A Taste of Honey (10 page)

“He is really none of our concern,” Mrs. Brentley butt in.  “Robin, it would be best to put Victor Sullivan out of your mind.  There are far better choices for you that we should be discussing.”

With that, the women went on to other subjects and tried to decide which men out of this year's group would fit best for each of the girls.  Katherine listened intently, but she knew Robin only nodded at the times that she felt she was supposed to.  Her mind was elsewhere, and Katherine had no doubt that it was being occupied by thoughts of Victor Sullivan and all of his money that no other suitor could compete with.

The gossip couldn't last too long, as the gathering had been attended by only a dozen women including Mrs. Brentley, her daughter and the Wellings twins.  There was only so much that a small group could discuss before circling back to previous discussions.  Katherine had been surprised to find the group of women in attendance to be much smaller than she had expected.  For twenty-seven years, Mrs. Brentley had sponsored one girl into London's higher circles and Katherine had assumed that most of them would be there.

Through the babble of chatter she discovered that of the women invited, most had been unable to come for various reasons.  A few were pregnant including their cousin Lucy, which became much of the gossip that was discussed later on.  Some of them had moved to America, which brought a cringe from most of the women in the room. About a half dozen or so had decided to stay in the country for the season rather than travel into town.

“I can understand why,” Mrs. Henst, one of Mrs. Brentley's first charges and therefore one of the oldest ladies present, admitted.  “This will be the last year that I stay in London.  It takes too much energy.  London is for the young.”  Her advice was met with many wise nods including Mrs. Brentley, who had already told her friends that she meant to retire soon. 

Katherine noticed that a few of the younger women smiled at the comment, and seemed to wonder if they too, would one day feel that way.

Mrs. Gandbell had been Mrs. Brentley's most recent charge and had just returned from a long honeymoon touring Italy.  “You all returned because you know that London has its own spirit,” she said dreamily.  “I know that I couldn't help but return to join in again.  With all of the events and dances, there is something to do almost every night.  It reminds me of the wonderful times I spent here with Mr. Gandbell before we were married.  London can be quite romantic,” she added with a smile and wink for each of the twins.

When all of the biscuits and sandwiches were finished, and tea was set aside, each of Mrs. Brentley's friends took their leave, after wishing the best for both of the Wellings twins.  Katherine slipped quietly upstairs to her room to read a letter from her mother and write one to her father.  Being at home with only their mother to keep him company, Katherine felt sorry for her father and wished he could have come to London with her.  But she knew that like her, he enjoyed a quieter life at home.

She sat down at the small vanity and pushed a few articles aside to make room for her ink well and paper, which she found in a different drawer than she remembered having placed it.  Then her eye was caught by a small envelope tucked beneath one of her perfume bottles.  When she lifted the delicate purple bottle aside, a whiff of the lavender perfume from within seeped out and into the air.  Looking closer she noticed that the stopper had not been properly replaced, something that she could not imagine herself doing.  Picking up the envelope she found that it was sealed with her name carefully written on the front in bold masculine handwriting.  It was not her father's penmanship, and she wondered who else would be writing to her.

She considered asking the butler if he knew who had sent it, but he never would have delivered the note to her room. He would have handed it to her himself when she had passed him in the hall downstairs.  The letter looked like it had been placed there - not by a servant, who would have left it out in the open, but by someone trying to hide it so that only she would see it.  At last her curiosity won.  She broke the seal and tipped the envelope until the letter fell out.  Lifting the folded piece of paper Katherine noticed a torn bit of purple fabric fall onto the table, the exact color and size of the hole left in her cloak.  Her hand began to shake as she unfolded the short note.

I need to see you again so that we can talk.  Meet me tomorrow night at the fountain in the Buckman's garden.  Come alone or I will approach you at the dance.

“What's that?”  Robin asked from the doorway of their room.  The frantic thumping of Katherine's heart had apparently drowned out the noise of her sister entering and she quickly folded the letter, trying to hide it.

Robin came over and took the letter from Katherine's hands, before reading it quickly.  “Oh no,” she said, closing her eyes.  “I thought you said that he was married.” Robin groaned as she read the note again, trying to think up a way that they could avoid Katherine meeting him again.

“Well I thought he was.  He mentioned some other woman's name before he kissed me, so I believed it was his wife or something.  I guess I was wrong,” Katherine said slightly defensively.

“There's no name at the bottom of the letter, what about on the envelope?”

Turning the piece over she found it blank.  “No there's nothing.  I guess he doesn't want me to know who he is,” Katherine said.

Robin threw the letter on the table as if it had burned her fingers, “Well I don't like this at all,” she said, shaking her head.  “You are not going to meet up with him tomorrow, it's too dangerous.”

“I have to go,”  Katherine protested. “What if he isn't bluffing and he comes to the dance and tells everyone what happened?  We can't take that kind of chance.”

“I'm going instead,” Robin decided, as if the whole matter was settled.  “I'll just pretend that I'm you and I'll tell him that it was an accident; that I don't want to see him again.  If he threatens to tell someone, I'll threaten to tell whoever it was that he thought you were in the first place.  Hopefully that will be enough to scare him off.”

“You're going to pretend that you're me?” Katherine asked, wondering if her sister's scheme had any chance of working and if she wanted her sister talking to the man that she had kissed.  She fought down the strangely possessive emotions that welled up inside.

“Even in full light people have a hard time telling us apart, if they can't see which of us has a flower in her hair.  After only seeing you in the dark he'll never suspect that he's talking to the wrong one.  I'll take out the flower before I talk to him and when I return you can put it back in.  He'll never know,” Robin said, pleased with her plan.

