A Lady Never Ventures: Part Two

 

(Return to Part One)

Georgiana checked for the fifth time in a row to make sure her bonnet strings were tied correctly. It wasn’t that she was stalling. She never would have stalled going to see Frances before… The Kiss. She’d hardly spoken two words to Frances after that confused moment of passion, and she needed to set their friendship back to rights. 

Frances hadn’t even sent a note when she returned to London, and that stung. Georgiana had found out through a stray bit of gossip that Frances was back, and that no one was going to see her. There were whispers that Frances’ husband was in fits over her behavior, and everyone wanted to be clear that they were taking his side.  

None of the fallout had hit Georgiana, mostly because everyone seemed to have forgotten that Georgiana had gone along as well. 

People typically forgot Georgiana. She was plain, soft spoken, and good at fading into the background. She was firmly on the shelf now, but even when she had been considered eligible, she hadn’t gotten a single marriage proposal. There’d never been any spite to it, more a simple lack of noticing her existence. Even her own family seemed to forget about her sometimes. In her youth she’d cloistered herself away with her books for days at a time, and when she reappeared not one person ever commented on her absence. 

She lived with her sister’s family now. They’d let her set up a small lab space and library, and they left her alone to entertain herself. Translating scientific texts was a passion of hers, and occasionally she’d set up an experiment she read about. She still went out into society, but no one ever looked at her passionately. Except… except for Frances. Except for that kiss.

Georgiana considered the door looming in front of her and reminded herself that she definitely wasn’t stalling. She’d walked all the way to Lord Rochford’s townhouse, and all she had to do next was knock to be let in. 

She took a deep breath, raised her fist, then dropped it. The door opened anyway. 

“You’ve been standing there an awfully long time.” The man who’d opened the door didn’t look much like a footman. He wasn’t wearing livery, he was quite short, and there was a kitten clinging to his shoulder. He must have been a footman, though. Who else would answer the door of Lord Rochford’s townhouse?

“I’m here to see Lady Frances,” Georgiana said. She handed him a calling card.

He squinted at it. The kitten started to fall, and he caught it deftly. “I’m not sure what to do with this,” he said, gesturing with the card.

“Give it to Lady Frances,” Georgiana said. The footman must have been brand new at his job.

“Ah. Right. Just a minute.” He closed the door in her face.

Georgiana stood in front of the door for a befuddled minute and waited. The door opened back up and the footman gestured her in. 

“They’re in the blue parlor. She said you’d know where that was.”

“Umm, yes,” Georgiana said. Was this the sort of disarray that stemmed from keeping a bachelor household? Perhaps Lord Rochford should get married in order to sort out his staffing problems.

The parlor was much as she remembered it, except emptier of people. Frances tended to attract crowds of friends wherever she went, but the only ones in the parlor were Frances, her brother Lord Rochford, and her brother’s friend Mr. Morgans. Georgiana was fairly certain that Mr. Morgans was not invited into polite company anymore, but she was still pleased to see him. She’d always liked him. He was a good conversationalist, and he always felt like a safe person to talk to. 

Before The Kiss, Georgiana would have also included Frances in the list of safe people to talk to, but after it… 

“Miss Torchia!” Mr. Morgans said. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“Yes. I’m so happy to see you,” Frances said, but her delivery was a bit stilted.

“I thought I’d see how you’re finding London in August,” Georgiana said. She took a spot next to Mr. Morgans on the settee. Lord Rochford glowered at her. He’d taken a strong dislike to her last year. Georgiana had no idea why. They’d hardly spoken two words to each other. Feeling discomfited, she moved closer to Mr. Morgans.

“Dreary. London-ish. It’s hardly Italy, is it?” Frances said. She bit her lip immediately afterwards and looked away.

“I don’t see what advantage Italy could possibly have over London,” Mr. Morgans said. Everywhere Georgiana had seen on her trip with Frances had been superior to London. 

“One,” Frances said. “Italy has this thing called the sun.”

“Two,” Georgiana said, “Italy doesn’t exist in a permanent cloud of smog.” They smiled at each other as if they were friends again. Three, Frances had kissed her in Italy and she’d never kissed her in London.

“But London has streetlights. It’s the best city in the world,” Mr. Morgans argued.

“Don’t try to talk him out of it,” Lord Rochford said. “It’s a fool’s errand. He’ll quote guidebooks at you.”

“Have you ever been to Italy?” Georgiana asked Mr. Morgans. 

“No,” Mr. Morgans admitted. “But we’re going there on our… on a trip I’m taking next year. Frances said you made it to Spain. Did you see Madrid?”

Georgiana talked about her trip, all the while keeping one eye on Frances and trying to think of how to get across what she needed to say. 

“We should play forfeits!” Georgiana suggested. The game inevitably involved kissing, which could give Georgiana the opening she needed to raise the subject.

“We have four for whist,” Frances countered quickly. “Four isn’t really enough for forfeits.”

“Nonsense,” Georgiana said. “We can play forfeits with four, and I’m terrible at cards. Unless you’re worried you’ll have to kiss Mr. Morgans? You know, a kiss doesn’t have to mean anything between friends. Not if you don’t want it to.”

Frances froze. Lord Rochford looked like he was trying to murder Georgiana with his gaze alone. 

Mr. Morgans got to his feet. “I’ve just remembered I need to check on something. Something important and urgent. Simon, can you come with me for a moment?”

With Mr. Morgans and Lord Rochford out of the room, Georgiana was left alone with Frances.

“Is that what you think?” Frances asked into the stillness between them. “That it was a kiss between friends? That it didn’t mean anything?”

“I don’t know what to think,” Georgiana confessed. “You left without a word. Can we talk about it, please? Why did you kiss me?”

“I don’t know,” Frances said softly. 

Georgiana looked down at her hands, then back up at Frances. “When I do experiments, I never just run them once. Once could be a fluke. It could be anything. Multiple trials are the path to clarity.”

“Are you saying we should kiss again?” Frances asked.

“A few more times, at least,” Georgiana said. “To make sure we’re basing our decisions on good data.”

“Oh, I’d hate to be working with bad data,” Frances said.

They moved toward each other at the same time. Georgiana caught Frances’ face in her hands and just held her for a moment before she kissed her. Frances was soft, with a warmth like sunlight. She didn’t look right through Georgiana. She didn’t forget. She saw and she wanted.

Georgiana kissed her harder, experimentally opening her lips and sliding her tongue into Frances’ willing mouth. Frances made a noise in her throat that sent Georgiana’s body singing. This was very, very good data.

A noise coming from the hallway sent them reeling apart. Frances wiped a hand across her mouth. Georgiana straightened her bonnet. 

“I think it’s extremely important we get in another trial soon,” Frances said.

“Yes,” Georgiana said. “As soon as possible, I should think.”

To be continued...