Regency Masquerade Read Online Free PDF

rather reluctantly, he released her.  Frances curtseyed and left him to go
in search of a glass of lemonade.  The time had flown and she should start to
think about leaving shortly.  Perhaps she could find Sammy after her drink and
then leave, she mused.  She found the bowl of iced lemonade in the supper room
and was just about to ask a footman to serve her when Lord Carleton spoke
beside her.
    “May
I be of assistance?”  Frances started and was glad she did not have a glass in
her hand as she would have dropped it.
    “Thank
you, m’sieur”, she replied, emphasising her French accent to disguise her
voice. “Some lemonade please.”  He looked very elegant she thought, in black
ball dress with white lace frothing at his wrists and collar.  He poured the
lemonade for her and then a second glass.  He gave the first to her with a
brief smile then turned away to where Frances could see the blonde Rosamond
seated against the wall.  Not only did he not recognise me thought Frances
ruefully, he scarcely even noticed me.  She left the supper room sipping her
lemonade and went in search of Sammy.
    Sammy
however was engaged in a country dance and she realised she would not be able
to approach her about Lady Murray for some time.  Avoiding Jack Lambert, who
appeared to be searching the room for someone, Frances stepped back into the
supper room for a glance at the gilt clock on the sideboard.  Half past eleven,
time to go she decided.  Making her way casually through the crowded ballroom,
she had just stepped into the hallway when Sammy dashed up to her.
    “You’re
not leaving already Diana?” she protested.
    “Yes,
I must. My companion is waiting, she is not feeling well,” Frances
prevaricated.
    “Oh,
I am so sorry ... but I asked Sophie about Lady Murray as I said I would and
she said the only one she knows is an old lady who lives very retired these
days, but her name is Anna not Julia so I don’t know if she is your cousin or
not.”
    Frances
untangled the sense of this and queried “An old lady? Do you know how old?”  To
a girl as young as Sammy, forty could appear “old”.
    “Yes,
around seventy, Sophie said.”
    “Perhaps
she has a daughter?”
    Sammy’s
face fell.  “I didn’t think of that ... but wouldn’t she be called Lady Julia
instead of  Lady Murray?”
    Frances
nodded as her young friend continued. “I will ask Sophie and let you know next
time we meet.” 
    “Thank
you Sammy, I shall call on you one day soon,”   Frances promised, than hurried
out to meet her coach feeling like Cinderella.
    John
was waiting with the coach across the road, and she hurried over so as not to
keep the horses standing too long. He opened the door for her, shut it firmly,
then climbed up into the driver’s seat and sent the pair trotting over the cobblestones. 
Inside, she drew the curtains and changed awkwardly out of her gown and into
the boots and breeches.  At the last minute she remembered to pull off her wig
and wipe the powder off her face.  Clutching the cloak about her, she left the
coach a couple of hundred yards from the Pelican and walked the rest of the way
while John trotted past her to return the team to the stables.
    Frances
reached her room without attracting undue attention.  Carefully she sponged off
a couple of small stains then packed the gown out of sight at the bottom of her
bag along with the slippers and gloves.  It would never do for a chambermaid to
see them lying about.  “What a night,” she said to herself yawning. “I enjoyed
dancing with Jack Lambert and I liked Sammy.  I do not think much of Rosamond
whatever-her-name is though, a nasty little cat.  Carleton could do much better
for himself surely. I hope he is not too taken with her.”
    Gentle
snores greeted John when he came in later to check on her, and he left as
silently as he had entered.
    Meanwhile,
back at the ball, Jack Lambert searched unsuccessfully for a tall lady in a
green dress.