There were few things more frustrating than sitting through a long carriage ride with a fretful lady’s maid. After listening for two hours to Gillian worry about the house party, Audrey breathed a sigh of relief as the coach finally stopped at Rochester Hall, her sister’s country residence. If only Gillian could take a breath, Audrey knew everything would be all right. She had plans to make this week perfect for Gillian and James.

Audrey tipped her head back, admiring the lovely ancestral home of her brother-in-law, the Marquess of Rochester. The Palladian architecture of Lucien’s estate was beautiful, the wide columns, the pale ashlar stone. The house looked as if it had withstood a century with ease and would stand several more. It wasn’t the first time Audrey had been here. She’d visited often over the last ten years, but it felt new each time she arrived. There was a magic to Rochester Hall that was undeniable. It was a place where dreams and dynasties collided. And now her sister, Horatia, ran it like a benevolent queen, with a little help from Lucien’s mother, Jane. The two got along famously, which was a blessing.

“I think this is a terrible idea,” Gillian complained as she followed Audrey out of the coach.

“Nonsense. I had to watch you mope about for an entire week, and now you owe me.” She flashed her maid a saccharine smile. Everything had been set into motion for Gillian’s own good, though she would never see it that way. Gillian had faced a hard life, but now it was time to be brave and fight for something better, and she wasn’t going to let her maid back down.

“But to act like a lady when I am not one—”

“Hush. You are lady and gently born. Your circumstances after that do not make you any less of one.” She reached up and tucked a curl of hair back into Gillian’s hood to make sure her friend looked perfect. Gillian blushed and tugged on the edges of the cloak.

If it was the last thing Audrey would do, she was going to convince her friend that she was worthy of the man who called to her heart. All the pieces were in place. Her sister was to tell the servants that Gillian was preparing to play a lady in an upcoming performance at another house party, and the guests were to have no idea of her true identity. Gillian did not approve of the idea, but she would warm up to it soon enough.

“Horatia knows to put you in a room close to mine, and the servants who know you have been made aware of the situation.” Her tone was a tad breezy perhaps, but she wanted to make sure Gillian felt there was nothing to worry about.

“The situation?” Gillian hissed. “What exactly did you tell them?”

She sighed. “That you are learning to act the part of the lady so we might be actresses in a play that some friends in London are putting on in a few weeks. You are helping me in the act and therefore must play the part of a lady in the story. Horatia knows it’s really because we are perfecting our skills for espionage. She doesn’t like me spying, but I convinced her that you and I would stay close to London, so she thinks it is safe enough.”

Her maid’s dramatic gasp caused Audrey’s eyes to roll. “Spying? My lady—”

“Audrey. You’d best get into the habit of calling me that. The rest of the guests will think it curious if you keep calling me my lady. For the next several days, you are a lady yourself. Do not forget it.”

Audrey lowered her hood as they reached the door to Rochester Hall. A group of footmen darted down the steps toward them to gather their luggage and cloaks.

“You are Miss Beaumont,” she reminded Gillian in a low voice. “Don’t forget, no matter what.”

“Audrey!”

Her sister appeared in the doorway, and she was a most welcome sight. Horatia rested a hand over her stomach, grinning. Audrey could scarcely believe that her sister was due to have a child in a month. Her face was glowing, and her brown eyes were bright. The Duchess of Essex’s baby was due in January, and Cedric, Audrey’s brother, was also expecting a little one around the same time. What a joy to become an aunt twice over in just one year. Yet a twinge of sorrow stung her heart. It seemed she was never to be married, never to have children. Two things she had longed for since she’d come of age.

“Sister!” Audrey hugged Horatia and fought back the sudden rush of tears. It seemed so long since Horatia had left the Sheridan townhouse. For as long as she could remember, she, Horatia, and Cedric had survived together, just the three of them, bound by the tragedy of losing their parents so young. But then Horatia had left, and now Cedric was happily married. Everything in her life had shifted. It was no longer what she was used to, and while there was more joy, there were days when Audrey felt listless and melancholy, though few other than Gillian ever saw that side of her. She sniffed and regained control before her sister noticed anything was amiss.

Horatia gently released Audrey and greeted Gillian. “Miss Beaumont. Don’t worry; everything is prepared. Simply enjoy yourself and relax.”

“Thank you,” Gillian replied, blushing but keeping her head high.

That’s it, Gillian. Be the young lady you were meant to be.

Horatia ushered them farther into the foyer. “You are both in the east wing, along with most of the other guests.”

“How many are coming?” Gillian asked.