“Why don't I just talk to him?  I can explain everything.  I'll tell him why I can't be seen with him,” Katherine offered.

It was strange to hear Robin trying to be the responsible sister.  Setting her hand on Katherine's shoulder in a sympathetic manner, Robin smiled.  “I'm worried you might kiss him again,” she admitted.

The thought had not even occurred to Katherine but imagining herself in a romantic, darkly lit garden with the same man that she had kissed the other night, it was possible.  Knowing how much his light kiss had affected her, how his deeper kisses had brought her to a place where thoughts and logic no longer mattered; it was frightening to admit that Robin might be justified in worrying.  Given the right circumstances she might be tempted to kiss him again.  “You're right,” she agreed reluctantly.  “You go instead, just don't say anything to him except to leave us alone.  Otherwise he might guess that it's not me.”

With a short nod Robin agreed.  Picking up another letter from Katherine's dresser she sniffed the envelope before setting it back down.  This one had been left out in the open.  The strong smell of their mother's syrups filled the air and Robin nearly gagged on the scent.  “What does she have to say?  We left only three days ago.”

Katherine ripped open her mother’s letter and read it aloud.  It was rather short compared to the lengthy missives that their mother was usually prone to write. 

Dear daughters.

I hope that your search for finding suitable husbands is proving fruitful.  I urge both of you to follow all of Mrs. Brentley's advice.  As your father has taken ill it has become imperative that Katherine in particular is able to make a good match, as we discussed before your leaving.  I will keep both o
f you updated on his progress.

With love, Mrs. Wellings.

Refolding the letter Katherine sighed loudly.  “Do you think that he is as ill as mother thinks?”  Robin asked from behind her.

“It's hard to say,” Katherine answered quietly.  Their mother was known for being quite dramatic so there was no way of telling just how ill he was.  Dabbing the tip of her quill into the ink well Katherine began scrawling out a quick note to her father and wishing him a safe recovery.

The hours leading up to the Buckman's dance were nerve wracking for Katherine.  She kept expecting to find another note or worse for him to show up from out of nowhere, telling Mrs. Brentley everything that her young charge had done.

Robin received a note of her own just hours before the party.  Winnie had run into Victor lurking outside their house.  He had asked her to deliver it to Robin in secret, which confirmed their suspicions that Mrs. Brentley was not about to let a man like Victor into her house.  After reading it Katherine and Winnie had asked Robin what he had written.  She only told them that the note was far too private to share.  However she did confirm that he would be seeing them at the Buckman's dance that evening.

Katherine was happy to discover that it was to be a much smaller affair than the Emerson's dance, which had been an open invitation to any member of Parliament and their family members and friends.  The Buckman's had been more selective with whom they invited and Katherine was surprised to hear that Victor and his friends had made the list.

“Men as rich as Victor are hard to say no to,” had been Robin's reasoning.

Mrs. Brentley made sure that they arrived at exactly one half hour late, ensuring that the dance would have already begun in earnest.  Katherine and Robin were asked to dance by many of the same men that they had met the other night.  They again thanked each man for his attentions and superb dancing, despite the fact that nearly all of the men had been written off by both of them.

After four dances apiece, with well meaning young men, their chaperone seemed to relax enough that Robin had her chance of slipping out into the gardens to find her sister's mysterious man.  She left the red rose that had been pinned into her hair on a banister leading outside and tried to pretend that she was Katherine, even walking slower than was normal for her.

The back garden's fountain was large, but because it was hidden amongst several hedges and trees, it was difficult to get to, making it the perfect place to be meet up with someone before finding dark corners to hide in.  Robin tried not to pace back and forth as she thought about what exactly she would say to the man when he arrived.  If it were her, she could have been rude and told him to leave her alone.  But she knew that Katherine never would be, so to convince him she would have to think of something else.  There were already too many things that could mess up her plans without Katherine's one kiss getting in their way.

Robin had been hiding behind a hedge, trying to get a good view of him when she realized that he would not appear until she was in plain sight.  To test her theory she stepped out from her hiding spot and into the open.  Almost instantly she was greeted with his arrival from behind a similar hedge on the opposite side of the fountain.

In a few quick strides, she bridged the gap between them and pulled him into one of the corners where they were less likely to be seen.  Trying to remember the words that she had prepared, she looked up into his face, still mostly shadowed beneath his hat. 

From her sister's brief description, Robin could tell that he wore the same hat and coat that he had the night that they had kissed.  Likely it was so that he could be more easily recognized by her.  He looked quite young and while she could not see his features, there was a confidence in his stance.  It assured her that beneath the shadows of his hat was a handsome face.  The mystery hovering around him was palpable and Robin knew then that she would have kissed the stranger too, had she been given the chance, and instantly forgave Katherine for having done so.

“Where is she?” the husky voice ordered, breaking into Robin's thoughts.

“What do you mean?  I'm right here,” Robin said brushing back a strand of hair, as she had seen Katherine do when she became nervous.

“You aren't the one that I kissed,” he told her, looking over her shoulder for a glimpse of Katherine.  “Why didn't your sister come?”

Robin reeled at the revelation.  Their own parents could barely tell them apart before either of the girls spoke up.  There was no way that he could so easily know that it was not her.  Robin had even worn the same lavender perfume as her sister, in case he'd noticed the scent that night.

“Tell her to come here, alone,” the voice insisted as he began to walk away, dismissing Robin without a second glance.

Admittedly it hurt her pride.  “Why should I?  You've already done quite enough with her,” Robin snapped, annoyed that she had not been able to trick him so easily and slightly rejected that he had not tried to kiss her as well.