Diamonds and Dreams (57 page)

Saber resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I
do indeed remember Isabelle’s party, Lady Baldwin, and please give
her my warmest regards.”

“Where are you residing, Marion?” Lady
Ainsworth asked. “I called on your aunts several days ago,
and—”

“They wanted to redecorate the house,” Saber
blurted, desperate to cut the woman off before she mentioned his
aunts’ names. “In order for that to be accomplished, we decided to
leave the house. We are renting another now, but will be back in
our own very soon. I shall inform my aunts that you would enjoy
seeing them again.”

“Yeah,” Goldie declared, nodding. “They
bought all new stuff to go in their house, too. It’s gonna be so
purty. Well, we’re gonna go dance now. ‘Bye!”

“Goldie,” Saber said as she pulled him
along, “let’s leave. We—”

“Saber,” she broke him off, “how did you
know all those folks’ names? I never did get the chance to tell you
that was Duke Roth. And I didn’t ever tell you about those ladies,
Miz Ainsworth and Miz Baldwin, either.”

“I—I heard their names being spoken when I
arrived,” he stammered. “Goldie, I really must insist that we leave
now.”

“But—”

“
Now,”
he pressed, taking her hand
and leading her to the corner where Lord and Lady Chittingdon were
standing. “Thank you for the invitation,” he told his hosts, and
pressed a kiss to Lady Chittingdon’s hand.

“But surely you aren’t departing!” Lady
Chittingdon exclaimed. “It’s early yet, and Goldie hasn’t had the
pleasure of even one dance with you, Marion.”

“Nevertheless, we must leave,” Saber
responded, feeling more anxious by the moment. “Isn’t that right,
Goldie?”

She saw the stubborn gleam in his seaweed
eyes and knew then he would not stay another minute. For a moment,
she felt like arguing, but as she continued looking up at him, she
began to imagine the things they would do after they left. The ride
home was a long one, and the coach would be dark and very private.
And the aunties were out, she remembered. Realizing the intimate
possibilities of the night, she blushed, suddenly deciding it
didn’t matter whether Saber learned dukish dancing or not.

“‘Bye, y’all,” she told her hosts a bit
breathlessly. “I had a really good time, but Marion and I have to
leave now. I enjoyed all the food. ‘Course, I didn’t know what most
of it was, but none of it looked like guts so I did the proper
thing and ate all of it. Did y’all notice that?”

Lady Chittingdon laid her hand on Goldie’s
cheek. “We did indeed, my dear.”

“Miss Mae,” Horatio Alders said as he
arrived at her side. “My wife and I will be hosting an informal
luncheon next week. Would you do us the honor of accepting our
invitation? I would dearly love to hear more of your stories about
the people you’ve known in America. You may come too, Marion,” he
added, his twinkling eyes never leaving Goldie.

Saber felt pride well within him. Goldie
would have little trouble being accepted by the nobility. She was
already well-liked by the Chittingdons, Lord John Russell himself
had spoken highly of her, and Horatio Alders, the most peevish man
in the country, had just extended her an invitation to his home.
“We will be in touch, Lord Alders,” he responded, his fingers
caressing Goldie’s palm.

“Caroline and I will escort you and Miss Mae
to the door, Marion,” Lord Chittingdon announced.

In the foyer, Saber helped Goldie with her
wrap. After thanking the Chittingdons once again, he began leading
her outside, relieved beyond belief that nothing untoward had
happened during the course of the evening.

“Wait!” Goldie exclaimed, turning back to
the house. “I left my notes in the parlor!” She hurried to retrieve
them.

Saber started after her, but was detained
when Lord Chittingdon began a conversation concerning the German
scientist Rudolf Clausius. Saber had no choice but to stay by the
door and listen to Lord Chittingdon drone on about Clausius’ study
of the law of thermodynamics and the kinetic theory of gases.

Goldie skipped into the parlor, finding her
notes lying on the chair she’d been sitting in. As she picked them
up, she heard the parlor door close.

“I’m glad to have found you alone at last,”
Jillian said caustically. “I would like to speak to you.”

“Well, I’m really sorry about that,
Jillian,” Goldie said, sashaying toward the door, “but Marion’s
waitin’ on me.”

