Amanda Scott - [Dangerous 04] by Dangerous Lady Read Free Book Online

narrow bands of white lace at the wrists. The skirt flared wide, and although the waistline was slightly higher than Letty’s natural one, as fashion demanded, the wide, dark lilac belt emphasized her narrow waist nonetheless.
    Miss Dibble had insisted that she wear morning dress to meet the queen’s mistress of robes, but they would take another, more elaborate gown for her to wear if Victoria desired her to take up her duties at once.
    Drawing on a pair of lilac kid gloves, Letty stood still while Jenifry draped an ermine-trimmed lilac pelerine over her shoulders. Then, with a last look in the glass, she grinned impishly at her two companions. “Will I do, do you think?”
    Miss Dibble said sternly, “You look quite charmingly, as usual, Letitia, but I pray that you will show the good sense to leave your levity at home.”
    “I shall be as solemn as a funeral mute, ma’am, I promise you.”
    Miss Dibble clicked her tongue again, then shot the giggling Jenifry a look.
    Sobering at once, Jenifry said anxiously, “I’ll warrant your knees must be quaking, Miss Letty. Mine surely would be if I was going to meet the queen.”
    Letty picked up her lacy reticule but smiled at the girl who had become such a close friend over the years. “You know that I have practically no sensibility, Jen. What’s more, you must recall that I have met Her Majesty before, first when she was still the Princess Victoria, and again last year after her coronation.”
    “Still, miss, she is the queen.”
    “So she is,” Letty agreed, “and that means one must approach her with all due pomp and circumstance, but she is still quite young and even shorter than I am, for she is not even five feet tall. Moreover, I have lived with pomp and circumstance all my life, thanks to Papa’s being with the embassy in Paris, so ceremony does not frighten me. Nor do even the most pompous heads of state. And few people, you know, pay heed to the ladies of the court in any event.”
    She knew, as she said the words, that she was understating the case, for never before in Britain’s history had the royal bedchamber ladies drawn such interest. No doubt the attention was due to Victoria’s youth and to a general perception—in Tory circles particularly—that the Whig ladies with whom the young queen had surrounded herself must exert undue influence over her.
    The two most powerful Tories in the land, the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel, had requested two years previously, at the onset of her reign, that she appoint a few Tory ladies to balance the mix. Victoria had refused their request outright, preferring to remain surrounded by ladies friendly to, and frequently, even related to, Prime Minister Melbourne and some of the most powerful Whig families. Only as a cushion to increasing public disapproval had she reluctantly agreed to appoint a lady from one of the Tory families, and although she had chosen an influential family it was one that for many years had played a small role in politics. Therefore, Letty had no illusions about the position she was about to assume.
    The Marquess of Jervaulx had explained these details to her, and in his usual frank manner had said, “Victoria thinks you will cause her no trouble, and my expectation is the same. She will underestimate you, however, because you will rarely draw notice—no more, in fact, than a new chair or painting. Naturally, people will talk about you at first, but only briefly, before they take pains to ignore you. You will be there only to appease the more outspoken grumblers, but you can help our side by showing Her Majesty that we Tories are not monsters but only ordinary subjects with opinions that frequently differ from those of her favored Whigs.”
    Letty was still remembering the gist of their several such conversations when she entered her town carriage with her two faithful companions in attendance. She settled herself as comfortably as her tight stays allowed while her footman