Susan Carroll Read Online Free Page A

studying
the brilliant blur of dancers as they promenaded before her. All
the men looked so much alike in their white-powdered wigs, their
features obscured by the strips of velvet tied about their eyes.
Why of all things did this affair tonight have to be a masquerade?
It made the task of locating one particular man nearly hopeless.
She had not even any notion what the Marquis de Varnais looked
like. Doubtless the fellow would be possessed of a long thin nose,
perfectly sized to be poked into other people's affairs. Her temper
threatened to get the better of her all over again when she thought
of her grandfather's last letter.
    You can cease importuning me, my girl, Sawyer
Weylin had written. I absolutely refuse to send my carriage to
fetch you as long as my new friend, the Marquis de Varnais, advises
against it. Armande believes that Bath is the perfect place for
widows.
    If the marquis fancied that, Phaedra thought,
clenching her jaw, then it was obvious he had never been there.
Bath was no longer fit for anyone but invalids and gout-ridden old
men. How could her grandfather listen to such tripe? Beneath her
anger lurked her fear that Sawyer Weylin meant to abandon her
before she found some other means of independence. Her grandfather
had made clear his displeasure that she had not borne a child to
Ewan. But that would have been a miraculous feat, considering how
rarely her husband had ever touched her.
    Phaedra suppressed that old bitterness,
concentrating upon her anger with this Armande person. When she
found him, she would give him a blistering set-down he was unlikely
to forget. The Marquis de Varnais would think twice before ever
attempting to interfere in the life of Lady Phaedra Grantham
again.
    Intent upon scanning the crowded room,
Phaedra paid but halfhearted attention to the steady stream of
gossip Muriel poured into her ears.
    "Lady Lizzie Devon is rumored to be already
with child. You can be certain all the old tabbies will be counting
the months backward when that babe is born. And did you hear about
poor Tony Aackerly? He was caught stealing a gold watch from a
jewelry shop, and was flung into Newgate like a common thief. Only
fancy! That some shabby shopkeeper could have a gentleman treated
thus-"
    "Never mind all that," Phaedra cut her off.
Although she was loath to do so, she saw that she would have no
choice but to enlist Muriel's aid. "Answer me one question. I am
looking for a man. I heard that he was to be present at your ball
tonight."
    "Dear me." Muriel simpered. "For one so
recently widowed, you seem in a powerful hurry. Though perhaps
marriage is not what you have in mind?"
    "What a shocking suggestion from a young
unmarried female!" Phaedra said. "But I shall resist the temptation
to carry tales to your mama if you point out for me Armande de
LeCroix, the Marquis de Varnais.”
    "Aha!" Muriel's eyes danced. "You always were
a sly one. Not nicknamed the Lady Vixen for nothing! I might have
known that even buried in a dreary place like Bath, you would
manage to hear about our mysterious marquis."
    "Mysterious?" Phaedra frowned. "Why
mysterious?"
    "My dear, he simply seemed to spring up in
our midst out of nowhere. No one had ever heard of the man
before."
    Phaedra found this intriguing. "But surely
the French ambassador would know all the noblemen from his own
country."
    "It scarce matters. Lord Varnais is
absolutely the sensation of the season. Now if you will excuse me.
Mama is scowling at me. I really must pay more heed to the invited
guests."
    "But I want you to introduce me to the
marquis."
    Muriel's bow-shaped lips puckered into an
expression of smug satisfaction. "He is not here yet. Like you, le
cher marquis adores making a grand entrance." Lifting her skirts,
she prepared to glide away.
    "But how shall I recognize him?" Phaedra
asked.
    "When Armande de LeCroix puts in his
appearance, even if he is masked, you will know him."
    Phaedra reluctantly let Muriel go. The young
woman's casually