise
“I know you are upset—”
“Upset? This is a catastrophe!” Simon bellowed.
“It was a kiss, Simon. No one’s reputation is going to be completely ruined over a kiss.” Gyles crumpled the offensive news rag and threw the paper into the fire where it belonged. “Has Josephine seen this as yet?”
Simon shook his head. “I have no idea. I came here straight away after someone had it delivered to my townhouse. My butler brought it to me with my breakfast. Almost choked on my tea when I read this trash. Should I believe what I read?”
“Unfortunately, yes. I’m afraid it’s true but I didn’t realize anyone else saw us besides the Duchess of Winshire.”
A groan came out of Simon and with good cause. “The duchess saw you? Then Josephine is ruined!”
“I believe the duchess was still willing to help with your sister’s return to Society. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked to meet with us this afternoon.”
“She did?”
“Yes, she did. I can only hope that this…” Gyles pointed to the ash in the fireplace, “…will not change her mind.”
“You better be convincing that you have Josephine’s best interest at heart.” Simon peered at Gyles as though accessing his worth. “You still do plan to marry her, don’t you?”
Gyles leaned on his arms linking his fingers together. A brief flash of Josephine beneath him in her bed last night only reaffirmed his conviction to wed the beautiful lady. “Now more so than ever,” Gyles answered with a smile. “I should have forgotten my stupid promise to you from our youth and just admitted my feelings for your sister yearsago, before she even met Bouchard. It would have saved us all years of grief. I won’t even begin to think on what Josephine had to endure at my own stupidity.”
Simon gave a heavy sigh. “I could see what was going on between the two of you. I shouldn’t have interfered, but I didn’t want to lose my friend.”
“Marrying your sister would have gained you a brother. It still will once I can right my latest blunder,” Gyles admitted with a heavy sigh of frustration.
“You had better make this right, Wickes,” Simon growled shaking his fist toward Gyles.
“I will. I promise.”
A snort left Simon. “Seems to me you’ve been making a lot of promises in your lifetime, Wickes. I can only hope you’ll be able to keep this last one.”
Gyles remained silent thinking that all his cards were currently in the Duchess of Winshire’s hands. If they lost her backing, Gyles was afraid he might lose Josephine forever.
Chapter Twenty-Two
To say thatJosephine’s morning had been chaotic would be an understatement. She had been relaxing in a hot tub of soapy water playing with the bubbles when Jane Crompton burst into her bedroom. The poor woman had been to the point of hysterics babbling on about how she had failed Josephine and everything was all her fault.
When Josephine had inquired about whatever had upset her, Jane and thrust her the turned down page of theTeatime Tattlerand Josephine had read the awful gossip relating to last night’s visit to the theater. Josephine continued to peruse the dreadful news while Jane had continued her rant.
“If only I had been there then none of this would have happened,” Jane had cried out. “Your brother will sack me for certain once he learns of this latest blow to your reputation.”
“This is buried on the tenth page. It’s hardly newsworthy,” Josephine had exclaimed hoping beyond hope that her words would ring true. “And you are certainly not getting sacked. I had the Duke and Duchess of Davenport as chaperones for the whole evening with the exception of when we went to get refreshments during the intermission.”
“And look how that turned out,” Jane had complained wringing her hands.
She had a point, as loath as Josephine was to admit it. Any sort of tittle-tattle linked with her name would most likely be the talk of everyone during their morning breakfast. She dreaded going out but there was no way she would hide at home and hang her head in shame. She should be thankful the news didn’t include someone seeing Gyles leaving her house in the middle of the night. She would have been ruined for sure.
Jane had continued to weep in a chair while Josephine’s maid helped her from the tub and chose a lovely gown in a shade of autumn colors. It was modest with the neckline covering her cleavage, a lighter colored ribbon was tied under her breasts. As she stood in front of the mirror, she appeared as any young lady might present herself to a duchess for afternoon tea. Now if only she could get through the meeting and not have the door slammed in her face. The wait until the appointed hour might kill her.
Gyles had come with an open carriage and hid his moment of surprise to see Jane was to accompany them to Winshire House, considering she was supposed to still be watching over her niece and nephew. But Jane had made it clear that Josephine wouldn’t be going anywhere without her from this moment on. Regret consumed Josephine for any private moments with Gyles seemingly slipped through her fingers.
During their ride, conversation was kept to frivolous topics like the weather. Josephine could have screamed from boredom. Obviously, she had been living on her own for far too long and had forgotten just how a young woman was always kept under the close eye of a lady companion.
Now, here they sat in a lovely salon waiting for the duchess’s arrival. Jane sat near the window while Josephine and Gyles sat in chairsfacing each other. A tea trolly sat near the vacant chair. The sound of swishing fabric announced that the duchess drew near, and they all stood. The women dropped into a curtsey, and Gyles bowed.
The duchess sat and began to pour tea, handing cup and saucer to each of them while a servant took a cup to Jane by the window.
Josephine took a sip and then set her cup down on a small table set between herself and Gyles. “Your Grace,” she began only to be interrupted with the duchess holding up her hand to halt the apology that never left her lips.
