The Wallflower Trap

Lady Mimolette Lindsey harbors a secret which leads her to refuse any requests for a dance. This isn't because her late father, the Earl of Bathmorris, named all his children after French cheeses. It isn't because he spent his fortune on fake Aphrodite antiquities, threatening financial ruin. It isn't that this brands the Lindseys as socially undesirable. Her secret simply makes it even more difficult to find husbands for her younger sisters, Treccia and Ovolina. Like the Lindsey sisters, any number of hopefuls attend the Season's events. Any number are labeled wallflowers, rarely asked to dance, with little opportunity for romance. Refusing to be crushed by the ton's disdain, Mimolette devises a shrewd plan, organizing the christened wallflowers, crafting the needed conditions for them to garner dances, and perhaps find husbands. Revenge for the passing snubs of coxcombs and bucks also figures into her scheme. Her stratagems are working too, until an arrogant Major Tremaine decides, as a lark, to insert himself into their "game." Or does he mean to spoil it altogether? Nine years of bloody war are over, leaving Major Lord John Tremaine with nightmares and at loose ends. Entertainment and carousing prove the most convenient opportunities for forgetting the war. Crashing one of the first balls of the season, he notices a mysterious beauty in white sitting among a gaggle of nature's unfortunates and asks for an introduction. His friends refuse, claiming Lady Lindsey is dangerous. Any introduction or even proximity invariably leads to dancing with one or more of the 'plain janes' gathered about the lady. The warnings only pique Tremaine's curiosity, the most intriguing sport he's come across since returning home. He fenagles an introduction, though he must bribe his best friend to approach the lady. He grins, anticipating the fun he will have uncovering this incognita's machinations.