looked up, past Pottson’s right shoulder, then lowered her head and read the letter yet another time.
Dearest Love:
I cannot believe that you have been torn from my arms. Oh, Damien, if only we’d had time to be together, if only I had some hope that you could return to me. You must see now that I have no choice. I do not know what Lord Oberlon will do now, but you must understand that my own fate is no longer in my hands.
May God damn him to hell for what he has done. I will love you forever, my darling. Adieu
Your Dearest Elizabeth
Hetty straightened and carefully folded the letter. She looked up, directly into Pottson’s face. “You did quite right to bring the letter to me. Yes, you’ve done excellently.”
Even though Miss Worthington considered it a trifle odd for her charge to spend nearly an hour in the company of a servant, she gave it only cursory thought, for not twelve hours later she found herself in a sudden whirl of activity. The quiet young lady who had sat so very many long hours staring into the fireplace, who had taken long walks, had disappeared as if she’d never drawn breath. It was Henrietta who suggested over breakfast that they visit the Pantheon Bazaar. At last, Miss Worthington thought, her patient efforts had reaped their rewards. She had succeeded in redirecting Henrietta’s thoughts. Being a Christian woman, she also admitted to herself that the timely visit by the late Captain Damien Rolland’s batman must have, in some small way, assisted Henrietta to recover her spirits. She most willingly assisted her charge to exchange some of the black gowns for soft gray ones and pack them, black veils and all, in an old attic trunk that had belonged to Hetty’s grandmother.
When she received her sister’s plea a few days later to attend her in Kent, she gazed up at an innocently smiling Henrietta. Miss Worthington was torn, not knowing precisely where her duty lay. Although Henrietta very prettily begged her to remain, she did hasten to say that she, of all people, well understood one’s feelings toward one’s own dear family.
Miss Drusilla Worthington departed London two days later with the happy conviction that she had performed her duty by Henrietta. She never realized that Henrietta was fairly itching for her to be gone.
Three days after Miss Worthington’s departure, Lord Harry Monteith made his first appearance in London.
Chapter Four
“Thompson Street will suit us just fine, Pottson. It’s just a short distance from St. James, so we needn’t worry about the expense of hackneys. How much did you say the furnished rooms would cost by the quarter?”
Pottson grunted a price that he secretly hoped would put an end once and for all to Miss Hetty’s mad scheme. He was doomed to disappointment, for Miss Hetty beamed at him. He supposed that he really shouldn’t be surprised at anything Miss Hetty proposed now, though he had thought himself entered into bedlam, when, but three days before, she had summoned him back to Grosvenor Square and poured her idea into his ear.
She said now, clapping him on his thin shoulders, “Of course, we must now see to my clothes, and, to be sure, set aside enough money to secure my debut into the fashionable world. Thank heavens that Damien saw to my education in piquet and faro. I vow that with any luck at all at the gaming tables, we will live in a most sumptuous manner.”
“Ah, Miss, it’s a crazy scheme. You just ain’t a man and no soul in his right or left mind would ever believe you to be one.” He tried to add punch to his words by critically eyeing her from breasts to hips.
She merely laughed. “Stop worrying. I have ideas on that score. I have made out a list of my measurements and colors of breeches, waistcoats, and coats that I would like. The gentlemen’s current whim toward those tight-knitted pantaloons are, unfortunately, out of the question. I have no desire to tempt fate.”
“Say