Read Online Miss Foster’s Folly by Alice Gaines - Free Book Online Page B

for you.” Blandings put the beetle box back into his pocket and took a seat. “I’m glad you’ve come home. Things have been deadly dull without you.”
    “I’ve missed you, too, and the mischief we used to get into.” They hadn’t gone bed hopping together since Blandings’ marriage, but they could still raise eyebrows here and there.
    “Well, let’s kick up some trouble,” Blandings said.
    “Margaret lets you do that, does she?” Derrington asked.
    Blandings gave him a blank expression for a moment. “Oh, you mean my wife.”
    “Lady Blandings, yes.”
    “Well, you see, her mother’s Margaret, too. You might have meant her.”
    “It’s natural you’d confuse the two, I imagine,” Derrington said. “Both with the same name and all.”
    “Did I tell you she’s with child again?”
    “Your mother-in-law?”
    “Good God, no, man,” Blandings answered. “She’s well past that age. I meant Lady Blandings.”
    “Of course.” Conversing with his friend was always a sort of word puzzle. It could be quite delightful unless the man had information one really needed. “No, you didn’t mention it.”
    “Must have slipped my mind,” Blandings said. “That I hadn’t told you, not that she’s going to have another child. I wouldn’t forget that.”
    “Perhaps you didn’t tell me because I’ve been overseas.”
    “That must be it.” Blandings’ expression brightened. “There you are, then.”
    “I suppose we’ll need to leave your pregnant wife behind if we’re to hunt up some trouble,” Derrington said.
    Blandings pointed to the pile of invitations. “There should be something in those invitations.”
    Derrington picked up the first one. “Covent Garden. I don’t feel like behaving badly in there, do you?”
    “I’d rather skip the caterwauling, too.”
    He lifted another envelope. “Dinner party at Hugo’s. There’s always lively conversation at his table.”
    “Promising.”
    Derrington put that into a separate pile from the opera. “And here…Mitford’s. A ball.”
    “Mitford’s, Mitford’s.” Blandings tapped his finger against his lips. “There was something I’ve heard about his soiree.”
    “Something interesting?”
    “Fascinating, if I remember correctly.”
    “Come on, man. Out with it,” Derrington said.
    “Yes, definitely. I’d planned to attend that one and tell Margaret I’d been to the opera.”
    Something intriguing enough that he’d lie to his wife about where he’d been? That held promise. “Think now. Hard. What was it about Mitford’s that piqued your interest?”
    “An outrageous couple. No, no. A pair of outrageous women. No, that’s not it.”
    “Come on, Blandings. Out with it.”
    “I remember now. Lady Mitford’s taken a scandalous widow under her wing for some reason. The widow has a female relative who’s not scandalous.”
    Scandalous widow, eh? She might prove an interesting diversion while he figured out a way to chase down Miss Foster. Provided the woman could be discreet. He’d have enough of a challenge, given his past behavior, to convince Miss Foster he’d changed his ways and was ready to settle into matrimony. A new liaison with a notorious woman could harm him beyond repair if it became gossip.
    Oh, hell, he probably shouldn’t risk it at all, but he could make inquiries. If she was loose with information about her lovers, he’d avoid her. If she kept her lovers’ secrets, he might enjoy her company.
    “Ah, Derry,” Blandings said. “I recognize that look.”
    “I’m sorry. My mind wandered a bit.” It did that quite a bit since he’d met Miss Juliet Foster.
    “You had the same expression on your face that time you sneaked out for a visit to Miss Fellowes’s Academy,” Blandings said. “As I recall, you found a willing maiden that night.”
    “Not one of the pupils but a teacher.”
    “A young and pretty one, no doubt.”
    Derrington didn’t answer but just smiled. That had been quite a tryst for