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this secret. Let us move to that tiny alcove over there. Hurry
now. Gracious me, those two old biddies are swimming upstream to speak with us.
La, my dears, I cannot stomach their flimsy talk.”
    “Why, good day to you, Duchess,” Lady Horatio announced with
a smile that did not quite meet her eyes. “Forgive us. Lady Philomena and I
were not able to finish our conversation with you. Ah, Lady Emily. Miss
Appleby.”
    Jane looked up in shock as Lady Horatio moved between her
and Agatha. Lady Philomena wasn’t far behind. Lady Emily’s jaw dropped in
outrage. Jane squeezed her friend’s arm, but immediately had to turn to a
scowling Agatha who was raising her parasol for the attack. Jane forced Agatha’s
hand downward and glared at the two gossiping ladies.
    Lady Horatio peered out through hooded eyes. “Miss Appleby,
so good to see you again. And Lady Emily, aren’t you looking pretty today.”
    Lady Philomena stood beside her chubby friend, flitting a
silk fan about her scrawny face. Jane could tell that both ladies were seething
at the way they had been treated earlier.
    Agatha looked on, sneering. “Ladies, you appear to have
taken too much of the waters. Did you take a bath in it?”
    Jane smothered a laugh. Emily let out a giggle.
    Lady Philomena’s lips thinned in anger as she regarded Jane.
“Your blue eyes do you justice, Duchess. But perhaps if you ate fewer cakes,
the duke would be inclined to pay more attention to you.”
    “Yes,” Lady Horatio added, her eyes narrowing. “I have
noticed that the duke’s tastes have wandered more toward thinner females,
wouldn’t you say that, Philomena?”
    Philomena smiled wickedly.
    Jane blinked at the women as she held an irate Agatha from
charging the two. Good gracious! These women had been taking more than the
waters! They were foxed!
    “Are you saying I am fat?” Jane asked.
    She may have put on a few pounds after her loss a month ago,
and she may not be the delicate girl she was when she had married the duke, but
Lady Horatio was twice her size. And what did they mean about her husband’s
tastes?
    “Ladies,” Agatha ripped out, ignoring Jane’s warning. “You,
Horatio, can barely walk through the doors. I see no reason for you to be
telling other people that they have put on a few pounds! Your name is that of a
man’s, and you look like one!”
    Lady Horatio gasped. “How dare you talk to me that way! I
was only trying to help the duchess. Everyone knows her husband refuses to accompany
her about town anymore.”
    Jane’s eyes flashed. “My husband has been quite busy. And you
are sorely mistaken if you believe his actions are your affair. And another
thing—”
    Emily gently pulled Jane back and glared at the ladies. “I
believe you have crossed the line, ladies. My family does not take well to
people who interfere in our lives.” Her tone was filled with fury. “I am sure
you understand.”
    Lady Philomena blinked. “La, yes, well, a woman never wants
to know when her man is seeing another.”
    Lady Horatio lowered her voice and winked at Jane. “But I
daresay,” she whispered for only Jane to hear. “You have caught on rather well
at your young age. Captain James Argyle is quite a catch with that shipping
line. And that chocolate brown hair that curls at his nape makes a woman want
to swoon. Yet, it is the danger that lurks in those emerald green eyes that
makes a lady giddy, don’t you think? Goodness me, if I were ten years younger—”
    Jane took another glass of water and dumped it on top of
Horatio’s head. “Good day, ladies!” She grabbed Emily and Agatha and retreated
from the room, not caring a whit about the whispers following in their wake.
    Emily stared back in horror at the door to the Pump Room. “I
have never been so insulted in my entire life. What else did she say to you,
Jane?”
    Agatha didn’t let Jane say a word. She swung her parasol and
pointed toward the door. “If you would only let me return! I will