gentleman in England would have no small influence. She was quickly drawn into conversation while Grenville looked after her with a cautious eye.
'It is a difficult thing,' he said to me in a low voice. 'If I do not flaunt her as though I care nothing for public opinion, I ruin my reputation. I cannot creep about as though I am ashamed of her. But if anyone learns that I will call out any gentleman who dares make up to her, I will definitely ruin my reputation. I will be as a lovesick actor in a melodrama.'
'The great Grenville cannot fall in love?' I asked, amused.
He gestured me to chairs at the front of the box. 'I must conduct my entire life with cool detachment.' He shot me a look as we sat. 'And who the devil said anything about falling in love?'
I did not answer. Grenville had become fascinated with Marianne from the moment he'd met her, a little more than a year ago. I knew, and Grenville would not admit, that the fascination had blossomed into something deeper.
His expression softened, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Lacey, how did this happen to me?'
'These things come upon one when one least expects it,' I said philosophically.
He shook his head. 'I am wallowing, when I know your troubles are greater than mine. Marianne told me.'
I had assumed she would, which was just as well. I had no wish to explain it again.
'If there is anything I can do, Lacey, you know you have only to ask.'
He looked sincere. Marianne and I had been correct when we agreed that he was a generous man. 'Thank you, but I will wait to see what Denis has to say.'
'James Denis?' He raised his brows. 'Bartholomew told me you had received a letter. It was about this?'
'Yes.' While Marianne held court behind us, I rapidly explained the situation.
Grenville looked thoughtful. 'Hmm. I wonder what his game is.'
We both knew that Denis never did something for nothing. 'I will find out.'
Marianne's throaty laughter rippled to us. She knew how to charm when she bothered, and she was busily charming them all. Grenville looked dismayed. 'Hell, it's started.'
He did not mean the play, which had not begun. A few acrobats cavorted on the stage below, but no one was paying them much mind.
'I promise to second you in any duels that may arise,' I said.
'You do not amuse me, Lacey. If I drag her to my side, I'll be a laughingstock. But if I do not, some other gentleman might.'
'Marianne is no fool. She knows who you are and what you can give her.'
'Humph. In other words, she will remain with me as long as I pour gold into her hand and wave trinkets before of her eyes.' He heaved a sigh. 'And do you know, Lacey, I am idiotic enough to do just that.'
'I do not think it is that simple,' I began, but I could say no more, because the acrobats were leaving to desultory applause, and the gentlemen in the box took their seats. Marianne, I was relieved to see, sat down next to Grenville.
The play was tedious. It was a shortened version of Othello, rewritten so that Othello forgave Desdemona, killed Iago in a dramatic duel, and danced and sang with Desdemona and the remaining cast. The audience knew the songs and sang along.
At the interval, two more acrobats, more skilled than those of the first group, came out to make jokes, tease the audience, and flip from each other's shoulders. A footman brought me a message, and I stood up and moved to more light to read it.
The note ran, When you grow tired of sitting in the most gossiped-about box in the theatre, perhaps you could be persuaded to visit the neglected ladies across from you, those you were at one time pleased to call your friends. D.B.
I smiled, recognizing the handwriting and the acerbic style, and looked across the theatre to the boxes opposite. Even without a glass, I could see the white-feathered headdress that adorned Lady Breckenridge's head. Stout Lady Aline Carrington was easier still to spot. She spied me looking across at them and gave me an unashamed wave.
I bowed back, took my leave of the gentlemen in the box, and made my way to the other side of the theatre.
Lady Aline's box was less crowded than Grenville's, containing only Lady Aline, Lady Breckenridge, and three other women of their acquaintance, two of whom were married to gentlemen in Grenville's box.
'Lacey, dear boy, I knew you would not forget us,' Lady Aline boomed. She took my arm in a fierce grip and nearly dragged me to the seat beside her. Lady Aline was a spinster who followed the ideas of Mary Wollstonecraft and had no qualms about her unmarried state. At fifty-two, she declared herself to be well past the age of scandal, rouged her cheeks, dressed in the first stare of fashion, and went about as she liked. She had more friends than any other woman in London, and was godmother to a good number of their children. 'Grenville has a new ladybird, and suddenly the gentlemen of London have no use for the rest of us.'
I smiled as I sat between her and Lady Breckenridge. Lady Aline was a great friend of Louisa Brandon's, a fact which she reminded me as soon as I had finished greeting the other ladies.
'I invited Louisa tonight, but she begged off, claiming a headache. Quite right of her. I believe she ought to lie low until next Season, when plenty of other scandals will put hers out of mind. After all, her husband never did kill Henry Turner. We all knew that, of course, but magistrates can be so stupid. You were very clever to prove otherwise.'
'Your help in that matter was invaluable,' I said. Lady Aline's observations and knowledge of people in the haut ton had assisted me when Brandon had been accused of murdering a dandy in a ballroom in Berkeley Square.
'You flatter me, Lacey. I only answered questions about who did what at the Gillises' ball. You and Donata put the pieces together.'
Lady Aline approved of my fondness for Donata Breckenridge, whose mother was another of Lady Aline's great friends. Lady Breckenridge's first husband had been a monster who'd died the summer before. Donata was resilient and bold, but I knew that her marriage to Breckenridge had hurt her deeply. He'd conducted his many affairs in an embarrassingly public manner and was never apologetic about it.
Donata had rouged her cheeks tonight, adding color to her pale skin. Her deep blue gown covered her modestly, but like Marianne's, it was cut to enhance her pretty plumpness and hide anything not desirable. I'd had the great fortune to have undressed her myself, and knew that nothing about her was not desirable.
At this moment, Lady Breckenridge was peering avidly through a lorgnette at Grenville's box, the feathers in her headdress falling loosely down either side of her face. 'Is that your Marianne Simmons?' she asked me.
I had told Lady Breckenridge of Grenville's heretofore secret liaison with Marianne, and to her credit, Lady Breckenridge had kept it quiet.
'That is certainly Marianne,' I said.
'You know her?' Lady Aline asked me with fervent interest.
'She used to live in the rooms above mine. Grenville met her while she was trying to help me find the young ladies who'd been kidnapped in the Hanover Square affair.'
Marianne had helped only for the promise of a reward, and Grenville, astounded by her, had handed her twenty guineas without thought.
Lady Aline tapped my arm with her closed fan. 'You wretched boy. You never told me the most delicious gossip in all of London. I had to learn it from my servants. I shall never forgive you for this.'
I knew from her teasing tone that she had already forgiven me. 'It was Grenville's business, not mine.'
'And you are a true and loyal friend to keep it so close to your chest. That is what I admire about you, Lacey.' Lady Aline flapped her fan, never minding that she'd completely turned around her opinion in a matter of seconds. 'She is a stunning creature, is she not?'
I admitted to myself that Marianne had cleaned up nicely. I knew, too, that she was fond of Grenville, and he of her, and I hoped they could tear down the walls of mistrust between them and nurture that fondness.
'I prefer the present company,' I said.
I was slapped with the fan again. 'You silver-tongued rogue. And people wonder why I invite you