“What, exactly, is your relationship with
Marion?” Jillian demanded, moving in front of the door and barring
Goldie’s way.

Goldie stopped before the hateful woman. As
she did, a familiar scent wafted around her. It smelled like roses,
but not fresh ones. She couldn’t remember where she’d smelled the
strong fragrance before. “My relationship with Marion isn’t any of
your business, Jillian, so get out of my way.”

Jillian tapped her rouged lips with a long,
tapered fingernail. “Has he said nothing at all to you about
my
relationship with him? Oh, but of course, he wouldn’t
have, would he? After all, Marion is the sort of man who enjoys a
variety of women. He doesn’t, however, know that I am aware of his
trysts. I allow him this for now. But I’ve warned him that as soon
as we are wed, it must cease. And since we will be living at
Ravenhurst, it will be easier for me to keep my eye on him. He
loves me as he did Angelica, you see. He promised
her
to
make Ravenhurst their home, and he has made the same oath to
me
.”

“You’re marryin’ the Duke of Ravenhurst?”
Goldie asked, astonished over this incredible information.

Jillian held out her hand, upon which
glittered the magnificent diamond ring she’d inherited from her
mother. “He came to see me last night and presented this to me as a
token of his love. He spoils me so!”

Goldie blinked several times. Confusion such
as she’d never known before seized her. “I—Jillian, did you say
you’d been with Marion
last night?
” she asked, her voice
almost a whisper.

Jillian gloated. “Yes,” she said, her chin
raised. “And we had a most romantic evening.”

Goldie felt paralyzed. If Jillian had been
with the real Marion last night... How was it possible that the
woman who was to marry the duke didn’t recognize Saber as an
impostor? Yes, Saber resembled Marion Tremayne, but surely Jillian,
who’d been with the duke only last night wouldn’t mistake her own
fiancé!

She groped for words, but her confusion was
so thick, she couldn’t speak.

Jillian saw the bewildered expression on
Goldie’s face and took full advantage of it. “Surely you noticed
how reluctant he was to speak to me tonight. He wasn’t expecting to
see me here. When he did, he knew he’d been caught. But I’ll
forgive him, of course.”

Goldie recalled how terribly anxious Saber
had been earlier. He’d wanted to leave as soon as he arrived.
Things she didn’t want to believe began darting through her mind,
leaving her sick with foreboding.

“You aren’t the first, you know,” Jillian
continued silkily, savoring the look of horror in her adversary’s
eyes. “Marion has had a long string of women since Angelica’s
death,” she lied. “I realize you believe that he is sponsoring your
research here in London, but that is merely a ploy he has dreamed
up. He goes to extravagant lengths to entice women into his bed,
and then dismisses them as soon as he becomes bored with them. Your
time will come. Take my advice, Goldie. Have a care with your pride
and leave him before he demands that you do so. Your relationship
with him will come to naught, for he is to marry
me
.”

Goldie’s breath came in short pants.
“But—But he said he loved me,” she whispered, each word a
tremendous effort.

“Love
you?
” Jillian scoffed. “You’re
a
commoner!
Surely after all your research concerning the
nobility, you have learned that a man like Marion Tremayne would
never stoop so low as to actually
care
for a girl of your
background. No, Goldie. I can assure you that my darling diamond
duke belongs to
me
, heart and soul.”

Goldie’s mind continued to spin. “Diamond
duke,” she repeated absently, assaulted by a horrible sense of
dread.

Jillian sneered. “My pet name for him. I
named him that years ago when I discovered the diamond-shaped
birthmark on his left thigh.”

Goldie’s throat suddenly closed up
completely, making breathing impossible. The familiar fragrance she
smelled...roses. The same cloying scent she’d noticed on Saber last
night when she’d stolen into his room.

Jillian’s perfume.

She staggered backward, clutching her neck.
Her entire world was shattering right before her eyes.

Jillian began to laugh. “Don’t take it so
hard, my dear. You’ll find someone else. Someone more like
you
. I suggest you look in the East End. After all, you’re
no better than those repugnant street girls the matrons are
adopting. Why, there’s an idea for you! Perhaps you could convince
Miss Clara and Miss Lucy to adopt you! Then you could go back to
that godforsaken country that hatched you and attempt to teach all
those other backward Americans what you learn about the proper mode
of decorum! Which brings me to a question. Where did you get that
gown you are wearing? And those jewels. They are far too expensive
for a girl of your means to be able to afford. Did Marion give them
to you?”

