Decorum by Kaaren Christopherson Read Free Book Online Page A

for what we could experience together as husband and wife. For a life that’s no longer hedged about by chaperones and proprieties.”
    “Edmund . . .”
    “Yes, duchess, for a full life together.”
    Francesca would have stopped her ears if she could. Edmund had hit upon two themes that cut her to her marrow—to live in the bosom of a family and the “full woman’s life” to which Maggie always referred with a lowered voice. If he understood these, could he fail to understand her desire for a full life in other ways as well, to push the limits of her talents and her personality? If not Edmund, then who? Would more time and consideration make the least bit of difference? Was she being foolish, standing in her own way when she could have at least this part of what she wanted? Maybe engagement and marriage were the last, best answers.
    “Duchess? Shall I kneel?”
    “You’re teasing me.”
    “No, not about this.” He came forward and took her hands again. “Francesca, I offer you my heart and my hand, my soul and body. Will you marry me? Will you consent to be my wife?”
    Could she leap over this last hurdle—and survive? If she faltered now, would there be anyone else six months from now, or next year, or the next? Would she come to her thirtieth year with no one? As Francesca looked into his earnest face, she heard the clatter of hooves. A cab had pulled up outside the house, followed by the snap of the cab door.
    “That’ll be Vinnie,” said Edmund. “It’s now or never, duchess. What’ll it be?”
    The bell rang and John’s footsteps made their way down the hallway. The inner hallway door opened, then the front door, and Francesca heard Vinnie’s greeting and complaint about the weather. “Miss Lund and Mr. Tracey are waiting in the drawing room, Miss Lawrence,” she heard John say. Yes, it’s now or never.
    She threw her arms around his neck and held him to her, as if for dear life. He nuzzled her hair and then kissed her mouth.
    At that moment, Vinnie burst into the room.
    “Vinnie,” Francesca said before her friend could utter a word. “You’ll never guess what just happened.”

C HAPTER 6
    The Inconveniences of Society

    There is the most delicate shade of difference between civility and intrusiveness, familiarity and common-place, pleasantry and sharpness, the natural and the rude, gaiety and carelessness; hence the inconveniences of society, and the errors of its members. To define well in conduct these distinctions, is the great art of a man of the world. It is easy to know what to do; the difficulty is to know what to avoid.
     
    — Decorum, page 26

    A good deal of dickering took place before Connor and Blanche agreed upon the characters for their costumes for the charity ball. Connor nixed the Harlequins, Columbines, Brunhildes, Siegfrieds, Raleighs, and Elizabeths that were in vogue this year and Spanish gypsies were “not fine enough.” Blanche settled on Marie Antoinette but failed to persuade him to sacrifice his buccaneer for Louis XVI. Blanche was to engage a costumer and settle on designs, fabrics, and fittings with minimal interruption to the Hotel Excelsior’s progress. And if the expenses for visiting gowns and reception gowns were slipped in among the costumer’s charges, no matter. Connor’s bank account could stand the strain.
    “Don’t worry, darling,” Blanche had assured him when he cross-questioned her about costumers. “I’ll find the best places. By the time we’re done, Blackbeard himself won’t be able to tell you from a member of his crew.”
    The parts of New York that catered to those for whom costumes, characters, and impersonation were a way of life were not the finest in town, nor would their clientele necessarily be on Mrs. Vanderbilt’s guest lists. Connor might not approve, but he could not disapprove of what he did not know. Blanche felt as if she’d been sprung from a trap.
    Though her father’s family had come from money, he himself