if it is not Miss Thalia Chase!’ Lady Riverton said gaily. ‘And looking just the same as when we parted in dear Santa Lucia. How is your lovely sister, the new Duchess?’
‘Clio and her husband are both well, thank you,’ Thalia said, giving the bizarre couple her sweetest smile. ‘They are still travelling on the Continent.’
‘I was so very sorry to miss their wedding, but I had to travel in haste to Naples to visit an ill friend,’ Lady Riverton said. ‘That is where I met Count di Fabrizzi again! He has been such an attentive escort.’ She simpered up at Marco, her gloved hand tight on his arm.
Marco gave her an indulgent smile, his eyes soft as he gazed down at her. As if he could not watch her enough, get enough of her presence.
Thalia remembered how just such a look from him could make her feel, back in Santa Lucia. How his teasing smiles made her feel all hot and chilled, weak and invincible, light and unbearably serious, all at the same time.
She wished she still had a glass of the vile water, so she could throw it at him. First Clio, now Lady Riverton! The—the bounder.
‘How fortunate, Lady Riverton, that you possess the happy talent of making friends wherever you go,’ Thalia said.
‘Indeed I do! My dear husband, the late Viscount Riverton, said it was my greatest gift. Or one of them, anyway!’ Lady Riverton giggled, leaning on Marco’s arm even more. He seemed to have no objections, though Thalia noticed they were beginning to attract interested attention from the passers-by.
‘Speaking of friends, Miss Chase,’ Lady Riverton continued, ‘never say you are here on your own! Your sister’s great marriage must have caused such a lowering of spirits for you. I hope the waters will soon restore your bloom.’
Thalia felt her ‘blooming’ cheeks grow warm. ‘On the contrary, Lady Riverton. We are all most happy that Clio has found someone who loves and values her as much as we do. And I am here with my eldest sister, Lady Westwood, who has recently had a child.’
‘Indeed?’ Lady Riverton said. ‘Well, I am glad you are here with someone to see to the proprieties. If I recall from Santa Lucia, you yourself are often too busy to worry about such things.’
Proprieties like stealing? Destroying history? Thalia again felt that burning urge to throw something. At Lady Riverton, whose smugly smiling countenance said she knew Thalia could do nothing in such a public place. At Marco, who seemed to fawn over Lady Riverton like a simpleton, like a new Marco di Fabrizzi. He was obviously playing some game, and it was maddening that she could not decipher it!
‘Thalia? Will you introduce us to your friends?’ she heard Calliope say, and she turned gratefully to her sister. Calliope had always been the sensible one, the one that drew the rest of them down to earth when their wild Chase-ian schemes sent them flying off.
But Calliope was staring at Marco with wide eyes, as if she could not account for his presence here. Yet how could she know him? She had not been in Sicily. She knew nothing of the silver fiasco there.
Cameron came to her side, taking her hand. The two of them exchanged a long glance.
If Thalia thought she was confused before, now she felt she had tumbled down into an abyss. An upside-down world where nothing made sense.
‘May I introduce Viscountess Riverton,’ Thalia said, automatically mouthing the polite words. ‘And the Count di Fabrizzi. This is my eldest sister and her husband, Lord and Lady Westwood.’
There were bows and curtsies all around, perfectly polite and conventional. But Thalia still felt that strange tension in the air, that taut sensation, as if all the good manners would suddenly snap and send them into chaos.
‘We are always happy to meet friends of Thalia’s,’ Calliope said. ‘I hope we will see more of you around Bath.’
‘Oh, indeed!’ Lady Riverton trilled. ‘We are to attend the assembly on Tuesday, and I want to organize a card party soon at my villa. I will send you a card!’
‘We look forward to it,’ Calliope said.
‘But now I fear you must excuse us,’ Cameron added. ‘My wife has an appointment at the Hot Bath this afternoon.’
‘How delightful,’ Lady Riverton said. ‘Nothing like taking the waters! We shall see you very soon, I’m sure.’
Not if I can help it, Thalia thought. Calliope took her arm in a firm clasp and led her past the still-simpering Lady Riverton, the inscrutable Marco.
At Marco’s shoulder, Cal suddenly paused and hissed, ‘Don’t think I don’t remember you, Marco. I hope you left your crowbar at home this time, because I will not let you cause trouble for another of my sisters.’
‘Lady Westwood, I would not—’ Marco began. But Calliope had already marched onwards, drawing Cameron and Thalia with her.
Even as the crowd closed behind them, Thalia could swear she felt Marco’s stare on the back of her neck, a warm tingle against her skin.
She rubbed at her nape, just under the edge of her bonnet. ‘You already knew Marco?’ she whispered.
Calliope gave her a sharp glance. ‘You are on a Christian-name basis with him?’
‘I—well…’ Thalia stammered. How could she even begin to explain all that had happened to Calliope? She couldn’t, not here, not now.
But it seemed Calliope had explanations of her own to make. She stared straight ahead, always smiling. She tightened her grip on Thalia’s arm until she had no choice but to smile, too.
‘We can’t speak of this here,’ Calliope whispered. ‘Wait until this afternoon, when we are at home.’
Cameron thrust another glass of water into Thalia’s hand. She stared down at it, wishing it was something a bit stronger. Homemade Sicilian grappa, perhaps—forgetfulness in a glass.
Yes, she could certainly use some of that now. Instead, she just gulped down the water, and cringed.
Chapter Four
‘La, but I have seldom seen anyone so altered as Miss Thalia Chase!’ Lady Riverton said, clutching Marco’s arm as they made their way through the Pump Room. ‘I don’t remember her being so pale and wan, do you?’
Marco felt his jaw tighten, even as he fought to maintain a careless smile. A fun-loving façade, which was everything in this tightrope game he played. Wan was the last word he would use to describe Thalia. He feared the fiery sparks from her blue eyes would set him ablaze.
He was still a bit unsettled by her sudden appearance there before him. Her presence could so easily send this house of cards tumbling, and then where would he be? Without the silver, without justice for Lady Riverton and her minions. And assuredly without Thalia.
He suppressed the urge to glance back, to see if Thalia still watched him with that contemptuous glare. He kept walking with Lady Riverton, nodding and smiling at everyone as if he had nothing more than pleasure in mind.
That was all they expected of Italians, after all. Sunny, hedonistic