“About thirty. Mostly local families and a few other guests.” Horatia suddenly winced and covered her belly with her hand.

Alarm gripped Audrey. “Horatia?” She took her sister’s hand and exchanged a worried glance.

“It’s the baby. He’s kicking my… Pardon me, I must avail myself of the facilities.” Horatia rushed down the corridor.

Audrey watched her sister rush away in a flutter of skirts. “Do you want us to help you?”

“No. I’ll be fine,” she assured them before she vanished.

Audrey turned to Gillian. “The baby was kicking? Whatever for?” She knew so little of babes, especially those in the womb. Her parents had died when she was a child, and she never had the opportunity to learn much about such things.

Gillian chuckled. “Sometimes a baby can be positioned in a way that when they move, it can hasten the need for a lady to relieve herself.”

Heat flooded Audrey’s face. She was still looking down the hallway in horror. “Oh, I see!” She couldn’t imagine having a miniature person pressing her bladder from the inside, squeezing it like some tropical fruit. “That sounds quite awful.”

“It can be uncomfortable, I’m told.”

“How do you know about babies?” Audrey asked.

Her friend’s face broke out in a rare smile. “My mother was open to sharing such details with me. Her mother, my grandmother, had been a midwife. We helped a neighbor deliver a baby before the doctor could arrive.”

Audrey tucked her arm in Gillian’s while the footmen carried their bags to the room in the east wing. “How did I not know this?”

“Because I’m not sure I should be sharing this with you, what with you being so squeamish on such matters. You’d likely never want to have a child.”

“I’m not squeamish!”

Her maid smirked. “You are. Remember that time you pricked your finger on your needle and the blood—”

Audrey’s stomach turned. “Oh hush! Don’t remind me. It was so mortifying. It’s been hard to forget how silly I felt waking up on the floor. And in front of Emily and Anne, no less.” She bit her lip, frowning at the memory. Gillian patted her hand.

“I wish Lady Essex and Lady Sheridan were here tonight,” Gillian admitted.

“As do I,” Audrey agreed. “But they are leaving for Brighton with their husbands. Something to do with buying a few stud horses. Emily is most interested in joining Cedric and Anne in breeding those new Arabians.”

“And Ashton and Rosalind?” Gillian asked as they reached the opening of the hallway that led to their rooms.

“In Scotland, to see Rosalind’s brothers and their families.” Audrey giggled. “They’re such devils, you know. Though I mean that lovingly. She’s trying to coax them down to visit, but I suppose a castle in Scotland is far more interesting than a boring country house in southern England. Wouldn’t you agree? I’d get into such delightful scrapes if I had the chance to run about a castle. Do you think it could be haunted? Castles are always haunted, aren’t they?”

Audrey would’ve loved to visit a haunted castle and play the role a Gothic heroine. She’d run about in a white nightgown carrying a candlestick, searching behind tapestries for Bluebeard’s missing wives.

Gillian laughed. “I suppose there’s a ghost or two in any old house. But we really ought to get changed and see if your sister needs help with anything.”

Audrey gave her maid a pointed look. She was attempting to fall back into her role of servant and go unseen. “She has a fleet of servants, and you aren’t one of them. Now go and change into that lovely gown I bought you, the one with the white sash around the waist and little white flowers on the sleeves and hem. It will be perfect for tonight. You will look fetching.”

Audrey ignored her maid’s sigh and walked down to her own room. A footman had set her valise on her bed, and a maid was already pulling out her clothes.

“Which gown, miss?” the girl asked.

“The coral walking dress with the blue trim.” Audrey removed her cloak and waited for the maid to help her change. She knew the coral would accent her fair skin with a hint of pink in her cheeks, and the blue trim made the pink of the coral stand out.

“What’s your name?” she asked as the girl helped her dress.

“Sarah.”

Audrey smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Sarah.”

Once Audrey was ready, she helped Sarah put away her clothes but paused when someone pounded on her door.

“Yes?”

Gillian burst into the room, her face red. “He’s here.”

“Who?” Audrey asked, though she suspected she knew the answer.

Gillian’s face went from red to white, and she looked close to fainting. “Lord Pembroke. He’s here.”

Audrey had to fight off a grin and look concerned instead. “James? Really? Oh dear, you will have to see him, won’t you? That does complicate matters…”

Her maid’s lips parted as though to protest. “You…we—” Gillian paused. “You didn’t invite him here for me, did you?”

