Free Lady Sabrina’s Secret by Jeannie Machin Page A

acidly.
    â€˜As well he might, for she is very lovely, and, I have to confess, she is also extremely talented. I cannot fault her performance, can you?’
    â€˜No.’
    The bell was ringing to summon everyone back to their seats, and they quickly finished their glasses before rejoining the flow of people on the staircase. Within a few minutes the performance continued, but the latest encounter with the duke had unsettled Deborah so that she took little pleasure in what was left of the evening. She was conscious of his presence across the auditorium, and when she glanced toward him, once or twice she found his gaze upon her. This was even more unsettling, and she was mightily relieved when the curtain was lowered for the last time, and Kate stepped before it to receive the audience’s justifiable adulation. She took curtsy after curtsy, and flowers were thrown at her feet as the applause echoed endlessly around the auditorium. When Deborah glanced once more toward Rowan Sinclair’s box, she saw that it was empty.
    The jam of carriages and sedan chairs outside the theater was quite unbelievable, and it was made far worse because the narrow streets nearby were really unsuitable for large vehicles. It was chilly standing by the steps waiting for their carriage to reach them, and in the end Deborah and Mrs McNeil could bear it no more but hastened along the lamplit pavement to where they could see their vehicle in the long line that was moving at snails’ pace around the square.
    They climbed thankfully inside, and as Deborah settled back in her seat, she looked out and saw that they were actually close to the alley that led to the stage door at the rear of the theater. She could see the door, and in the light of the lamp above it she saw a gentleman waiting. The door opened then, and Kate emerged. She wore a white satin cloak with apricot fur trimming, and she smiled at the gentleman, who immediately drew her into his arms and kissed her on the lips. The lamplight fell upon his face, and Deborah stared as she unwillingly observed the skill and passion with which the Duke of Gretton embraced his beautiful mistress. To her unutterable relief the carriage began to move forward, carrying her past the alley so that she couldn’t see anything more, and a moment after that the coachman managed to see an opening in the crush ahead and maneuvered the vehicle clear of the crush. Soon he was bringing the team up to a smart trot for the drive back up through the town to Royal Crescent.
    As Deborah and Mrs McNeil alighted at their door, their attention was immediately drawn along the crescent to the last house, where another carriage was just drawing up. Deborah paused, for she recognized the vehicle as being the same one which had earlier been outside Sir James Uppingham’s residence in Queen Square. As she watched, Sir James himself climbed quickly down and hastened to the house, where he knocked urgently at the door before hurrying back to the carriage. Light flooded out as the butler opened the door and looked out. Sir James shouted something to him, and the butler hurried out to assist him.They both gently helped a lady down. She was half- swooning , and Sir James had to lift her from her feet to carry her into the house.
    Mrs McNeil had also observed the goings-on at the end of the crescent, and as Sir James carried the lady through the doorway, she caught a glimpse of short golden hair. ‘It’s Lady Sabrina!’ she gasped. ‘Oh, dear, I wonder what on earth is wrong?’
    â€˜I pray it is nothing serious, for I must speak to her,’ Deborah replied, staring along the curve of the crescent.

CHAPTER 9
    Unable to sleep for wondering what was happening, Deborah watched from her bedroom window as the doctor hurried past from his residence a few doors away. Sir James’s carriage was still by the end house, and the butler waited at the door to admit the doctor. Then the door closed,