“Gown?” Goldie looked down at her luxurious
satin dress. Reaching up, she touched the topaz necklace.

“Marion gave them to you, didn’t he?”
Jillian pressed. “He fairly showers his doxies with expensive gifts
before casting them away. And such charm he uses! I imagine he
plied you with honeyed words, didn’t he? He told you how incredibly
beautiful you are, and made you believe that everything about you
is exactly what he wants in a woman. Ah, my dear Marion. He has
such a way with words. Why, I’ve no doubt he could seduce the Queen
herself if he had a mind to do it!”

Goldie began to shake so violently that she
was forced to grab the back of a chair to keep standing. From the
depths of her heart rose the truth. All the many presents she’d
received hadn’t been from any secret admirer. They’d been from
Marion Tremayne. Payment. Payment for her services.

And the lessons. All those hours and hours
of lessons on manners! It was true...Miss Clara and Miss Lucy had
adopted her!
She
was their pitiful, ignorant waif!

And their nephew had brought her to them.
He’d found her and taken her to them. He’d seen her as a girl who
could both warm his bed and satisfy his aunts’ desires to have a
needy, uncultivated girl to educate.

She felt as though she were being sucked
into a sea of bottomless grief. “Jillian,” she whispered almost
inaudibly. “Who is Addison Gage?”

“Addison? He’s the Earl of Aurora Hills. He
and Marion have been friends since they were lads. Myself, I don’t
approve of their relationship at all, and will end it as soon as
Marion and I are wed. When those two are together, they are almost
always up to no good. They take great delight in childish pranks,
which I find highly unseemly.”

Pranks, Goldie thought, her eyes stinging
with unshed tears. She’d been the unknowing victim of yet another
prank. Saber and Addison...they were just like the boys who’d
played such cruel tricks on her. “And Leighwood?” she asked with
what breath she could find.

Jillian closed her eyes in ecstasy. “Ah,
Leighwood. That’s one of Marion’s four country estates. Leighwood
is where he and I go when we want some private time together. Why?
Has he taken you there?” she demanded.

Goldie couldn’t answer. Memories of the many
weeks she’d spent with the man she’d thought was Saber West came
hurtling back to her. Oh, how he must have laughed inwardly at her
attempts to turn him into a duke! How he must have secretly
ridiculed her tremendous ignorance!

Horrible pain ripped through her, making her
feel as if she’d been torn wide open. Tears blinding her, she ran
to the door, snatching it open when Jillian stepped aside. “Is
there a back way out of the house?” she asked a young maid in the
corridor.

The maid showed her the way. Goldie dashed
through the small garden in the backyard, quickly finding the door
in the fence. There were no street lamps to light her way as she
fled down the narrow path that ran parallel to the backs of the row
of town houses. Tall trees shrouded whatever moonlight might have
helped guide her steps.

She stumbled, falling face-down. Her cheek
began to ache, and she realized she’d cut it on something sharp.
She lay there for a moment, remembering the things Jillian had
said.

He goes to extravagant lengths to entice
women into his bed. Your relationship with him will come to
naught.

Goldie felt as though her heart had been
snatched from her breast. Staggering to her feet, she continued on
until she’d run as far away from the Chittingdon house as her legs
and lungs would allow before heading for the front street.

Marion Tremayne would never stoop so low as
to actually care for a girl of your background.

Hot humiliation burned into her very soul.
Sobbing, she reached the street, spotting a cab immediately. Tears,
blood, and dirt staining her face, she yanked off her topaz
necklace, holding it up for the driver to see. “I need to get to
the corner of Pickerin’ and Landon as fast as you can take me, but
I don’t have any money,” she choked. “Will you take this
instead?”

The man examined the jewelry carefully,
recognizing its value. “Get in.”

No sooner had she pulled herself inside and
shut the door, than the coach jerked forward. Unprepared for the
sudden jolt, Goldie pitched out of the seat and fell to the floor.
She struggled to rise, but fell again as the coach hit a rut in the
road. On the floor, she lay her head on the seat, her tears
staining the upholstery.