Too Wilde to Wed (The Wildes of Lindow Castle, #2)(79)

“There is no reception line tonight,” Lavinia said, “which means we will walk straight into a thicket of gentlemen. Don’t forget our plan: You must flirt with every man I introduce you to. I shall dance numerous times with North, making my mother happy and quelling any rumors about the two of you.”

Diana nodded, conscious that she didn’t want North to dance with Lavinia. Dog in the manger, she told herself, not for the first time. It was shameful not to want him, and not to want any other woman to have him either.

“You shall dance more than once with Lord Hon, the Baron of Houston.” Lavinia said, inspecting Diana’s lips. “You look utterly delectable.”

“I shall dance with whom?”

“Lord Hon is a distant cousin of mine on my mother’s side, so you won’t have met him, most likely. His title hails from Scotland. Renfrewshire, I think. I’ll introduce the two of you. All you have to do is say something clever and smile at him, and he’ll be entranced. He’s not a useless aristocrat, like the ones you disparage. He rebelled against his family and got a degree at Edinburgh, so he’s a practicing physician. You might even address him as Doctor Hon if you prefer, highbrow that you are.”

“I’m not a highbrow!” Diana protested. But she had to admit that Lord Hon sounded interesting.

“Later this evening, I shall deposit North directly at your feet. You will dance with him, but you must look utterly bored the entire time. Exchange a word or two at the most. You are like brother and sister to each other, or so the duke decreed over supper.”

Taking a deep breath, Diana marshaled the strength she had inherited from her grandfather. Lady Knowe strolled to meet them as she and Lavinia entered the ballroom.

“Good evening, Miss Gray, Miss Belgrave,” she said, dropping into a curtsy. Diana’s silk skirts puddled on the floor as she curtsied, in a way that the stiff brocades her mother favored had not.

“Since I never go to London, I had forgotten how imaginative everyone is,” Lady Knowe said. “A woman just told me on the best authority that Godfrey is the son of the Duke of Cumberland, brother of King George.”

“My mother probably started the rumor,” Lavinia said. “She has far too much imagination for her own good, and counts it a poor day when she doesn’t circulate at least one story that she created herself. Doesn’t Diana look exquisite?”

Lady Knowe looked Diana up and down. “Fifty times better than you did during your first Season, if you’ll forgive my bluntness, darling. I will assume this triumph should be laid at your feet, Lavinia?”

“Yes,” Lavinia said with undisguised pride.

“My cousin is my fairy godmother,” Diana said. “If Lavinia dressed the ton, a ballroom would be an altogether more beautiful place.”

“I shall ask you for advice,” Lady Knowe said to Lavinia. “And now, Lavinia darling, why don’t you dance with a few of those men who are eyeing you so hungrily? His Grace has assigned me to instruct Diana about her role in tonight’s drama.”

Lavinia gave them a dimpled smile and swept into a curtsy. The moment she moved a step away, two gentlemen leapt to her side.

Peter appeared with a tray of champagne. Diana accepted a glass, but Lady Knowe waved him away. “I’ve a flask in my side panniers in case I want a drop of something. Did Lavinia explain the part you’re to play, Diana?”

“She told me that I must dance once with North and look bored while I do it.”

“You have a nervous disposition,” Lady Knowe elaborated. “You didn’t run away from North; that is an unfortunate rumor. Your nerves, compounded by grief at the death of your sister, led you to retire to your mother’s country estate. You then returned to the castle to be nurtured as the future duchess.”

“‘Nurtured’?” Diana echoed. She couldn’t help smiling.

“Because you adore your orphaned nephew, you spent a great deal of time in the nursery. However, when North returned from war, you and he came to an amicable parting of ways.”

Diana turned the story over in her mind and nodded.

“The rumors about your working in the nursery arise from the fact that you sleep in that wing, as it is quieter. None of my friends was surprised to learn of the demise of your engagement; they had all noticed your tepid affection for your fiancé. Of course,” she added, “that was one of the reasons North courted you in the first place.”

“I see,” murmured Diana, though she didn’t see at all.

“North doesn’t feel the title is truly his, thus he dislikes it when young ladies drape themselves about his person as if he were a ducal coat stand,” Lady Knowe explained. “You never acted that way, because you didn’t like him.”

“That’s not true!” Diana protested, before she thought.

Lady Knowe’s mouth curved in a toothy smile that made Diana think of an old crocodile waiting in the sun. “Really? You jilted him in a surprising fashion for someone who cared tuppence for the man’s feelings.”

“I did not think before I acted,” Diana said, adding pointedly, “no more than you did, when you hired me as a governess.”

“You have me there.” She shrugged. “Between us, we managed to ruin North’s reputation, so let’s put it right.”