Audrey composed herself to look as innocent as possible. “What? No, of course not. You told me you wanted to forget, to move on. We are friends, and I respect that.” It was true she respected her friend, but that respect did not extend to allowing Gillian to run away from happiness at every turn. If she married at all, Audrey feared it would be to someone who would treat her the way she believed she should be treated. And that would not do. She had no intention of keeping her dear friend from the happy marriage she deserved. And if that required a bit of deception, Audrey was happy to suffer the consequences.

“Yes,” Gillian muttered. “Of course.”

“I suppose we will have to make doubly sure that he believes you are a lady, won’t we?” She pressed her fingertips together as she pretended to think.

Gillian leaned against the closed door in defeat. “Perhaps I should feign illness for the remainder of the party?”

That was a dreadful idea. “Nonsense! We should face this head-on. You saw him? Let’s go and have a little meeting and get it over with. You can say hello, he can say hello, and then we can return to the house.”

“I don’t think—”

“Fetch your shawl and let’s go,” Audrey commanded. If there was one way to get Gillian to fall in line, it was to take on the air of a military general and issue orders. Besides, Audrey did not wish to face a house party alone. Horatia had contacted her yesterday by letter, informing her that Jonathan had not replied to his invitation to the party, and Audrey did not know how to feel about that.

She waited while Gillian rushed back to her room to fetch her shawl, and then they left to find him.

“Where did you see him?” James could have been in any number of places in the large house. It was quite like Gillian to run off and hide, and no doubt that was how she saw him.

“In the gardens. I think they were playing croquet.”

“They?” Audrey asked. “Someone was with James?”

“Yes. He was with Mr. St. Laurent.”

Audrey jerked to a halt, her heart pounding. He hadn’t planned on being here, or else he would have replied to his invitation. In the last week she had not heard from Jonathan about the lessons he had promised to give her, and she had begun to fear that he had changed his mind. There had been disappointment, but relief there as well, because sleeping with him, only sleeping with him was dangerous enough, even if it was only once a week. The last time, she had woken in his arms and thought her dearest wishes had come true, that she and Jonathan were together, married and happy, deliriously happy. Realizing that it was only a dream had crushed her. And now he was here, and she wasn’t at all prepared.

I might make a fool of myself. Given how she acted whenever he was around, she knew it was only a matter of time before she did something reckless, like beg to be kissed again. She’d done her best in the last seven days to forget the thrilling events of the hellfire club and how alive she’d felt for the first time in months in the aftermath.

Her friend eyed her with open concern. “You didn’t know he was coming?”

“No, I was told he wasn’t coming.” She took a slow, deep breath, praying it would help her master her nerves. “Very well. We shall face the meeting together.”

“Yes.” Her maid’s face was ashen. “We shall face them and run back to the house with our tails tucked between our legs.”

That was true, but Audrey didn’t want to own up to it. “Nonsense. We are ladies of quality, Gillian. We do not flee. We walked briskly away from that which distresses us.” She declared this with a rather pompous and dignified air, yet it barely masked the panic she was feeling.

Audrey focused on the walking path in the gardens, where some succession houses had been built. Horatia loved fresh fruits, so the houses had plenty of melons, grapes, peaches, and her own favorite, nectarines. As they passed by the houses, they came upon the large green lawn behind them. Jonathan and James were close to a small garden shack, putting away their croquet mallets. Ignoring Jonathan completely, she spoke to Lord Pembroke. “James!”

Jonathan straightened from his bent position and hit his head on the shed. With a curse, he spun around, a scowl upon his face. Her pulse quickened as she saw those jade-green eyes flash like fire, and for a second she forgot to breathe.

James ignored Jonathan’s plight and dusted off his palms on his trousers. “Ladies! Miss Beaumont, I’m pleased to see you again, and looking so well.”

“Thank you,” Gillian said with a blush. For a moment Audrey forgot she was worried about meeting Jonathan. She was too overjoyed to see the warm looks between Gillian and James. It was destiny. The best she could do now was leave the two lovebirds alone.

“Gillian, I’m going to check on the pineapples. Horatia asked me if I could.”

“Pineapples?” Her maid’s confusion shadowed her questioning eyes. Gillian knew full well that Horatia had not mentioned any pineapples when they had arrived.

“Yes. The pineapples.” Audrey stared hard at Gillian, hoping she would take the hint and play along. Gillian would assume that Audrey was trying to avoid Jonathan, which was partly true. But her main goal was to have James and Gillian spend some time alone together.

“Oh…yes…” Gillian played along. “I do hope they are growing well.”

“That is exactly what I shall go and investigate.” Audrey headed straight for the succession houses, relieved and disappointed to find she was alone. Jonathan had not come after her.