A Gentleman Never Tells(67)
“I have an idea, Auntie, why don’t we start looking tomorrow for places for you to lease?”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes, we have no idea when Papa might return, and you should have something ready. We’ll get started early in the day and then perhaps in the afternoon we can take a drive through St. James Park.”
A knowing smile lifted the corners of her aunt’s lips. “A ride through St. James; now why doesn’t that surprise me? Of course we can, and we’ll insist Rosa join us. She spends entirely too much time in her room.”
“Ah, no, Auntie, please, not tomorrow,” Gabrielle said, rising. She ran her hands down the side of her skirt and felt Staunton’s note. She hadn’t expected her aunt to include her sister. That would never work. “Do you mind so terribly much if it’s just the two of us tomorrow?”
Auntie Bethie frowned. “I suppose not, as long as she doesn’t ask to join us. I would hate to tell her no.”
“Oh, I agree,” Gabrielle said, knowing if Rosa wanted to join them to look at houses, she would have to send a note to Staunton telling him they would have to meet at another time.
***
Later that night, Gabrielle’s eyes popped open, and she jerked upright in bed, at first not knowing what had disturbed her sleep. She propped herself up with her elbows and scanned the dark room and listened. Nothing appeared out of place, but for some reason she was certain what she’d heard was footsteps. It would be unusual for one of the servants to be on their floor in the dead of night. Perhaps her aunt or Rosa couldn’t sleep and had decided to go downstairs for a cup of chocolate.
Pushing the covers aside, Gabrielle rose from the bed and quickly put on her heavy velvet robe and shoved her feet into her slippers. She lit the candle she kept by her bed, and then hurried to her door and opened it. The corridor was cold, quiet, and dark except for a small slice of light under her sister’s door. Rosabelle often read late at night, so at first she wasn’t alarmed; but remembering the footsteps she heard, Gabrielle decided to go to Rosa’s room. She slowly turned the knob and quietly opened it and peeked inside.
Rosa was standing in front of her dressing table, combing her hair.
She gasped and turned toward Gabrielle. “Good heavens! You frightened me! What are you doing sneaking into my room? And with that candle in front of your face like that? It looks eerie!”
“I wasn’t sneaking,” Gabrielle said and blew out the candle as she walked into the room, closing the door behind her so their voices wouldn’t wake Auntie Bethie. “I heard footsteps and came out to see who was up. I saw your light and wanted to check on you.”
“Check on me? I’m no longer a little girl, Gabby. I don’t need you checking on me during the night like you used to.”
“And I don’t usually. I haven’t for a long time. You know that. Where were you?”
“Oh, I couldn’t sleep, so I was downstairs, getting some milk.”
Gabrielle feared she already knew what Rosa had been doing. “And you decided you needed to dress before going downstairs for milk?”
Rosabelle looked at her clothing.
Rosa opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Gabrielle said, “And before you come up with another feeble excuse, remember I saw you earlier tonight and you were already in your night rail.”
Rosa turned back toward her dressing mirror and huffed. “You are mistaken, that’s all. I never dressed for bed tonight.”
“I am not mistaken, Rosa. Did you slip out of the house to meet Staunton?”
She whirled back to face Gabrielle. “So what if I did meet him in the garden for a few minutes? We hadn’t seen each other in weeks. We were dying to see each other.”
Anger at Staunton rose up in Gabrielle. How dare he continue to put Rosa’s reputation at risk. “That is what parties are for, Rosa. I’ve tried to impress upon you the jeopardy you face if you continue to meet Staunton in secret. You simply must not sneak out of the house again for any reason. That can only lead to trouble.”
“As you know so well, Gabby,” Rosa threw at her sister. “Tell me why it is perfectly all right for you to sneak out to meet Lord Brentwood, but it’s not all right for me to go out and meet Staunton. Don’t you think that’s a little hypocritical of you?”
“It may seem that way, but, Rosa, I’ve told you I didn’t go to Hyde to meet the viscount. We met quite by accident that morning.”