A Talent for Trouble (21 page)

“That's what I was thinking, but why would she attempt to dissuade me from seeing him if she really wanted me to pursue him?”

“It's Mother we're talking about. Who can understand the inner workings of her mind?” Jeffrey prodded Felicia back into motion. They reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to the right, moving to join Ruth, Daniel, and Robert in the entranceway.

Felicia looked around. “Where's Father?”

“Honestly, Felicia,” Ruth began, “he was called out of town on business five days ago. Didn't you think it was rather odd, given all the trouble you've caused of late, that he hasn't summoned you to have a little chat regarding matters?” She fanned her face with her hand. “I considered sending him a telegram when you almost landed in jail but then decided such distressing news really should be discussed in person.”

Robert suddenly cleared his throat, loudly. “You're also going to have to discuss with Father the fact that Felicia seems to have shed all hint of modesty. Look at the gown she's wearing. It's missing huge swaths of fabric.”

Daniel moved to stand in front of her and looked her up and down. “I think she looks nice.”

Felicia felt her cheeks heat even as she sent Jeffrey what she hoped was a blistering glare. “I told you I should've changed.”

“Robert's just being a little overprotective,” Jeffrey said. “There will be plenty of ladies there with gowns similar to yours.”

“But they won't be our sister,” Robert argued.

“Children,” Ruth said, clapping her hands together. “Enough. We're running late, and I'm in no mood for this constant bickering.” She gestured to the butler, who immediately
opened the door, and with one last sniff, Ruth disappeared through it.

“I don't remember the last time she called us
children
,” Jeffrey said.

Robert nodded. “It's because of Felicia and her unusual behavior of late. I do believe she's almost caused poor Mother to lose her mind, something I was fairly certain you were going to do, Jeffrey.”

Felicia took Jeffrey's arm and allowed him to escort her into the carriage. The bickering between her brothers continued as they rode along, but Felicia barely noticed it. Her nerves were beginning to make themselves known the closer they got to the Beckett house, and it was all she could do to resist the impulse that kept stealing over her to throw herself from the moving carriage.

What would Grayson think of her gown?

Would he be like Robert and find it somewhat scandalous, or would he be like Jeffrey and find her lovely? She looked out the window and drew in a breath, slowly releasing it, hoping that would help settle her nerves.

It didn't, but before she could try something else, the carriage slowed to a stop. Jeffrey helped her out, extended his arm to her, and then let out a grunt when she refused to move.

“I don't think I'm feeling well.”

Jeffrey rolled his eyes. “I've never known you to be a coward, Felicia. Get moving.”

Not being one who ever turned down a challenge, Felicia set her sights on the door and started forward, causing Jeffrey to laugh as he kept pace with her. They walked through the door a moment later and joined the receiving line, Felicia's eyes widening when she realized that it appeared as if all of society had returned from the country to bid Zayne a fond farewell.

The urge to bolt was immediate, but she wasn't given that option when Jeffrey tightened his grip on her arm and pushed her forward. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of Gloria Beckett, who looked positively delighted to see her.

“Miss Murdock, you look enchanting.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Beckett, and may I return the compliment?”

Gloria beamed back at her and then shifted her attention to Ruth. “You've done wonders with her, Ruth. Why, she'll be the talk of the town by morning.”

Ruth's eyes widened. “Good heavens, let us hope not.”

Gloria frowned, but before she could question Ruth further, Agatha called out to them, and Felicia turned, smiling when she caught sight of her friend waving madly at her from the stairway.

“If you'll excuse me,” she said to Gloria with a nod. “I should go see what Agatha wants.”

“Behave yourself,” she heard her mother mutter behind her.

She scooted past numerous guests who seemed to be giving her far too much attention and finally reached the stairs, stepping up a few of them until she reached Agatha's side. “You were right, Agatha. This has turned out to be a true crush,” she said as she gave her friend a hug and then released her. “Good heavens, that's an unusual choice of a gown, considering it's rather warm this evening. It covers you all the way to your chin as well as covering your arms.”

