The Tainted Snuff Box Read Online Free PDF Page B

advisor.  “I am unaware of proper drawing room behavior in Italy, but here in England, it is considered the very height of incivility to threaten someone with a knife while at a dinner party.  Do you see those rather enormous men who are guarding the Prince?”
    Signor Tallarico briefly shifted his gaze to the other side of the room.  “ Si. ”
    I nodded.  “They might very well think you a threat to his Royal Highness and lock you away in some unpleasant sort of place full of rodents and minus pretty girls with gleaming hair.”
    A minute passed, a rather long minute, but Tallarico finally looked at his cousin and gave an exaggerated shrug.  He pocketed the knife.  “England has outlawed duelling, more’s the pity.  I was only thinking of Lady Perry and the baby should you be wounded, even killed, by this perfumed prancer, Anthony.  I would be willing to deliver him to the devil myself.”
    Lord Perry appeared to have calmed down.  Hopefully he realized that Sir Simon’s opinions were beneath notice.  Anyone who dressed as garishly as Sir Simon could have no more sense than a cabbage.
    I raised a warning hand at Sir Simon, whom I could see was ready to heat things up again.  “There must not be a duel.  You, Sir Simon, will apologize to Lord Perry for your ill-considered words.”
    Sir Simon looked at the three of us glaring at him.  “This all grows tiresome.  Besides, I have the Prince of Wales to protect.  I cannot waste my time with trivial matters.  Lord Perry, it was not my intention to insult your wife.  I was speaking of women in general.”
    Perry seemed to weigh the words, and from his expression, I feared he found them insufficient, since Sir Simon had not technically apologized.  But at that moment, the opening strains of music could be heard.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lady Perry scanning the crowd for her husband.
    “Here comes Lady Perry.  Let it go, my friend.  Think of her and how upset she would be if she learned of this challenge.  And she is sure to learn of it, Perry,” I said in an urgent voice.  I willed Signor Tallarico to help me convince him. 
     “It may not be worth soiling your blade with an old man’s blood,” the Italian said, smoothing his coat sleeve.  I noticed he wore lace instead of the more fashionable pleated cuff.  Mentally, I kicked myself.  Had I seen the lace before, I might have foreseen that a romantic like Tallarico would be of little help.
    “Very well, I shall withdraw my challenge,” Perry finally said, to my great relief.  It was a relief destined to be short-lived, for I could not like his next statement.
    “Mark me though, Sir Simon,” Lord Perry stated coldly. “Should my wife’s name so much as cross your lips again, I shall not even trouble to challenge you to a duel.  I shall simply kill you.”
     

Chapter Four
     
    I spent the next quarter of an hour willing every tense muscle in my body to relax.  My friend Lord Perry is normally a man of such sense that his behaviour tonight had upset me.  But, after a few more glasses of Mr. Johnstone’s wine, my equanimity was somewhat restored.
    Later, at the Pavilion, Prinny seemed reluctant for the evening to end.  Three comfortable rooms were lit with hundreds of candles.  Whist, backgammon, and chess had been set out in two of the rooms.  In the third, a young man played music on a beautiful rosewood pianoforte. 
    I gravitated toward the latter chamber, hoping the melodies of Haydn would further relax me, and praying I would find a glass of potent liquid refreshment.  Do not judge my drinking habits too harshly, I beg you.  Would you not view a quantity of wine a necessity had you just been subjected to a quarrel between two royal brothers, an outraged husband’s challenge to a duel, a knife-wielding, hot-tempered Italian, and a greedy cad?  I thought so. 
    Every night at midnight, champagne, punch, lemonade, and sandwiches are served at the Pavilion.