Daphne’s head was reeling with the intelligence imparted by Miss Shelby. How dare a peer of the realm blame this sweet lady for his transgressions, knowing she would be cast out on the street? To be turned off without a reference! How dreadful.
Daphne’s tone was tender. She would go slowly and see if she might be of assistance to the lady. “Forgive me for not introducing myself and Holly, Miss Shelby,” she said seating herself on the bench. “I am Miss Daphne Kendall of Clarges Street. In addition to Jolly and Holly, I have a dog named Folly, who is running about somewhere.” Daphne bit her lip and hoped Folly was not getting into any more scrapes.
Miss Shelby clapped her hands with glee. “How charming! We always kept pet dogs at the vicarage when I was growing up. Animals can be such a comfort when one is alone.”
“You had no brothers or sisters, then?”
Miss Shelby laughed softly. “Oh, my, yes. But you see, I was always deemed different from them, and it is human nature to distrust what is unlike one’s self.”
“Indeed,” Daphne replied distractedly as she noticed a portmanteau was tucked under the bench at Miss Shelby’s feet.
Holly and Jolly lay down nearby, tired from the morning’s exertions. Folly was still not in sight.
Daphne sat back on the bench, her mind adding up the facts and coming to the conclusion that Miss Shelby was in dire need of help.
She studied Miss Shelby closely. She dismissed as ridiculous any notion that the woman was capable of stealing. There was perhaps something singular about the lady, but to her immense credit in Daphne’s copybook, she appeared to love animals.
Might Miss Shelby accept a position as companion to her? What a difference she would be from Miss Oakswine, Daphne thought, and immediately chided herself for thinking ill of the dead.
On the chance she might be mistaken as to Miss Shelby’s bleak prospects. Daphne posed an innocent question. “Miss Shelby, would you give me your direction? I could send word the next time the dogs and I will be in the Park, and mayhaps we might meet you here.”
All Miss Shelby’s composure fled, and she burst into tears. “I have nowhere to go,” she sobbed. “I am fleeing the Bow Street Runners!”
Daphne felt a frisson of alarm, but calmly fished in her reticule for a handkerchief. “I am sure it cannot be as bad as that. Are you saying the Duchess reported you as a thief to the authorities?” She handed the lacy scrap to Miss Shelby and watched as the lady gently dried her tears.
Miss Shelby nodded her head emphatically. “Her Grace was very angry. She summoned a man to the house—I did not hear his name, hiding as I was behind the drawing room door—but he was an official of some sort. I assure you, Miss Kendall, I am bound to hang at Newgate. Oh, the jeering crowds, the jailer marching me to the hanging post, the feel of the rough rope going around my neck—”
“Miss Shelby!” Daphne exclaimed, her heart twisting in pain at the woman’s plight.
At that moment the long-absent Folly raced into view, a gentleman’s beaver hat clamped in his jaws. Both dog and hat were wet and mud-stained. Behind him, two men followed on horseback.
Daphne shot to her feet. “Folly! What have you done?”
“I believe I can answer that question, Miss Kendall.”
Daphne looked up to face a hatless Lord Ravenswood. He was seated on a fine chestnut horse, and his manservant, Eugene, rode beside him.
Squeezing her eyes shut, Daphne dropped a curtsy and murmured a fruitless prayer that she had entered a dream. For some puzzling reason, she wished the Earl of Ravenswood to look upon her with favor, and this was not the situation in which she might achieve that aim. “Good morning, my lord. May I present Miss Shelby?”
The earl gave a brief nod of his head. Eugene smiled. Miss Shelby rose from the bench, returned Eugene’s smile, and dropped into a deep curtsy for Lord Ravenswood.
His lordship was not appeased. “Is that your canine, Miss Kendall?”
Daphne glanced at Folly. The dog had the grace to duck his head and assume a shameful look. As shameful as he could manage with a mouthful of beaver hat.
“Yes, my lord,” Daphne answered in a voice filled with suppressed laughter.
Lord Ravenswood eyed her sternly. “I was enjoying a refreshing ride when that animal ran across my path, startling my horse, which reared in fright. My hat fell to the ground. Before I could dismount and retrieve it, that cursed mongrel snatched it up and ran off”
“I am sorry,” Daphne managed, all her efforts concentrated on maintaining a somber expression despite the picture Lord Ravenswood had painted of the morning’s mishap. His lordship would not be amused if she started to laugh.
Instead she approached Folly and attempted to remove the hat from his mouth. A low growl emitted from the dog’s throat. “Oh, dear.”
“Here, allow me to help,” Miss Shelby said, reaching a hand down to pat Folly on the head. “Young man, you have done wrong. This is no May game. This is a gentleman’s hat. We must return it to him at once.”
To Daphne’s relief, Folly obediently dropped the hat into Miss Shelby’s waiting hand. He then trotted off to join Holly and Jolly, who had been watching the proceedings with interest.
Eugene favored Miss Shelby with another smile. “Only one with a kind soul has the power to command animals with merely the tone of their voice.”
The peach color in Miss Shelby’s cheeks intensified.
Lord Ravenswood looked askance at his servant.
Daphne took the hat from Miss Shelby’s hands and stepped toward his lordship. She ineffectively brushed it off, for it was quite ruined, and offered it to him.
His fingers touched hers as he accepted it, and Daphne felt heat rush up her arm at the contact.
Lord Ravenswood did not appear to be affected. His dark eyes fixed on hers, and he said, “I hope. Miss Kendall, that we are not destined to be embroiled in contretemps involving animals at our every meeting.”
Daphne pursed her lips at this reproof, then drew a deep breath. She found she did not like having to look up at him as he sat on his horse. “How is Mihos, my lord?”
“He enjoys renewed health,” the earl answered tersely.
Eugene nodded his turbaned head. “Mihos has taken a liking to my master and has refused to be confined to the kitchen. He follows him everywhere in the house—like a shadow—and cries when Lord Ravenswood goes out. Always, he is at the door waiting when we return.”
Now Daphne could not stop a grin from spreading across her face. It grew even wider when the earl twisted in his saddle to bestow a glare on his servant.
Returning his gaze to Daphne, the earl said coolly, “I shall call on you, as I promised, and bring the cat. By the way, my condolences on the loss of Miss Oakswine.”
“Thank you, my lord,” Daphne murmured.
Eugene’s fingers tightened on the reins of his horse. “A terrible accident. I have said many prayers for her soul.”
Daphne noted his distress and wondered at it. “You are considerate to do so, Eugene. And, my lord, I shall look forward to seeing Mihos again. Please come one day soon.”
The earl stared down at her for a moment and then nodded. He and Eugene moved away to resume their ride.
Miss Shelby eyed her new young friend with interest. “What a handsome man Lord Ravenswood is. Miss Kendall.”
To her dismay, