Beyond Innocence by Emma Holly Read Free Book Online

have fun!"
    * * *
    Aunt Hypatia's generosityhad just begun. She assigned Florence a spacious room on the second floor, with windows overlooking the fenced-in park at the center of
Grosvenor Square
. Lizzie had a cozy closet right beside. The girl was atwitter, for she was to be trained by the duchess's own abigail to be
a lady's maid.
    "It's a dream," she breathed on hearing the news. "Oh, miss, don't pinch me or I'll wake up!"
    Florence wished her own enjoyment were as pure. What sort of paragon, she wondered, accepted a perfect stranger into her home and treated her not like a cousin but like a long-lost daughter? The duchess claimed Mr. Mowbry had done her a favor, but Mr. Mowbry must be quite the solicitor to
have a duchess in his debt! Nor did Hypatia seem the type to dedicate her life to charitable causes. Openhanded she was, but hardly self-sacrificing. Florence could only conclude some benefit for her lay in the arrangement. Perhaps she had a social rival whose daughter she hoped to put in the shade.
That Florence could believe, though she knew the suspicion did her no credit. Her father had raised her to think the best of people: to say "thank you" rather than "why." He would tell her to count her
good fortune, not question her rescuer's motives.
    When Aunt Hypatia wanted Florence to patronize her dressmaker, however, a woman who lived on
Bond Street
, not just near it, Florence had to draw the line.
    "I'm paying," the duchess huffed. "The least you can do is let me have my way."
    But even if Madame Victoire was a trifle odd, Florence could not betray her trust.
    "If I marry," she said, "I shall be able to pay you back. Perhaps not at once," she added, thinking of the possible tradesman, "but eventually."
    She held her ground even in the face of the duchess's glare. Finally, her benefactress gave in with a snort of annoyance. "Next you'll be wanting to pay room and board."
    "If your Grace wishes," Florence agreed.
    "Cheek," muttered the duchess. "Don't know what girls are coming to these days."
    Happily, when Madame Victoire arrived, the duchess's feathers were quickly smoothed. Florence had feared the dressmaker's manner would be too familiar, but her treatment of the duchess was impeccable, almost obsequious— though the duchess didn't seem to mind.
    Their taste was in perfect accord. As a result, Florence had no say whatsoever. She was to have three new corsets, all French, four carriage dresses, six dinner dresses, another six suitable for dancing, and the Lord only knew how many petticoats, chemises, and shoes. A single pair of satin slippers would
have strained Florence 's purse, but Aunt Hypatia did not intend for the madness to stop there.
    "If you take, we'll buy more," she said. "Since people will remember what you've worn."
    "I feel as if I'm taking enough already," Florence mourned. "I begin to pity my poor husband. His wife will be shockingly in debt."
    Aunt Hypatia laughed and kissed her brow, but Florence had not spoken in jest.
    * * *
    On Saturday, Her cards went out; or, rather, Duchess Carlisle's cards went out with Florence 's name written underneath. Florence and the duchess did not accompany the cards. One of her more ordinary footmen drove them around on his own.
    "Ihave only sent out thirty," said Aunt Hypatia. "We are being select ."
    Thirty sounded like a great number to Florence , but she nodded as if she thought it small. It was the peaceful hour before bedtime. She sat at the duchess's feet in her boudoir, with her new muslin skirts spread around her, idly helping to roll a skein of cashmere yarn. It seemed odd to have no chores. The Fairleighs, even at their most flush, had never possessed sufficient servants to excuse Florence from the nightly round of dishes and water-carrying and stoking or banking of fires. Now she had only to listen to Aunt Hypatia's voice, to admire the Oriental carpets and the lovely watercolors and the flicker of a fire someone else had built to keep the