Forever My Love (Berkeley-Faulkner #2)(15)

“Unfortunately not… and when she does, it won’t be with me.”

“Poor fellow… when I advised you to find a woman, I didn’t mean her kind.”

“I know exactly which kind I want,” Alec assured him dryly.

“I propose,” Squire Osbaldeston said amid the halfhearted applause for Lady Shrewsbury’s performance, his face flushed with too much wine, “that my wife, Lady Osbaldeston, follow her recital with a song!”

Alec groaned inwardly, settling lower into his seat.

Mira heard the inept crooning of yet another would-be songstress as she came from the kitchen. Grinning, she slowed her pace and went to the closed drawing-room doors to hear better. This assemblage might contain some of the wealthiest, most elegant aristocrats in England, but talented they were not. The voice that emanated from inside the room was reedy and wavering, as someone sang a recent poem of Byron’s that had been put to music.

“Poor lamb… what are you doing out here?” Mira spun around to see Lada Clara Ellesmere directly behind her. Mira’s smile disappeared instantly. Lady Ellesmere leaned closer to the door, tilting her sleek blond head to hear the dreadful strains of the singer’s final verse. “Ah, not a very inspiring performance, is it?” Lady Ellesmere asked. “But not many people are as talented as you, my pet.”

“My lady,” Mira began,- “if you’ll excuse me--“

“But why are you listening all alone?” Lady Ellesmere inquired kindly. “You should be in there with the rest of us, lending your support to the efforts of the entertainers.”

“No, I must—” Mira stopped speaking with a gasp as she found her wrist held in a tight, clawlike grip. “Ouch—what are you doing?”

The applause for the song came in a muffled clatter through the doors.

“Come, I will escort you in,” Lady Ellesmere said, her eyes glowing with malice.

“No!” Mira answered in rapidly growing panic, tugging at her wrist. The other woman was surprisingly strong; her long-nailed grip was unyielding. “Let me go!”

Clara flung open the doors, pushing them hard enough so that they swung against the walls and alerted everyone’s attention. Mira began to shake as a sea of heads turned toward them. She had never seen so

many faces, so many eyes, and they were all focused on her.

“Come in, lamb,” Lady Ellesmere purred, dragging her further into the room. As the crowd began to realize who she was, a multitude of murmurs and whispers slid around Mira, suffocating her. She felt all the blood drain out of her face. Then all sound shriveled away, and the silence was worse than the noise had been. “Lord Sackville,” Lady EUesmere said, her red mouth tilting upward in a sweet smile, “I believe this is one guest we have not made the acquaintance of. But she was listening outside the door like a deprived little waif, when I am certain you would wish her to be included in the evening’s festivities.”

Lord Sackville stood up slowly, while Caroline Lamb and a few of the other women tittered behind their hands. How scandalous! Only Clara Ellesmere would dare to drag Sackville’s mysterious mistress into the middle of a respectable society gathering, and only Clara would do it with such wicked glee.

The haze in front of Mira’s eyes disappeared as she heard the women’s snickering. Her dark brown eyes traveled around the room slowly, from face to face. She saw contempt, interest, mockery. Deep in the pit of her stomach she felt icy anger collect, a cold anger that vanquished the heat of shame. Lord Sackville, she noticed, looked mildly annoyed… a man fiercely protective of his own pride, he wished above all else to avoid being made a fool of. Next to him sat Alec Falkner, whose face was unreadable and his mouth harshly set. Mira met his gray eyes, feeling a strange, lightning-hot sensation as he stared at her. She knew instinctively that if she made one sign of appeal to him he would help her. But Mira would not bring herself to ask for his help, not his or anyone else’s.

“Don’t you think she should be allowed to perform?” Lady Ellesmere inquired of Lord Sackville.

“She is such an entertaining creature.” The gathering was deathly still. The situation was growing to absurd proportions; surely it had not been suggested that they sit there to be entertained by Sackville’s mistress! Mira looked at Lord Sackville expressionlessly, while his own expression turned thoughtful. She had often played for him privately, and he knew that she was proficient. Mira could almost see the inner workings of his mind as he calculated how best to resolve the situation in his own favor. After a long moment he nodded to her.

“Why don’t you play something for my guests, Mira?”

White-faced, Mira inclined her head. “It will be my pleasure, my lord… as soon as Lady Ellesmere releases my wrist.”

There was a sudden flicker of laughter among the crowd. Clara let go of her immediately, her red-lipped smile faltering for a split second as she realized that she was in danger of looking like the villainess of the piece.

Unable to restrain himself any longer, Alec stood up. “My God, William!” he hissed in Sackville’s ear. “Stop this immediately. Have you no consideration for her feelings? She’s not a possession to be displayed in such a manner!”

Sackville turned affronted blue eyes to him.

“Are you telling me how to treat my mistress, Falkner?” he rebuked. “If you’re so concerned about her feelings, sit down before you make the scene worse for her.”