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CHAPTER SEVEN
On Thursday evening Maria
Her gown had been finished that afternoon by a harried Madame LeFarge, the most fashionable dressmaker in London. It was of pale-blue brocaded tulle with panels of satin bordered with pearls across the bodice and down the full skirt. Maria
Over her shoulder reflected in the glass, she saw the face of her maid. The Frenchwoman's unlined cheeks and neat dark hair did not in the slightest resemble that other face she had once seen similarly reflected; but the memory stabbed painfully into Maria
It was the first time she had been alone since early morning, and her thoughts were not pleasant companions. Guilt had haunted her since that night at the opera. The sight of Bagshot – if it had been he, and not a fear-inspired vision – had reminded her of Maggie. In the begi
Not that it would have been easy. The Duchess hated any reference to that part of Maria
The doctor was at least open and unsubtle. Besides acting as the Duchess's medical adviser he had the status of an old and valued friend – possibly, Maria
Practicing in the music room next to the library, Maria
She had been told to wear her lovely new dress, but when she had asked what the occasion might be the Duchess had been evasive. "A few friends" were coming in after di
Maria
She had tried not to think about the seance, which had ended with the startling materialization of David Holmes's face, cloudily crystalline as ectoplasm. The experience had been frightening – and yet it had had a certain fascination. Maria
Not that anything had ever happened. Once, indeed, when she had tried to involve Billy and Jack in a midnight seance near the graveyard, they had been transfixed by a series of unearthly howls from the direction of the Ransom monuments. Jack had collapsed in a fit of speechless terror. Billy, a born skeptic, had investigated and found Mrs. Jay's cat atop a tombstone, summoning prospective lovers.
Yet Maria
She was interrupted at this point in her reasoning by the arrival of the Duchess, exquisitely attired and glittering with diamonds, who asked if she was ready to go downstairs.
The questions Maria
"Are your guests coming for di
Even that seemingly i
"Two only. The others will join us later."
"I beg your pardon for asking. I only wondered -"
"And you had every right to wonder." The old lady's su
"Oh, dear," Maria
Perhaps deliberately the Duchess misinterpreted her exclamation of distress.
"There is no reason for you to be disturbed. The other di
It was not difficult for Maria
"Mr. Carlton," she said.
"How clever you are! Aren't you pleased? Don't you think him very handsome?"
"He is certainly handsome."
"And he admires you. I saw that from the first."
"You did?" Maria
"Oh, yes. Like so many young men he affects a cynical ma