That got a laugh from him. "Our darling girl? Cry?"
"Any other girl her age-"
Georgina didn't finish as Jacqueline suddenly stepped into the room, saying, "Help me decide."
Georgina raised a brow at her daughter, hoping she hadn't heard what she and James had just been discussing. Jack's neutral expression suggested she hadn't.
Jacqueline was still wearing a robe and nightgown even though it was already past noon, but then she had no reason to prepare to receive her many callers when they continued to be turned away at the door. It was a bold move on her part, but it didn't discourage any of them. Nonetheless, she had decided early on to simply enjoy the entertainments, not to be the entertainment herself. But she was breaking so many hearts. Her parents, her whole family, knew she would. She was too pretty, their Jack. Georgina was beautiful, but Jack didn't take after her mother at all. She was taller at five feet six inches, and while she was blond and green-eyed like her father, her features were uniquely her own. High cheekbones, stubborn chin and disposition, a pert nose, and lips much too lush, and at the moment long golden curls loose about her back and narrow shoulders.
As for Jacqueline's request, she held a mask in each hand, one a full porcelain mask that would cover her entire face, the other an exotic white domino edged with feathers that was long enough to conceal her face nearly to her mouth.
"Another ball?" Georgina said. "When did the invitation for a masquerade arrive?"
Jack shrugged as she came forward, dropped the heavier mask on the table, and swiped a sausage from her mother's plate. "Yesterday would be my guess since we were quite busy elsewhere all day. And don't worry, this ball isn't until next week, after the wedding."
Watching Jacqueline devour the sausage, Georgina said, "You haven't eaten yet?"
"Who has time to eat?"
"We do," James said pointedly.
Jack grinned and sat down next to her mother, yelling behind her, "I'll have what my mother is having if there's any left!"
Georgina remarked, "I requested breakfast. You wouldn't rather have the sole that was prepared for lunch today?"
"I'm heartily sick of fish. That's all Bastard offered on-" Jacqueline's lips snapped shut and her cheeks flushed with furious color.
Georgina and James exchanged a concerned glance, seeing again what they'd just been discussing. Jack's brief stay with the kidnappers continued to remain far too touchy a subject, and Bastard was the name she'd given the captain of the ship that had whisked her away from Bridgeport.
She'd never learned his real name, hadn't been given even a fake one, and hadn't found out whom he worked for. All she knew about him was that he was Catherine Meyer's lover, if that was even the real name of the woman who had lied her way onto The Maiden George to cross the Atlantic with them, pretending to be Andrássy Benedek's stepsister. Nor was it true that Andrássy was distantly related to the Malorys as he'd claimed. The two scoundrels had told elaborate lies so they could rob the Malory women of all their jewels on that voyage and then kidnap Jack to boot once they arrived in Connecticut.
///
Every time Jacqueline was reminded of that unpleasant experience, she got angry all over again. Her parents had witnessed many of these sparks of rage and understood them. She'd been helpless, she'd been bested, and not one of the skills James had taken pains to teach her had come in handy during the Kidnapping. But at least the sparks of anger were brief.
Jack was already grinning when she changed the subject. "I'm running out of ball gowns. Shall we order a few more?"
"I suppose we must," Georgina agreed. "I really wish these hostesses wouldn't try so hard to outdo each other. There should be a law to restrict them to giving just one ball each per Season."
"I like to dance, so I'm not complaining. Which mask?"
"The domino, of course. Full masks are far too hot and uncomfortable. You'd be removing it before we even arrive. Your father, on the other hand, should definitely wear one-then he won't have to hide in the garden for this ball and I might even get to dance!"
James snorted. "Not bloody likely, George. But I'll drag Tony along if you feel like dancing. He'll need distracting for the duration of Judy's honeymoon."
Georgina laughed. Both of these Malory brothers hated balls, and everyone in the family knew it. If Tony did need distracting, he'd choose any means other than a grand social event.