“I have a rash, and hives, compliments of Mrs. Brombel's special potions.”

“You saw Mrs. Brombel too?”

“Your mother sent her over after she was done with you. She must have remembered that I had whiskers on yesterday as well and thought I could benefit from the lady's remedies. Turns out I had the same reaction to her potions as you did—even though she claimed right before she slathered me in the stuff that you
were an odd case and hives and rashes had never occurred with any of her other clients.

“Alas, I must be odd as well, because I broke out into an immediate rash, followed by huge hives, and even though she quickly covered me in mud, the mud apparently didn't work as well on me as it did on you.” She blew out a breath. “I'm sweltering in this, if you must know, but I don't think anyone would want to get near me in my rash-engulfed state. It's a bit off-putting, if you must know, and I really should have been more considerate of you when you acquired a rash after the wedding.”

“I never had a rash,” Felicia admitted. “That was just my mother's way of not disclosing I was a bit of a mess due to a huge case of disappointment.” She smiled. “It is odd though, now that I think of it, that rashes seem to be coming into conversations quite often of late.”

“Let's hope this is the end of those,” Agatha said as she scratched her arm. “I was considering staying home, but this is Zayne's last stand, so to speak, so . . . here I am, sweltering hot, itching, and I think one of my hives burst just a moment ago.”

“That brings a delightful image to mind,” Jeffrey said as he climbed the stairs and came to stand beside them.

“Mr. Murdock,” Agatha exclaimed. “And Mr. Murdock and Mr. Murdock,” she said when Daniel and Robert joined them as well. “This is a surprise, seeing all three of you together like this.”

Daniel let out a snort. “Mother told us to keep an eye on Felicia.” He winked. “When we saw her talking to you, Miss Watson, we figured we should probably intervene. No telling what type of mischief the two of you will get into next. Now, what was that about something bursting?”

Felicia grinned. “Really, Daniel, where are your manners? Surely you must realize it's hardly appropriate to inquire about a lady's bursting propensities.”

Daniel returned the grin. “You have to admit, something bursting is entirely too intriguing not to inquire about, and I'm sure I've asked you inappropriate things over the years.”

“True, but I'm your sister. Agatha hasn't been blessed with any brothers, so watch yourself, if you please.”

“We're supposed to be watching you.”

Felicia opened her mouth to dismiss that ridiculous notion when Robert suddenly shouldered Jeffrey aside, took her by the arm, and gave her a good tug.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“We're going to go dance. Now.”

She dug in her heels. “I'm not dancing with you. You're my brother.”

“You always dance with me.” Robert gave her arm another tug.

Felicia shrugged out of his hold. “What is the matter with you?”

“You're being ogled, right here and now, by those gentlemen standing at the bottom of the stairs—and in a blatant manner, even though you're standing in the midst of your brothers.”

Felicia shot a glance to where Robert was glaring, and sure enough, there was a whole crowd of gentlemen staring her way.

“I wouldn't go so far as to make the claim they're ogling me.”

“It looks like a slight case of ogling to me,” Zayne said as he slipped up behind them and smiled as he nodded to Robert. “Take it from a man who's been cursed with a beautiful sister—you might as well get used to the attention, especially as it would seem Felicia has abandoned her former appearance and turned into a lovely butterfly.”

He turned to Felicia and held out his arm. “Shall we get off the stairs? I do believe we're blocking the way to the ballroom.”

Felicia took his arm, waited for Agatha to take the other, and then they climbed the remaining stairs before moving across the
large landing and into the ballroom, all of her brothers following her closely. She let go of Zayne's arm and turned.

“You don't need to stay with me all night.”

Daniel smiled all too innocently. “Of course we do. Mother's orders. Heaven forbid you manage to land yourself in more trouble because we're not around to stop you.”

