The Lady In Question Read Free

position because we have never had secrets between us. At least I have never kept secrets from you.”
    “Nor have I,” Delia said quickly. “Until now.”
    Cassie sniffed. “I’m still not certain I shall ever forgive you.”
    “But I do apologize. Really, I do.” Delia couldn’t blame her sister for being overset, even angry, over Delia’s failure to confide in her.
    “You can begin making up for it by telling me everything. However, I don’t have much time. Mother doesn’t know I’m here.”
    “It’s absurd the way she’s separating us, as if we were still children.” Delia studied her sister. “I must say, your willingness to abide by her edict is somewhat surprising.”
    Cassie laughed, the dimple in her left cheek a mirror image of Delia’s own. “I’m rather surprised by it myself. But, as I’ve always been the sister expected to totter off the edge of respectability, and therefore you’ve always been something of a favorite —”
    “I most certainly have not!”
    “Perhaps.” Cassie shrugged. “Nonetheless, I have quite enjoyed being the proper sister in your absence. It’s really quite pleasant, although not entirely fair. I’ve always maintained the differences between us were minimal and nothing more than superficial at best.” She grinned. “And I must say I do appreciate your proving me right.”
    “So glad I could be of assistance,” Delia said wryly.
    Cassie might indeed be right, although Delia had never thought so before now. The sisters were as alike in appearance as two peas in a pod, save that Delia favored her right hand and Cassie her left. Cassie had long believed it was the same for their temperaments and had always insisted the difference between them was no more than a matter of degree. Shading, if you will. She considered herself a bit more impulsive, outspoken and adventurous than her barely older sister, but only a bit. Delia rarely disagreed with this assessment aloud but privately thought it was a great deal more than a bit. She saw herself as far quieter, much more reserved and entirely more cautious than her sister.
    “Now, you may begin by telling me exactly when you met Wilmont.” Cassie settled back in her chair.
    “Go on.”
    “Very well.” Delia blew a resigned breath. “Do you remember Lady Stanley’s Christmas ball? How frightfully overcrowded and stuffy it was?”
    “It’s overcrowded and stuffy at every ball.”
    “It was particularly so that night. I felt the need for a breath of fresh air, so I slipped out to the terrace.”
    She’d since thought there must have been something in the air that crisp winter night, in the glow cast by the stars, in the promise of the spring to come. A promise of something new and unknown and exciting. Some kind of magic spell, perhaps, or more, something she had always yearned for but hadn’t recognized she’d wanted until that very moment.
    “And that’s when you met Wilmont?”
    “Yes.” Lord Wilmont. Baron Wilmont. Charles .
    “And?”
    “And…we exchanged pleasantries.” He’d appeared out of the shadows, almost as if he had been waiting just for her.
    “Pleasantries?”
    “One might call it something of a flirtation, I suppose.” He’d been outrageous. Totally improper and far and away too intimate. He’d taken off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Completely scandalous. And utterly, utterly charming.
    Cassie raised a brow. “Oh? And were you flirtatious in return?”
    “I might have been.” Delia shrugged offhandedly. She’d responded in kind that night with a confident, teasing demeanor not at all like her usual reserved nature. In the back of her mind, she’d wondered what on earth had possessed her, but enjoyed it nonetheless. “A bit, perhaps.”
    “I see.” Cassie considered her sister for a long moment. Delia resisted the urge to squirm in her seat.
    “And then what?”
    “Then?”
    “Yes, then. Unless you decided that very moment on the terrace at Lady