An Invitation to Scandal by Kelly Boyce Page B

Caelie spoke of herself, but she shook the idea away. Had Caelie ever done anything even remotely scandalous, Abigail would surely have heard of it. She and her cousin had no secrets between them. Besides, as spirited as Caelie had once been, she would never do anything to risk her reputation. Not that it had mattered in the end.
    Poor Caelie. At only two and twenty the life she had planned had come to a screeching halt, all her hopes and dreams thrown into the wind and scattered to the four corners. What would she do now, reduced to living as a captive in a town she could not escape, surrounded by people who no longer acknowledged her existence?
    She’d turned into a ghost.
    Abigail turned and took Caelie’s hands in her own. “I promise you, I will take the utmost care to ensure nothing happens to damage my reputation. Or our family’s. It is in the hopes of repairing our reputation that I am even attending. Yes, I kissed this man and perhaps I shouldn’t have. And yes, it would be wonderful to be kissed like that again. But I am not going to court disaster. My purpose is to confront Lord Roxton. I simply need this man’s assistance to ferret him out from all the other masked gentlemen.”
    “And this stranger you kissed? What do you hope from him once he has pointed out Lord Roxton to you?”
    Abigail pursed her lips. Were her secret desires so obvious? Perhaps she shouldn’t have confided the kiss to Caelie, but it had been such an earth-shattering experience, she’d needed to tell someone, and she trusted no one as much as her cousin.
    “I admit I would like to get to know the man behind the mask.” She held up a hand when Caelie moved to protest. “It is foolish, I know. I am all but promised to Lord Tarrington. But I cannot deny the thought of spending the rest of my life in a loveless marriage leaves me cold. If I allow a few stolen kisses, is that so bad? Won’t I need something to sustain me through the years?”
    “You will have your children to sustain you.”
    Abigail let go of Caelie’s hand and returned to the armoire. “Lord Tarrington has already outlived two wives, neither of whom bore him any children. What if the problem is with him? What if I too, remain barren? Then not only have I given up passion, but I will have no children to fill my days either. I need something.” She turned to face Caelie. “Can you not understand?”
    Caelie bowed her head. A silken lock brushed against her cheek. “I do understand, Abigail. Believe me, I do. But I fear what you are wishing for will not come about the way you envision. You know nothing of this supposed gentleman, after all. What if he threatens to expose you?”
    “Why would he? It is in his own best interests to keep it quiet unless he wants a hasty trip to the altar.”
    Caelie shook her head. “I cannot help but feel there is more to this than we are seeing. Why would he care so much about getting you away from that party?”
    Abigail had thought the same thing. “He said he could tell someone of such innocence did not belong there.”
    “And how did he determine this? The dress you wore was a far cry from innocent.”
    Abigail pointedly ignored the obvious. Caelie made a good argument; she just did not want to see it. She preferred the fantasy. That he had swooped in to keep her safe, to claim her for his own. And promised to help her confront Lord Roxton.
    Granted, it hadn’t happened quite that way. He’d actually been rather arrogant and heavy-handed in his actions at first. Perhaps he hadn’t swooped so much as dragged her into the room like an errant child. And promised to help might be a bit of a stretch. More like been coerced, as a condition upon her leaving.
    “It does not matter how he determined it,” Abigail said, holding up a cream-colored gown with dark brown stripes and looking to Caelie for approval. Her cousin shrugged. “The point is he did. And he agreed to help me.”
    Caelie stood silent in the middle of the