Free No Regrets by Michèle Ann Young Page A

is she?"
       "Lady Audley," Lucas said. "A veritable pocket Venus, ain't she."
       "So it is," Mr. Rivers said, leaning forward. "The Audleys are certainly flying high these days."
       Caro's stomach plummeted. Lady Audley looked far too elegant to be bothered with the likes of a country vicar's daughter.
       Another man, a tulip of fashion, entered the box. "And there's Bas," Lucas said. He stood up and waved.
       Mr. Bascombe answered with a slight bow.
       "He'll bring Tisha at intermission," Lucas said.
       "And Lord Wellington?" Caro asked. The thought of meeting a war hero made her feel quite lightheaded.
       "I doubt the Duke will call on us," Aunt Rivers said repressively. "Particularly since your father isn't here, Foxhaven."
       Caro stared at the modest figure. The hero of Waterloo.
       "Don't look quite so besotted, child. Everyone will think you are some sort of provincial," Aunt Rivers said.
       Sharp prickles ran down her spine. Wasn't that what she was?
       "Let Caro look her fill," Lucas replied with a frown. "I know I did my first time in London."
       Caro wanted to hug him for rushing to her defense, but she satisfied herself with a smile. All the same, she shifted her attention away from the Duke.
       Lucas put one arm on the back of her chair. "Enjoying it so far, pigeon?"
       As plump as a pigeon. One of the nicest phrases that had haunted her childhood. It evoked memories of swallowed tears and the cream cakes her father used to cheer her up.
       "Very much," she replied, miserably aware of his proximity and the scent of his sandalwood cologne. He'd never look twice at her while there were slender ladies like Tisha Audley in the world. Why couldn't men see that there were more important attributes in a woman than an eighteen-inch waist?
       "Oh, look." Aunt Rivers said. "There's Sally Jersey—she's promised you vouchers for Almack's."
       There was no telling which lady among the crowded boxes Aunt Rivers meant, despite Caro's best efforts to pick her out. At that moment, an actor walked on stage, and Caro once more turned her attention to the play.
       At the next intermission, she glanced over to the Audleys' box. The Duke was surrounded by a crush of admirers, and the tiny lady in red had disappeared.
       "Good evening," said a drawling voice behind them.
       Caro swiveled in her seat to find Mr. Bascombe with his sister on his arm.
       "Bas," Lucas said. "Come in."
       "Lucas, Lady Foxhaven, good evening," Mr. Bascombe said. "Lady Audley, may I present Lady Foxhaven and her companions, Mrs. Rivers and Mr. Cedric Rivers."
       Mr. Rivers bowed, while Caro and Mrs. Rivers rose to give their courtesies.
       "Please, do sit down," Lady Audley said, her light voice friendly and musical. "I just had to meet Foxhaven's new bride."
       From the corner of her eye, Caro saw Aunt Rivers's mouth purse and Mr. Rivers' brows meet over his nose, but she ignored them and smiled. "You are very kind."
       "Please, take my seat, Lady Audley," Mr. Rivers said and moved aside. "I'm off to fetch some refreshment for the ladies."
       "Nothing for me, thank you," Lady Audley said. She perched next to Caro in a rustle of silk. The diamond pin between her breasts glittered with each dainty movement.
       Caro couldn't imagine wearing a gown cut so daringly low. Not unless she wanted every male in the vicinity to be unable to look her in the face while they stared at her bosom as if they expected her breasts to escape their confines like flounders jumping from a fishing net.
       "Bascombe told me all about you, Lady Foxhaven," Lady Audley said, her frank smile very much like her brother's, though she was as dark as he was fair. She laughed at the dismayed sideways glance Caro shot at Lucas's aunt. "Only good things."
       "What else would there be?" Aunt Rivers snapped.
       "Quite." Lady Audley seemed not a wit perturbed by the stiff