Devil in Spring

“Take heed,” Lord St. Vincent advised Pandora sardonically, fastening the loose sides of his vest. “My father is the pied piper of gullible women.”

“That’s not true,” the duke said. “The non-gullible ones follow me as well.”

Pandora couldn’t help chuckling. She looked up into silvery-blue eyes lit with sparks of humor and playfulness. There was something reassuring about his presence, the sense of a man who truly liked women.

When she and Cassandra were children, they had fantasized about a handsome father who would lavish them with affection and advice, and spoil them just a little, but not too much. A father who might have let them stand on his feet to dance. This man looked very much like the one Pandora had imagined.

She moved forward and took his arm.

“How was your journey, my dear?” the duke asked as he escorted her into the house.

Before Pandora could reply, Lord St. Vincent spoke from behind them. “Lady Pandora doesn’t like small talk, Father. She would prefer to discuss topics such as Darwin, or women’s suffrage.”

“Naturally an intelligent young woman would wish to skip over mundane chitchat,” the duke said, giving Pandora such an approving glance that she fairly glowed. “However,” he continued thoughtfully, “most people need to be guided into a feeling of safety before they dare reveal their opinions to someone they’ve only just met. There’s a beginning to everything, after all. Every opera has its prelude, every sonnet its opening quatrain. Small talk is merely a way of helping a stranger to trust you, by first finding something you can both agree on.”

“No one’s ever explained it that way before,” Pandora said with a touch of wonder. “It actually makes sense. But why must it so often be about weather? Isn’t there something else we all agree on? Runcible spoons—everyone likes those, don’t they? And teatime, and feeding ducks.”

“Blue ink,” the duke added. “And a cat’s purr. And summer storms—although I suppose that brings us back to weather.”

“I wouldn’t mind talking about weather with you, Your Grace,” Pandora said ingenuously.

The duke laughed gently. “What a delightful girl.”

They reached the central hall, which was airy and bright, with plasterwork and polished oak flooring. A colonnaded double staircase led to the upper floor, its wide banister rails perfect for sliding. It smelled like beeswax and fresh air, and the perfume of the large white gardenias arranged in vases on pillars.

To Pandora’s surprise, the duchess was waiting for them in the hall. She glowed like a flame in the cool white surroundings, with her gold-freckled complexion and a wealth of rose-copper hair that had been pinned up in a braided mass. Her voluptuous but tidy form was covered in a blue muslin dress, with a ribbon belt tied neatly at her trim waist. Everything about her was warm and approachable and soft.

The duke went to his wife, his hand coming to rest at the small of her back. He seemed to luxuriate in her presence like a great cat. “Darling,” he murmured, “this is Lady Pandora.”

“At last,” the duchess said cheerfully, reaching out to take Pandora’s hands into her gentle ones. “I w-wondered what they had done with you.”

Pandora would have curtseyed, but the duchess was still holding her hands. Was she supposed to curtsey anyway?

“Why did you keep her outside, Gabriel?” the duchess asked, giving Pandora’s hands a little squeeze before letting go. Pandora quickly did a belated curtsey, bobbing like a duck in a mud puddle.

Lord St. Vincent described the mishap with Ajax, emphasizing the dog’s lack of discipline to great comic effect.

The duchess laughed. “Poor girl. Come, we’ll relax and have iced l-lemonade in the summer parlor. It’s my favorite room in the house. The breeze comes up from the ocean and blows right thr-through the screened windows.” A stammer interrupted the rhythm of her speech, but it was very slight, and she didn’t seem at all self-conscious about it.

“Yes, Your Grace,” Pandora whispered, determined not to make a mistake. She wanted to be perfect for this woman.

They began to walk through the staircase hall toward the back of the house, while the men followed. “Now, if there is anything that would make your visit more pleasant,” the duchess said to Pandora, “you must let me know as soon as you think of it. We put a vase of roses in your room, but if you have a f-favorite flower, you have only to tell us. My youngest daughter Seraphina chose some books for your room, but if there is something more to your taste in the library, we’ll switch them out at once.”

Pandora nodded dumbly. After some laborious thought, she finally came up with something ladylike to say. “Your house is lovely, ma’am.”

The duchess gave her a radiant smile. “If you like, I’ll take you on a tour later this afternoon. We have some very good art, and interesting old f-furniture, and some beautiful views from the second floor.”

“Oh, that would be—” Pandora began, but to her annoyance, Lord St. Vincent interrupted from behind them.

“I had already planned to take Lady Pandora on an outing this afternoon.”

Pandora glanced over her shoulder with a quick frown. “I would prefer a tour of the house with the duchess.”

“I don’t trust you around unfamiliar furniture,” Lord St. Vincent said. “It could be disastrous. What if I have to pull you out of an armoire, or God forbid, a credenza?”