There was absolutely no reason to respond to that piece of absurdity. Felicia turned back to Zayne. “It seems as if everyone has returned to town to bid you farewell. When do you leave?”

“Right after the Fourth of July. I was planning on leaving a little sooner than that, but Piper wanted me to help her with a fireworks display, and I've never been able to resist any of Piper's requests.” He smiled. “I also didn't want to miss the church picnic that day. It's always so much fun to watch the bidding of the baskets.” He turned toward Agatha. “Are you putting a basket up for bid this year?”

Felicia noticed Agatha was turning a little pink, or perhaps her coloring was still a direct result of Mrs. Brombel's special potions.

“I might,” Agatha said. “Although I will admit that every single time I enter a basket, I have this horrible fear it'll just sit there without a single bid.”

“I'll bid on it, Miss Watson,” Daniel said, stepping forward. “You just tell me which one it is, and I'll see what I can do.”

Felicia bit back a grin when Zayne's eyes turned stormy. She cleared her throat. “I don't think that would be a good idea, Daniel.”

“Why not?”

Felicia sent a pointed look to Agatha, who returned the look with one of confusion.

“Grace,”
Felicia mouthed.

“Good heavens, I forgot all about that,” Agatha muttered. She smiled at Daniel. “Perhaps it would be for the best if you didn't
bid on my basket, but I can't exactly disclose the reasoning at the moment.” She turned to Zayne. “You can bid on it though, and make certain it's a respectable bid.”

Daniel looked around. “Is anyone else as confused as I am?”

“I'm not confused in the least,” Felicia said before she grabbed Robert's arm and began pulling him toward the ballroom floor, looking over her shoulder. “Well, isn't someone going to bring Agatha along?”

It didn't escape her notice that even though Jeffrey and Daniel moved forward, Zayne was the first to grab hold of Agatha and lead her after them.

“I thought you said you didn't want to dance with me,” Robert muttered.

“True, I did say that,” Felicia admitted, “but I changed my mind.”

“I have no idea who you are anymore, Felicia.”

“I'm the same woman I've always been, Robert, just better garbed.”

Robert swung her around once they reached the dance floor and took her hand in his. “You're not; you're different.”

“And you don't like me different.”

“I didn't say that,” Robert countered. “I'm just not used to you being . . . happy.”

Now, that was an unusual observation.

Before she had an opportunity to reply, the music began and Robert steered her around the room, complaining every so often about her apparent impression she was the one who ought to lead. By the time they left the dance floor, her good humor had been restored and she was suddenly anxious to seek out Grayson, if only to make certain he'd recovered from their little adventure and from finally admitting to everyone the truth regarding his past.

Unfortunately, he did not seem to be in attendance.

She was always aware of when he was in her vicinity—something she just then realized—because the air always seemed to be charged with little bursts of something disturbing. At the moment, the air felt perfectly normal.

“No more dancing for me,” Agatha mumbled as she joined Felicia. “The itching it caused wasn't worth the pleasure, and I think another hive burst.” She scratched at her arm for a moment and then glanced around, her eyes widening ever so slightly. “Felicia, do you know that gentleman over there, the one who seems to be staring at us?”

Felicia turned her head, her gaze skimming over the crowd and settling on a gentleman she thought Agatha might have been referring to, but the moment their eyes met, he spun around and disappeared through the crowd. “He must have mistaken us for someone else.” She reached out and grabbed Agatha's hand. “Stop scratching. You'll only make it worse.”

“But it's driving me insane.”

“You need something to distract you. Tell me, have you seen Grayson?”

“Grayson is your distraction, not mine.”

It seemed he was indeed.

“Have you seen him?” she repeated.

Agatha grimaced. “I don't think he's coming.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I don't think he's coming.”

Disappointment was immediate. “But . . . why?”

“I stopped by for a visit with Eliza this afternoon, and she mentioned that he's been having difficulties with Ming. Apparently her behavior has been less than acceptable, so Grayson wasn't comfortable leaving her with just the nannies.”