Excerpt
A Very Ruby Christmas
Chapter 1 “When is Captain Price returning? I can’t imagine being left alone for so long. However do you manage without him?”
Ruby stared back, taking a moment too long to answer, allowing an awkward silence to grow. She knew that Angela, Lady Colton, hadn’t meant anything by the question, but the words hit at the heart of Ruby’s own anxieties, and it was difficult to restrain a defensive answer.
It had been years since she’d had female friends to confide in, and she was unsure of the proper way to respond. She had the girls who worked for her, of course, and there was always Cook, but Cook was several decades older and more family than friend.
Still, Angela was a dear, and Ruby knew she had only the best intentions; she was just young and perhaps a little careless. Ruby glanced between Angela and Louisa, Lady Swanston, who sat reclining upon a couch in the parlor of Madame Rouge’s, London’s most exclusive brothel.
The seconds ticked by.
Ruby patted her dark-red wig as she tried to find the correct words. What could she say that was reassuring and calming, that would not reveal her own anxieties? This business of having friends was a difficult matter. “I try not to dwell on his absence.”
Is that enough? “Oh, Angela, you shouldn’t ask such questions,” Louisa said, rising from the low couch. “We both know she’s missing her captain. It is cruel to ask, particularly as the weather turns foul.”
“I don’t think it’s a difficult question,” Angela answered. “I was merely curious. I truly can’t imagine being without Colton, now that we’ve wed.” A delicate blush spread up her cheeks.
Ruby, much to her surprise, felt a similar blush heating her own face. Normally, nothing could make her blush; being the madame of one of London’s most exclusive brothels did tend to leave one rather world-weary. “No, I know the question is meant with the best intent. Yes, I do miss Derek, but I have been alone a long time, and I’m quite used to it. It’s merely a matter of letting each day pass and attending to everything that must be taken care of.”
She was tempted to tell her friends of her decision to sell Madame Rouge’s and sail with Derek once he returned. But until she had definite plans, she was not ready to discuss the matter except with those who had to know, those who might purchase the house from her. Talking about it with her friends would make it all too real. But she would probably need to tell them soon. Both Lord Swanston and Lord Colton were attempting to help her with the sale, and it would only be a matter of time before their wives knew. She certainly didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings when the matter became public.
But not today. Today she would think of something other than the choices she must make about her future. “Now, ladies,” she said, “are you ever going to tell me why you’re here? I’ve never had two ladies call at once, and it does make one wonder.”
Angela laughed, clearly understanding exactly why Ruby might find it surprising to have two ladies come together to the brothel—and what it might have meant, in slightly different circumstances. “No, no. Nothing at all like that. We were bored and decided it was the perfect day to pay a call on a dear friend.”
Ruby glanced out the window at the cold gray day. The wind howled angrily between the houses, casting up the few remaining dry leaves. Dust and dirt danced and blew.
“The perfect day? I would have thought you’d be happy curled up before the fire, with pot after pot of tea.”
“And so we are,” Louisa said, stretching, as she glanced from the flickering flames in the hearth to the large china pot on the table.
“That was not what I meant,” Ruby added.
“I know, but with Bliss awaiting the birth of her baby and most of society at their estates in the country, London is a dreadfully dull place. Oh, that did not come out as I meant it. It makes it sound as if you’re our last choice, and you’re certainly not that, for all that it’s such a bother having to sneak in.” Louisa glanced at the pile of discarded veiling that lay heaped on a chair. “And the wind certainly did not help.”
“I would imagine not. And I do not mean to sound ungrateful for your visit. I would confess to feeling a touch of the doldrums myself. You’re quite correct that it can seem as if there’s hardly a soul about, now that nearly everyone has retired to the country for the holidays. Even my business suffers at such a time.” She raised a brow at the ladies.
“Well, I would imagine that to be true. I may have to talk to Swanston and see if we can do something about that,” Louisa said, before turning back to Angela. “Oh, perhaps I should not have said that.”
Angela smiled back. “I daresay it would be hard to pretend that we just happened to meet our dear Ruby in the park and became friends because we were strolling in the same direction. We may not talk about it, but we both know why we’ve come here.”
Ruby said nothing. Even among friends it was best that some matters be kept private.
Before another awkward silence could descend, there was a tap on the door and Ruby’s porter, Simms, entered with a small wooden box. “There’s a delivery for you, Madame.”
She held out her hand and took the box from him. “Something from Sarah Perry.” Whatever was Sarah sending her from the North Country? Ruby had not heard from her since she’d left with her husband to visit his more-distant estates. With some reluctance—for she was intrigued—she put the box aside.
“Aren’t you going to open it?” Angela asked, with obvious curiosity.
“I think I’d best not. I know that Sarah is your friend as well, but . . .”
Louisa smiled. “But I would not want a package that I sent you opened before others.”
“I am glad you understand.” Ruby tapped the box once.
“I understand too,” Angela added. “Although I admit I am curious.”
“Now,” Ruby said, changing the subject. “Is there anything else you need to talk about? I don’t wish to keep you all afternoon. The weather is turning more and more nasty.”
Louisa stood. “And that is your gracious way of stating that you have things you must attend to.”
“Not at all. I merely don’t wish you to be delayed here; the weather threatens. I can’t imagine either of your husbands would take well to your remaining here under the duress of a storm—or otherwise.”
“And that’s just what I wanted to talk to you about,” Angela burst out suddenly. “I don’t know how to tell Colton that I want to come back here for—for a visit.”
“Hmm,” Ruby murmured. “I do have some ideas about that, although I am surprised you need them so soon after your marriage.”
Angela sat up straighter. “I just want to be sure we set the right patterns to begin with. I do know how difficult it can be to train a man, if he develops bad habits.”
Ruby stifled a laugh. She rather thought if there was any training going on in that marriage, it was occurring in the opposite direction. Ruby knew a great deal about Colton’s tastes, and she could not imagine any woman attempting to train him. Still, perhaps that was what he’d found appealing in the vibrant young Angela, and this was definitely a subject Ruby was quite comfortable giving advice on. She leaned forward and addressed both women: “The real trick is to let a man think it is all his idea. If you leave the subtlest of hints, letting him know that you are agreeable and you . . .”
Will Derek ever come home? Ruby echoed Angela’s question of hours earlier as she glared out the window of her room at the growing dark. The strong, steady wind had developed into the first snowfall of the year. It was not sticking to the still-warm ground, but it was a harbinger of far colder days to come, days when a ship out on rough seas might meet disaster. Bending her neck, she rested her forehead against the cold glass.
Her captain should have been home a week or more ago. There were no fixed dates with a man who sailed the seas, but she could not stop the knot of dread that lodged deep in her belly. Something was coming. She knew not what, but she could feel it in the air about her, something other than snow and ice.
The window shook as a sudden gust caught it, the snow falling far harder than it had barely a moment before.
She pulled back. The snow danced before her, coating the dark branches of the trees and briefly covering the dirt of the streets before melting across the cobbles. Another gust. The air was almost white with the heavy flakes, the house across the way becoming lost in the swirl.
She turned away.
No, Derek would not be home tonight
