Page 17 of Lady Dramatic
Chapter Five
Roland had beenleft sitting alone at the dining table at Almack’s. Charles caught his eye and smiled at him, as if satisfied with the situation. He’d not stayed long after that, as there really was no point to it.
He had, at first, viewed Charles turning up at Almack’s as a simple irritation. Now he’d begun to think differently. It was becoming clear that Charles had decided to compete with him for Lady Serenity’s attention. Whatever Roland was interested in, Charles must have.
He’d not heard the whole story about the mystery dog Nero, but he suspected that Charles had noted Lady Serenity’s sentimentality over her three-legged dog and had invented one of his own. He’d certainly never owned a dog and Roland was glad of it. Charles had so little care for anything but himself that he could not imagine another being having to depend upon him. Very typical of Charles to claim the dog was dead, as that would be the most convenient for him.
Roland wondered what Lady Serenity thought of it all. He dearly hoped she would not be taken in by his brother. What a lady! She was the most lovely lady living, of that he was certain. Then, there was something in her manner that was so charming. Her enthusiasm in speaking of her dog, or the Dales, or her sisters, or her father, had really been very touching. Her eyes, those beautiful brown eyes, fairly sparkled in the candlelight asif she was near overcome with the recollection. She really was perfect.
He smiled to himself as he thought of the duke. Had it been any other lady, he would be counting the duke’s behavior as a strike against her. The conversation between His Grace and Lady Marchfield had been positively outrageous. And yet, he found he did not give a toss for whatever outrages might emanate from her father.
Quinn entered his bedchamber with two glasses of brandy. Roland sat on the windowsill, keeping an eye out on the square. It seemed vastly unlikely that Lady Serenity would appear out there with her dog at this late hour, but he was compelled to watch anyway.
Quinn handed him his glass and sat in his preferred leather chair by the fireside. Havoc struggled to his feet, having just woken from a doze, and ambled over to the chair. He unceremoniously threw his head on Quinn’s lap for a scratch. “Was she everything you imagined?” he asked, looking down at the dog and petting his very large head.
“I did not imagine anything.”
“I see.”
Of course, Quinn knew him inside and out and knew perfectly well that he had been imagining. “She is,” he said.
“Very good news, very good indeed. I suppose you will initiate a pursuit.”
Roland was silent for a moment. Of course, he would pursue. Quinn was as yet unaware that Charles was making a game of it though. “Charles was there, and seemed to notice my interest.”
Quinn issued a small groan, as his butler would well know what that meant.
“Charles finagled an invitation to dine from the duke, and I have been invited too.”
“Here we go,” Quinn said. “Your brother will be thinking night and day how to best you regarding the lady. You had better begin thinking the same. This is one competition he cannot win—it is the first and only time you have showed positive interest in someone. He cannot be permitted to meddle with it.”
Roland had been thinking along the same lines. Charles had already meddled with it in his own way. “He noted that Lady Serenity is very fond of her three-legged dog, and spun a story of having lost his own beloved dog. Nero was his name.”
Quinn chuckled. “Charles having a beloved dog. It’s preposterous.”
“The lady will not know that, though,” Roland pointed out. “I think I will arrange to have a special dog collar made for Nelson, just as I did for Havoc.”
He’d harbored a lingering fear that Havoc would be lost, or even stolen. Especially when he’d been a puppy. He still worried about him becoming lost, but stolen was less of a risk these days. He could not imagine what person could wrestle that lug of a dog into a conveyance. In case hewaslost, he wore a black leather collar with an inscription on the inside. The message read similar to the newspaper advertisements for lost dogs by offering either a reward for return or prison for failure to do so. “Havoc, of the Marquess of Thorpe’s household. Reward or law.”
Had he more room to expand the inscription, he’d have informed whoever had his dog that he’d better bring him back or he would be tracked down by the Marquess of Thorpe. If one hair on Havoc had been harmed, the perpetrator would be torn limb from limb. Or something along those lines.
“A collar. Very good thought,” Quinn said. “Let Charles wax on about his invented dog while you do something tangible and practical for a real dog.”
“I will arrange it on the morrow so it arrives before the dinner.”
“And flowers. You ought to send flowers.”
“The message must be careful,” Roland said. “It must indicate interest but not be so forward as to startle the lady or annoy her father.”
“Pink musk roses would say what needs to be said at these early days.”
Roland nodded. Pink for new beginnings, and musk roses for the lady’s charm.
“You will likely have Charles on the backfoot with the effort; he never thinks much about doing anything for anybody. He will depend upon himself to turn up at that dinner and turn on his alleged charm as being quite sufficient.”
“You are probably right,” Roland said. Though, one never knew with Charles. If only his brother would find happiness in his situation in life. Nobody picked Roland to be the heir or denied Charles the opportunity. It was just the chances of birth order. As well, being the younger son of a duke carried quite a few advantages. Charles was afforded respect everywhere, he’d been gifted Marshall Downs, which was a large estate, he had access to all the funds he could wish for, he was not forced into the army or the church, and he would never have the headaches that came along with managing a dukedom.
“Now, to a stickier question,” Quinn said. “Who, exactly, did Lady Serenity meet with at this first introduction? Was it you, or was it the reserved marquess you’ve been pretending to be?”
