Miss Weston's Masquerade Read Free Page B

time.’ Lady Augusta paused long enough to allow him to pour her chocolate. ‘I shudder every time I think of that upstart Napoleon. However, I did not come here to speak of politics. It is time you were married, Lydford. I met my dear friend Lady Hare at a reception yesterday evening. Her niece was with her, a charming girl, eminently suitable. I have asked them both to stay next week at Woodham Park and I want you to postpone your departure and join us there.’
    ‘Aunt, grateful as I am for your invitation, what you suggest is impossible. I have a boat to catch tomorrow morning.’
    He really was doing quite a creditable job of sounding regretful, Cassandra thought.
    ‘Not without your valet, you won’t,’ his aunt retorted triumphantly. ‘I have heard of this morning’s accident, had it out of Peacock when I saw the state of the balusters. Do not try and gull me, you, of all men, will not leave without someone to look after your linen.’
    The look on Nicholas’s face was so comic that Cassandra stepped back quickly before laughter got the better of her. The table she backed into rocked, she made a grab for it and a vase went tumbling to bounce on the carpet and roll slowly, inevitably, out from behind the screen.
    ‘Nicholas, what is that? Is there someone in the room?’
    Cassandra seized a pile of freshly pressed shirts and scurried head down from behind the screen towards the door.
    As she pulled it closed behind her, she heard the formidable voice demanding ‘Who was that?’ Controlling her breathing with an effort, Cassandra pressed her ear to the panels.
    ‘Why, my new valet, of course, Aunt.’
    ‘That scrubby boy? Are you out of your senses?’
    ‘It’s Franklin’s nephew. He will do until I reach Paris. Beggars can’t be choosers.’ Even through the oak, Cassandra could hear the enjoyment in Nicholas’s voice. She suspected he rarely had the advantage over his aunt and was relishing it now. Abandoning her post, she tiptoed down the landing and let herself into the next room.
    She realised she was in Nicholas’s bedchamber and through the linking door to the dressing room she could hear his voice and the more strident tones of his aunt. Goodness knew how long Lady Augusta would stay, she may as well make herself comfortable.
    The freshly-made bed looked inviting. Cassandra put the shirts carefully on a dresser, kicked off her shoes and sat on the edge of the mattress. It was wide and soft with a mountain of white pillows. Surely it would do no harm to settle down here for a few minutes?
     
    ‘So that's where you’ve got to.’ Cassandra struggled back to consciousness to find Nicholas standing at the end of the bed. ‘You can come out now, she’s gone.’
    ‘Are you going to Woodham Park to stay as she asks?’ Cassandra sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
    ‘And abandon my trip for a week of hideous embarrassment while she throws the simpering niece of Lady Hare at my head? I think not.’
    Cassandra saw a wicked gleam in his eyes. ‘Your aunt will be very displeased.’
    ‘All the more reason for not being here,’ Nicholas said with a grin. ‘Hurry, get up, I have had an idea. We have a lot to do – finding you clothes that fit for a start.’
    ‘Why, you are running away from her,’ Cassandra said as she swung her legs off the bed. ‘I do believe you are frightened of her.’
    Nicholas’s mouth twisted into a rueful grin. ‘There is not a man in Christendom who isn’t, not if he’s any sense of self-preservation. Her late husband was terrified of her. But we will not be here to experience her wrath.’
    Cassandra pricked up her ears at the we . It sounded as though, whatever the plan, he did not intend leaving her with the housekeeper after all.
    ‘You have a scheme for me?’ She looked at him, but his expression was preoccupied and he was not attending to her.
    ‘I must do something about trimming your hair,’ he began. ‘And I think I can find you some clothes