Page 67 of The Meddler
Georgiana thought he might well look amused, but she was rather quaking. She wouldn’t wonder if Lady Mendleton took her to be worse than a footpad. She’d not takenthings, she’d taken the lady’s son.
“But what of Lady Annabelle…” Lady Mendleton whispered.
“I am afraid Lady Annabelle is entirely set on Mr. Pottsgrove,” Georgiana said.
“Who is Mr.—”
“Now, you can have nothing against it, Mother,” Jasper said firmly. “It would not matter a jot if you did. I will have my way in this matter. It is decided.”
“Well of course, you must have your way, and Georgiana is such a dear, but I thought, well I suppose your father will be agreeable, but…what will Lady Heathway say? We were all very set on Lady Annabelle, we were all in agreement, it really was quite a settled thing…”
“Mother, I do not care what Lady Naysay or the duchess or the rest of them say about it and neither should you,” Jasper said. “But since you do care, slap whatever face on it that you will.”
“Slap a face on it…” Lady Mendleton murmured.
Georgiana could see that the wheels began to turn in Lady Mendleton’s mind. She very much hoped they were turning on the idea of managing Lady Heathway and not on the credibility of their flimsy story or how she might still convince her son to marry Lady Annabelle.
“Now of course,” Lady Mendleton said slowly, “Georgiana has just saved my son from murderous footpads and the queen does hold her in rather high regard…”
“You are not angry with me, then?” Georgiana asked, holding the lady’s hand.
“It is just such a shock,” Lady Mendleton said, gulping down her second glass of sherry. “My head can barely keep up. My mind was very set one way and now it’s to go another way. I really had not thought, Jasper practically avoided the house, so of course I told Lady Heathway it was her own imagination…”
“Mr. Perry,” Georgiana said, “perhaps you could send for a doctor to dress Lord Langley’s arm while I take Lady Mendleton above stairs to rest.”
At this, Lady Mendleton shook her head. “Oh, no, my dear. I cannot retreat in the face of this…turn of events. As Jasper said, a face must be put on it!”
Georgiana had no notion of what Lady Mendleton wished to do about this turn of events. She was only relieved that the good lady did not seem too angry with her.
Lady Mendleton’s eye twitched and she pressed on it to make it stop. Then, she slowly nodded to herself.
“I know what to do, it is the only course. I will gather myself and go into the dining room. I will tell everyone the tale of Miss Wilcox saving my son from footpads and that Lord Asturt has been unmasked as a fraud.”
Lady Mendleton’s nodding picked up speed. “Of course that is what I ought to do. There will never have been a ball like it! Absolutely everybody will wish they’d been here or crow that they had been. Let Lady Heathway considerthat!”
As Lady Mendleton rose, appearing to have regained her vim and vigor, she suddenly paused. “Goodness, I just thought…now I really will be your mother, Georgiana.”
“So you will,” Georgiana said, “and I could not imagine a one better.”
Jasper kissed the top of his mother’s head and said, “Go in and spin your web round your friends, mother. Perry, I’ll take that decanter of sherry. Miss Wilcox and I will restore ourselves from our adventure in the library.”
Georgiana and Jasperhad taken themselves off to the library while Lady Mendleton went back to the dining room to spin her web. They could not hear the entirety of the performance, but the occasional word did reach them. There was an outcry over the mention of footpads, a further outcry over the devious Lord Asturt, and gasps and bravas which they presumed was related to Miss Wilcox’s daring rescue of Lord Langley. They supposed there had also been mention of an engagement as there was a gentle clapping heard. They might have heard more than they did if they had not entwined themselves on the sofa.
Between kisses, they agreed that if they were asked about the night’s events, as they most assuredly would be, they would claim they had vowed to never speak of it again. It was a story that would not hold up well under any sort of scrutiny. It had been necessary, though, to allow the queen to decide what, if anything, would be revealed about Asturt’s plot.
The doctor arrived and, much to his embarrassment and Perry’s, Jasper and Georgiana were quite oblivious to the sound of the door opening. A loud clearing of the throat set them disentangling themselves. Georgiana did not know what sort of state she was in, but between her ripped dress from bandaging Jasper’s arm and the hairpins scattered on the sofa, she could not imagine it was anything less than shocking.
As the doctor set to cleaning and dressing the wound, Jasper helpfully informed him they were engaged. This, fortunately, did seem to lessen his surprise at what he had found when he’d walked in.
The wound was more than a scratch, but it would heal, in the end. As the gentleman did his work, Georgiana and Jasper made various arrangements between them.
“I’ll ride to see Baron Manley on the morrow,” Jasper said. “You don’t suppose he’ll withhold his approval for any reason?”
“Indeed, no,” Georgiana said. “He is a sensible man and you will like him.”
“I look forward to meeting Lady Manley too,” Jasper said.
Georgiana thought she’d allow him to look forward to it, though the feeling might not hold after actually meeting her. Then again, one never knew what emotion might overtake her mother. She might be put out that somehow it was not herself to become a countess someday or she might revel in the amount of bragging she might do in the village over the match. Only time would tell.
