“I wouldn’t disappoint her for the world.”
That was not reassurance enough for Gillian. Not yet. “The dowager is currently on her way to Falstone Castle. Should word reach His Grace that you have disappointed her ladyship, he will probably shoot you where you stand.”
Mr. Sarvol nodded. “I would deserve it.”
The carriage arrived moments later, a hired conveyance that appeared to be in almost new condition. The Beaulieus were exceptionally plump in the pockets. Though they didn’t quite rival the Duke of Kielder in their wealth, Gillian suspected they came extremely close.
“I will see if I cannot round up the rest of your band and let them know their littlest sister has arrived.” Mr. Sarvol offered a quick bow and made his way inside the house. He was allowingher to take this reunion privately. It was a kindness she’d not looked for but still appreciated as she walked toward the carriage.
The footman riding up with the driver descended quickly and pulled out the step in preparation for the passengers’ descent. There would be two of them. Lisette was never permitted to go anywhere without either her parents or her dragon of a chaperone, Mme Dupuis. Artemis had said Lisette was most likely to arrive with the latter.
Either the Huntresses had been watching, or Mr. Sarvol was a remarkably proficient messenger. All the other ladies were present in mere moments.
Mme Dupuis descended from the carriage first. The Huntresses had made the acquaintance of the chaperone two years earlier during Lisette’s only Season thus far. The woman was loud, even when she didn’t make a sound. In that moment, having arrived after a long journey—travel from France did not happen in short order—she emerged from the coach dressed almost as if expecting the King himself to be present at her final destination. And she eyed them all with clear disappointment.
Expected words of welcome were exchanged, though with no actual warmth on anyone’s part. All their attention was on the carriage in the very next instant.
Lisette appeared. She was a tiny slip of a thing, always had been. And she was stunningly gorgeous. Her beauty was entirely different from Artemis’s, but both ladies turned heads everywhere they went. The fragileness to Lisette’s appearance was at once endearing and vulnerable. Most people, upon first meeting her, assumed she was simple or naive. She was neither.
The Huntresses maintained formality in their greeting of Lisette, for the sake of her chaperone. The woman did not intimidate Artemis in the least, and because of that, the rest of the Huntresses chose not to be afraid of her either. However,they did know she often made Lisette terribly unhappy, and they did not want to give her reasons to do so now.
The Brier Hill housekeeper expertly steered the older woman up the stairs to see her settled into the room she would be sharing with Lisette.
Alone at last, Lisette said, her English holding only the merest hint of French, “This is like a miracle.”
On that declaration, the entire group threw their arms around each other.
Gillian’s heart soared. Apart from Rose and Ellie, they were all together. The loneliness she so often struggled with dissipated for that brief, perfect moment.
Chapter Six
Lisette’s arrival at Brier Hillhad tossed the gentlemen into exactly the sort of befuddlement the Huntresses had seen in London during the Season Lisette had spent there. Gillian had kept a close eye on all of Charlie’s friends throughout the afternoon, foregoing her planned walk about the estate grounds, the second one she had meant to enjoy that day. But the gentlemen’s shock at Lisette’s ethereal beauty quickly gave way to behavior exactly like they had shown everyone else. They were friendly, well mannered, and good-natured. And Gillian could relax a little.
Everyone gathered in the sitting room after dinner, the gentlemen having chosen not to linger over their port. Artemis declared they meant to play a game, provided they could settle upon one. It was hardly a shocking plan, as, from what Gillian had been told, little else was ever done in the evenings at house parties.
Mme Dupuis sat in a chair in the corner, facing them all in much the way a lord chancellor watched over a courtroom, provided that particular lord chancellor, presuming guilt on the part of everyone present, was occupying every thought with how to punish the lot of them. Though the group had immediately found themselves on very friendly terms and Christian names were being used almost universally, that evening, they were all being as formal as possible so as not to upset their unwelcome judicial overseer.
Every game they suggested was dismissed by Mme Dupuis as being inappropriate. Those she had allowed to be discussed at any length were, inevitably, dismissed as well. She even objected to short answers, one of the most innocent and innocuous of parlor games. She argued that inappropriate questions might be asked, and she would not permit such a thing.
Lisette was blushing a deep red, looking more mortified by the moment.
Gillian slid onto the seat alongside her and hooked their arms. In a whisper, she said, “Do not lose hope. No chaperone has thwarted us yet.”
“You do not know Mme Dupuis as I do. She will make the next fortnight miserable for us all.”
“You forget our hostess was raised by the Dangerous Duke. She is more formidable than Mme Dupuis could ever aspire to be. And I have never known anyone who could steal the sunshine from Nia and Eve. And Daria is so pleased simply to be included in an activity that she’ll not be the least put out if we have to weave our way to whatever that activity will eventually be.”
Some of the weight lifted from Lisette’s posture. “I have found the only battle tactic that works with Mme Dupuis is wield one’s shield. Retreating by way of ignoring her decrees or dismissals does nothing. Returning fire and advocating for myself has only ever made an already miserable situation far, far worse.”
“Ought we to deflect her current stubbornness by proposing something other than games this evening?”
Lisette sighed. “I do not know. Artemis’s battle strategies have proven lifesaving for all of us at one time or another, but Mme Dupuis defies even that bit of inarguable genius.”
Mr. Sarvol moved to where Mme Dupuis sat and quickly lowered his head respectfully. Gillian held her breath. Would the still-mysterious gentleman make the situation worse?
“Would you be amenable to a game in which the questions asked are all answerable by a simple yes or no?” Mr. Sarvol asked the woman. “That would all but eliminate the possibility of inappropriate questions.”
Gillian knew even yes-or-no questions could be made cheeky, but she hoped Mme Dupuis wouldn’t think of that.