A Scandalous Countess: A Novel of the Malloren World by Jo Beverley Page B

to hold to it. However, Fancy Free’s situation truly did concern her.
     
    “Then I will attend,” she said. “In Fancy Free’s cause, I’ll take the most tender care of our gouty tar.”
     
    “He’s a naval officer.”
     
    Georgia ignored that. “And if he bellows across the dining table or spits on the floor I’ll hint him toward better ways.”
     
    “Sometimes I despair of you!” her mother snapped, but closed her eyes and held back any other rant. “Remember, Georgia, you must also counter the impression of your appearance at the race. Dress modestly and behave with sober discretion; then perhaps our guests will carry away a good report of you.”
     
    She swept out, and Georgia indulged in sticking out her tongue at the door as it closed and muttering, “I’m as much a slave as a horse.”
     
    “You stop that, milady,” said Jane, who’d been standing quietly in a corner.
     
    Laughing, Georgia stuck out a tongue at her too, and then sat to add the latest news to the letter to Lizzie.
     
    “Milady. You need to dress.”
     
    “In a moment.” Georgia wrote quickly, ending with,
“If this could reach you in time, I’d beg you to pray for me. As it is, I’ll hold the letter back and report before dispatching it.”
     
    She put the letter in a drawer in her desk and locked it, then surrendered to Jane. She shed her robe, then put on her stays for Jane to lace, regretting that “pray for me.” It revealed nervousness. She’d explained keeping to her room last night as part of her commitment to avoid society for a full year, but she knew she’d grasped at the excuse.
     
    She longed to return to real life, to fashionable life, but now, as the time came close, she sometimes felt slightly sick. How many people still thought she’d been Vance’s lover, and thus the cause of Dickon’s death?
     
    She took out her feelings on the stays, pushing the flat, boned front into place. “What an imposition. I haven’t worn a full corset in an age.”
     
    “You can’t wear country stays to dine, milady. It’s always obvious and gives a poor impression.”
     
    “I know, but this is so unfair.”
     
    “I warned against you going to watch the race, milady.”
     
    “Yes, you did, but it was worth it.”
     
    “You always say that,” Jane grumbled, giving the laces a sharp tug. “But perhaps it’s no bad thing for you to appear in a small gathering before going on to larger ones.”
     
    “You might be right. Beaufort is here, and Waveney.”
     
    “Lord Waveney is married now, milady, and his wife’s here with him.”
     
    “Lud!Then I’ll see if I can attract Portland, though he is rather dull.”
     
    “It’s the ladies you need to impress, milady. Those are the ones who’ll write letters and carry away stories.”
     
    “At least Millicent won’t be there, sighing and tossing in reproachful comments. Though I suppose her sister will act as her proxy. Why Eloisa Cardross dislikes me so, I can’t imagine.”
     
    “Yes, you can, milady. She’s considered a beauty but can’t hold a candle to you. Stand up straight, milady.”
     
    Georgia did. “Have I started to slump? Horrors! You would tell me, wouldn’t you, if I had?”
     
    “Always, for what attention you pay.”
     
    “You are my wise older sister.”
     
    Jane snorted, but there was a laugh in it, for they were friends.
     
    Jane had just turned thirty when hired to be the new Countess of Maybury’s lady’s maid, and at first she’d seemed severe. Beneath a starchy exterior, however, lurked a wry sense of humor and a delight in fashion that equaled Georgia’s. She’d soon become a friend and confidant, and she and Georgia had worked together to design the unique garments worn by Lady May.
     
    Georgia knew she should have listened to Jane’s sensible advice more often, but her adventures had seemed harmless and Jane’s cautions stuffy. There’d been no serious consequences at the time, but those exploits had