Page 78 of Lady Dramatic
Chapter Twenty
The following weekfound it very convenient that Thorpe only lived two doors down from Serenity. He would walk over in the morning and then, at eleven o’clock, they would take Nelson and Havoc around the square. After that, they might disappear into the library pretending to look for a book or otherwise while away the afternoon. Thorpe was invariably invited to stay for dinner, and then of course, he would attend them in the drawing room afterward. Valor mentioned several times that it seemed like he didn’t even have his own house to go to.
Not to be defeated by the youngest Nicolet, Roland had consulted with the duke, gained his agreement, made the necessary preparations, and then enacted his plan on one fine and brisk morning. It had taken some doing, but he’d found just the right approach. Now that everything was in place, the hired carriage with a mysterious coat of arms that in fact did not exist had been brought round to stop at the Duke of Pelham’s residence.
The duke had been clever at arranging for his daughters, except for Lady Valor, to be elsewhere. He claimed they were to visit their maternal grandmother, the pious and reserved Lady Neville, who had relocated to Town for a month. The duke had explained that they never saw her, as she did not like the duke, but she did send his girls awful Christmas presents that were full of moral rectitude and modesty.
As the duke had predicted, everybody put up a fuss about it. What were they to say about receiving specially bound copies ofSermons to Young Women? Were they supposed to claim they’d read them? What if Lady Neville asked for their impressions of Mr. Fordyce’s works? He only excused Valor from going, as she was deemed too young to face the stiff-lipped dragon and would crack under the interrogation.
After they had set off, the rest of his brood would discover they were only going to Lackington & Allen to wander the aisles of books for a few hours. They were sworn to secrecy to never reveal it to Valor, which they would all readily agree to once they were apprised of the plan.
Now, that plan was launched. One of the footmen showed Roland into the duke’s drawing room, where he found Lady Valor and the housekeeper playing cards.
“Lady Valor,” he said with a quick bow, “I am most relieved to find you at home.”
Lady Valor, not particularly an admirer of him, narrowed her eyes. “Why?” she asked. “You’re never looking for me. You’re always looking for Serenity so you can steal her away from us. She’s visiting our grandmother, but I didn’t have to go because she’s a dragon and I would crack under her questions. Maybe you should have gone and she could breathe fire all over you.”
“Now, child,” Mrs. Right said, patting her hand.
“She could, though,” Lady Valor said. “Probably.”
“I do not deny the charge of stealing away your sister,” Roland said, “but in this case I most decidedly require your intervention. A certain Lord Westerven was at my club this very morning, joking about drowning the runt of his dog’s latest litter. As you can imagine, I argued strongly against it. He could not be moved, though. Then I bet him at cards that if he lost, he must come and hear your views on the subject. It is myexperience that you are not bashful of speaking your opinions in a forceful manner. I pray you can get through to him.”
“Drowned!” Lady Valor cried, leaping from her chair. “Did you win the bet?”
“I did, and Lord Westerven is even now outside. He is not happy about it, but he could not renege without embarrassing himself at the club.”
As Roland had hoped, the expression of outrage on Lady Valor’s face was sublime.
“Thomas!” she shouted, though the fellow was right there at the door, “I require my cloak!”
In just a few moments, the actor who had been hired to play the diabolical Lord Westerven was going to get an earful. He was the perfectly stern-looking older gentleman with delightfully pinched features. Anybody looking at him might really believe he’d drown the runt of the litter. They might believe he’d drown the entire litter. As it was, the fellow had been carefully instructed on his role.
Roland followed Lady Valor out of doors. She marched to the carriage and directed the groom to open the door.
The young fellow did so with alacrity, as what else was he to do? He was an actor too, as was the coachman up on the box and they all knew precisely how this was meant to unfold.
Valor stared into the carriage at the old gentleman with a wood box beside him. The alleged Lord Westerven looked derisively at her and said, “What is this? I imagined I was to hear from some seasoned matron. How old are you?”
“Never mind how old I am,sir. I am old enough to know a villain when I see one. Lord Thorpe has told me of your shameful joking about drowning a poor defenseless pup.”
“I wasn’t joking, though,” Lord Westerven said. “I will direct my coachman to make a small detour to the Thames and be done with the undersized creature.”
“Oh no, you will not!” Lady Valor said, climbing into the carriage. She picked up the umbrella lying on the seat and beat Lord Westerven around the head with it.
This was an unexpected development. Roland had not warned any of the actors of a physical attack. He jumped in after her and wrested the umbrella from her hands. “Lady Valor, I am certain we can resolve this matter without undue violence.”
“We should throwhimin the Thames,” she said, glaring at Lord Westerven.
“For heaven’s sake, child, what do you expect me to do with this weak and substandard specimen?”
Lord Westerven looked into the box to draw Lady Valor’s eye there, rather than where it was, which was looking around for another implement to beat him with.
Valor peered in. “Weak and substandard? I must believe you are near blind, sir. You should be deeply ashamed of yourself.”
“Well I’m not. I’ve got a right to do what I want with a creature that belongs to me, and no impertinent little miss will tell me otherwise. Thorpe, I’ve held up my end of the bet, and now I must be off. Get this young person out of my carriage.”
Valor looked toward Lord Thorpe with tears welling in her eyes, no doubt considering the fate of the tiny pug looking up from the bottom of the box.
