Mrs. Howard rested her arm on the white tablecloth, jangling the stack of gold bracelets on her wrist. “It’s amazing such delicious food can come from such backward people,” she said. “But that is one thing I do love about the Indians.”
Linley swore she heard the native servant groan as he leaned over to refill her wine glass. “Although they are very different from us, I don’t think that makes them backward, Mrs. Howard.” She picked up her glass and took a long sip the strong wine. “As someone who has traveled all over the world, I’ve met many races of people far worse than those here in India.” Setting the glass down, she looked at her hostess. “Take the Chinese, for example. Young Chinese girls who want to marry well have their feet broken and bound, leaving a deformed mass that will never grow any larger than three or four inches. We English have long revered the Chinese for their wisdom, yet the practice of foot binding has only recently been outlawed there.”
Mrs. Howard gulped down her wine. “My goodness.”
“I have seen these women,” Linley continued, “tottering about their gardens in their silk shoes. The smaller the feet, the more attractive the girl is considered. And an attractive daughter can bring great wealth to her family through marriage.”
“That isn’t very different from how we do things in England.” Madeline Howard smiled across the table. “It seems a pretty daughter is a valuable asset no matter where she lives.”
From somewhere down the table, Sir Bedford cleared his throat. “I believe you are quite right, Mrs. Howard,” he said. “We experienced a bit of that ourselves just recently.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. If it were not for my own daughter’s charm, we would not be here.” Linley’s father grinned, obviously proud of the fact. “You see, she attracted quite an influential friend in London and was able to convince him to take interest in helping our fundraising efforts.”
Linley jerked toward her father, nearly toppling her wine glass. “Papa!”
“Now, now, Button,” Sir Bedford Talbot-Martin said, waving her away. “There is no need to be ashamed of what you did. None of us blame you.”
She looked from her father, to her friends, and then to her host and hostess. Mrs. Howard did not seem to be judging her, but Linley refused to let even strangers believe she had used Patrick in any way. “Actually, Papa, I rather liked Lord Kyre—”
“Did you say Lord Kyre?” Ada asked. “As in the Marquess?”
Linley nodded.
“What a coincidence! I just read something about him in The Bystander.”
“Oh, really?” She tried not to seem too interested. After all, what could a gossip magazine possibly know about Patrick that she didn’t?
“I’d never heard of him before,” Ada said. “But they even had a photograph, didn’t they, Madeline?”
Mrs. Howard turned to her sister. “Why don’t we retire to the drawing room and see if we can’t find it?” Smiling at Linley, she rose to her feet. “I keep all The Bystanders I can get my hands on. Of course, they’re always an issue or two out of date.”
Linley followed the two women down the corridor and into the drawing room. The room was large, well-furnished, and the windows open onto the veranda let the warm night air billow in, making it a pleasant place to relax after dinner.
Madeline Howard dug through a few desk drawers until she pulled out a stack of papers. She flipped through them until she found the one she needed. “I think this is it,” she said, unfolding it. “Oh, yes! Here he is.”
Instead of passing the magazine to Linley, she reached for a pair of scissors and snipped the photograph from the middle of the page.
“There you are, dear,” she said, handing her guest the small black and white image. “He’s quite a handsome fellow. Bravo!”
Linley studied the photograph. It was the only one she’d ever seen of him. Of course it was a good likeness, but it did not do him justice. He looked too formal, and since he wasn’t smiling, you couldn’t see his dimples.
“Shall I read you the article?” Mrs. Howard asked. Linley nodded, never taking her eyes off the picture as the woman started to read, “…Oh…well, this isn’t even about him, really. It is about the Duchess of Hereford’s new baby.”
So Georgiana had her baby! “Is it a boy or a girl?” she asked.
“A boy,” Mrs. Howard said. “It seems the Duke now has an heir.”
Linley smiled, imagining how proud the family must be to welcome such a wonderful new addition. She glanced at the photograph in her hand and pictured Patrick chewing the ends of his fingers as he and Hereford paced the drawing room, awaiting the arrival of the child.