Page 70 of His Improper Lady

“I know.” Desiree smiled, relaxing slightly. “Tell me about Sabrina and Lilah.”

“Well, they were very good friends before they met the Greats, which makes for a happy situation. Sabrina is sweet and kind, and she just had a baby. Ooh and aah over the baby, and she’ll like you. Lilah is more conventional in manner. She was raised by a very proper person. And she can be tarter than Sabrina. But underneath, she’s...well, she married Con, which should give you some idea of how tolerant she is.”

Desiree laughed. “Poor Con! Everyone picks on him!”

Tom joined in her laughter. “Don’t feel sorry for him. Con enjoys being outrageous. But he’ll be glad to know he has a champion in you.”

Tom had chased away her nerves, and when they were ushered into the Sultan Room, Desiree was able to greet the occupants of the room with confidence. Sabrina was a small woman with black hair and blue eyes, and she held a baby in her arms. Lilah was taller, her eyes gray and her hair a striking red-gold color. Both of them had more reserve in their gazes than the duchess, who took Desiree’s hands and greeted her warmly, but neither of them seemed haughty or antagonistic.

Desiree admired the baby, who was sound asleep and did indeed look like a perfect angel, as her mother described her.

“We had an intruder last night,” Megan told them. “I’m not sure if it’s related to the people who’ve been after you.”

“Oh, no!” Desiree cried. “I’m so sorry to have brought any trouble to you.”

The duchess gave a dismissive wave of her hand, as if such things were a minor annoyance. “No need to be alarmed. He came in through the kitchen, and the cook heard him. She threatened him with a meat cleaver, so he ran. Con was a bit irritated that she chased him off because he wanted to question the man, but really, one cannot expect the servants to capture intruders, as well. And Mrs. Hooper is getting up in years now.”

Desiree could think of nothing to say to that. Tom said, “This chap was certainly busy yesterday.”

“Why do you say that?” Megan asked. “Did they break in at the office again?”

Desiree related the attack on her, though she left out the part about the knife, not wanting to alarm them. That, however, proved to be wasted effort. The others applauded Desiree’s escape; Lilah asked her if the scratch on her neck had come from a knife; and they all seemed more intrigued by Desiree’s converted mews than alarmed by the attack.

“I wonder if we could build something like that here?” Megan mused. “There’s ample room for another building in back. We could use it to practice some of those defenses Tom and Con have been teaching us. Theo would love to have a place to spar, as well.”

“Con will be imploring you to teach him acrobatic tricks,” Lilah put in.

By the end of the discussion, Desiree had invited the Morelands to visit her exercise room. Sabrina handed the child over to the duchess, and they left the house. In the carriage, they debated whether or not to reveal Desiree’s identity to Aunt Wilhemina and her daughter Susan.

“She’s a terrible gossip,” Lilah said. “If we tell her who you are, it will be all over London soon. Would you rather keep it secret?”

“I wouldn’t want to embarrass the family,” Desiree assured them. She was surprised when the other three women laughed.

“The Morelands don’t care what people think of them,” Sabrina explained. “Well, Aunt Wilhemina might, because she’s a bit stodgy. But really, I think she rather revels in the attention, whether it’s good or bad, and since she would be the one spreading it, she would have only herself to blame. The duke and duchess and their children would not care at all. I promise.”

“It might be hard to explain our interest in Alistair to her without revealing it,” Tom pointed out.

“True. If Uncle Bellard is right about her being close to Alistair, she might not want to admit he did anything wrong,” Megan said. “On the other hand, it might make her want to help.”

In the end, they agreed that they would tell Aunt Wilhemina who Desiree was and that Lilah would take the lead, as she appeared to be the woman’s favorite—or, as Lilah put it, the least disliked.

The carriage was too small for all five of them, so Desiree dismissed it, and they walked the short distance from the Morelands’ home to Aunt Wilhemina’s house. A footman answered the door and showed them into a large sitting room that looked much smaller than it was because it was stuffed with furniture and knickknacks. Antimacassars adorned all the chairs and couches, and lace runners and tablecloths covered the tops of every table. Vases of flowers and one full of peacock feathers were scattered around the room, and the shelves were filled with everything from ceramic statues to glass paperweights to a collection of thimbles. Needlepoint samplers and paintings occupied each empty area of wall. It seemed as though there was not a surface in the room that was left undecorated.

At the center of the room sat a rotund gray-haired woman in a lavender dress and a lace cap that bore a great deal of similarity to the doilies draped about the room. Her blue eyes were bright with interest. “Well, there you are,” she greeted them. “Right on time. I like people who are punctual. Please excuse me for not getting up. My lumbago has laid me low today. Susan, don’t just sit there. Go greet our guests.”

This latter was directed to the rather colorless woman sitting in a chair near her. She was as thin as Aunt Wilhemina was round, and her face was set in a resigned expression. “Yes, Mother,” she said and made her way through the various tables, chairs and ottomans to Desiree and her companions.

As the women sat down, Aunt Wilhemina launched a lengthy description of her various aches and pains, illnesses and resentments. Finally, she ground to a halt and peered at Desiree. “You must be that by-blow of Alistair’s everyone’s talking about.”

Desiree’s jaw dropped. This was what the Morelands considered stodgy?

“Mother...” Wilhemina’s daughter sighed.

“Well, no point in ignoring it, is there?” Wilhemina retorted. “My maid told me. If the servants know, then everyone else soon will, too.” She directed an accusatory look at the Moreland women. “I would have thought one of you would have visited me as soon as Miss Malone turned up.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Lilah replied. “We are terribly sorry. But you see, I wanted to accompany them, and I have been feeling a trifle under the weather lately.” She laid a hand on her abdomen meaningfully.

“Yes. Of course. I remember how I was with Susan. Not a day went by when I didn’t have to take to my bed.” Wilhemina shook her head reminiscently, apparently mollified by Lilah’s excuse. She followed this remark with a thorough interrogation of Lilah’s symptoms, adding frequent comparisons to her own, apparently horrific, pregnancy, ending with, “You’re a jewel, Lilah, and I don’t know how that boy with the lizard ever managed to catch you.”