Victoria couldn't help but wonder just how well Sebastian knew them.
Everything about them was in duplicate: their gowns (one in garnet and one in mauve), their reticules (one beaded with pearls, the other with jet beads)… even their compliments on Victoria's spring green gown came in rapid succession, with slight variation—one loved the lace around the bodice, the other adored the three layers of ruffles at the hem.
When she sat across from them on the carriage ride to the Regalado villa, Victoria felt as though she were being accosted by two twittering cats—cats didn't twitter, but they did move sinuously and had a certain slumberous look about their eyes. The nonstop commentary and questions, punctuated with giggles and squeals, accounted for the twittering part.
Victoria was fluent in Italian, and the twins in English, so their conversation was easy and multilingual. And exceedingly difficult to keep straight.
While one twin asked a question regarding London, the other was following a train of thought along the lines of fashion, asking different things. And to Victoria's added confusion, they switched back and forth in their prattle, each picking up the other's conversational thread until she was never quite sure to whom she was responding at any given moment.
She was delighted when they finally arrived at the villa.
Inside the spacious home, past the traditional Roman fountains that graced the arching entranceways, Victoria and the Tarruscelli twins were announced and then passed through into the main ballroom.
It was not outfitted for dancing tonight, although a string quartet played unobtrusively in one corner. There were paintings hung on every wall, all, by the looks of them, in the hand of the same mediocre artist. Apparently Sebastian and Victoria shared a similar opinion of Regalado's art.
In the center of one of the short walls of the rectangular room was a small dais where the orchestra would normally play during a ball, but where tonight's highlight was the latest painting by Regalado.
Victoria nearly laughed aloud when she saw it. A portrait it was indeed, of the Tarruscelli twins and their moles flanking a pretty blond girl of the same age and proportions. They were painted to represent the three Fates, each in a flowing Grecian gown that exposed a shoulder here and rather quite a lot of a bosom there. Six ni**les pointed through their flimsy garments.
"Do you recognize me?" asked someone next to Victoria, speaking in heavily accented English.
She turned. "You must be Signorina Regalado, the artist's daughter."
"Si, and you must be the inglese friend Portiera and Placidia brought tonight. Emmaline Withers? I am so very pleased to meet you, I could not wait for them to introduce us. I came immediato to discorrere with you."
Victoria glanced about the room to find escape; the last thing she needed this night was to be commandeered by another young and foolish girl. She had work to do. "Grazie for your hospitality, signorina—"
"Oh, favore, I am Sara to you! I am so pleased to practice my inglese with another woman. Men do not know the importante words. Such as lace and ruffles and gloves and flounces and—"
"Where is your father? I should like to congratulate him on such a lovely piece of work," Victoria interrupted before she was treated to an entire list of every fashion term under the sun. "He has made you look so beautiful."
"My amore has said the same thing." Sara beamed and slipped her arm through Victoria's. "I shall introduce you to him later, but first I would like you to meet my father, and also two of your countrymen. They do not wish to speak on fashions with me, so I shall push you in their faces and make them geloso."
When Sara at last located her father, who was standing with a group of three other men at the other side of the room, she nearly towed Victoria over to them. Victoria was not the least bit reluctant to meet the count, of course, for if he were one of the more prominent members of the Tutela, it would behoove her to make friends with him.
"Ahh, Sarafina, who is this lovely beauty you have brought?" he asked, turning from his conversation.
"Padre, this is my new friend, Mrs. Emmaline Withers."
The man, who was short and stocky with scarcely any of what had been dark hair left on his skull—but compensated for it by growing a full, bushy beard and mustache—bowed and took Victoria's hand. He raised it and kissed it with soft wet lips, and looked at her with exceedingly interested dark eyes. Not a surprise; after all, this was a man who painted the ni**les of his daughter and her friends. "I am most gratified to make your acquaintance. May I introduce you to some of my companions?"
That was when Victoria turned and saw, for the first time, the very confused, very familiar face of George Starcasset.
Chapter 15
Lady Rockley Receives a Set-down
Victoria looked at George and smiled as though it were nothing out of the ordinary to be introduced by a false name.To his credit, he did nothing but bow and raise her hand for a brief kiss, but moments later, after all the introductions had been completed and Victoria managed to excuse herself before he said something awkward, he made his own excuse to follow her.
"Perhaps you will permit me to escort you to find something to drink," George said, taking her arm firmly.
When they got out of earshot of the count and his companions, George pulled Victoria off to the side and looked down at her. "I do not know what serendipitous happening has brought us together so soon after my arrival in Italy, but whatever it was, I am most grateful."
"You made no mention of traveling to Italy when we bade farewell," Victoria commented, wondering why he wasn't asking her about her assumed name. Perhaps he was merely being as polite and circumspect as the time he'd found her stalking vampires on the midnight streets of London. Perhaps he was merely an unsuspicious person.
But could there be another reason? While surprised, he did not look as startled as she had been when Regalado had turned to introduce them.
"I had not planned to make my way to Italy at that time, to be sure… but I must confess, I felt it highly regrettable that you had to leave England just as we were becoming better friends." He squeezed her elbow as though to add an extra layer of meaning to the word. "And after some thought, I realized it would be a good time to return to Rome to check up on some business interests I had here. I felt sure that since we were both in the same country I would be able to ascertain how to find you and to pay a call. I had no idea that happenstance would bring us to the same social event only two days after my arrival." His smile was wide and boyish, and with the two deep, curving dimples that framed it, along with the deep cleft in his chin, he looked even more youthful.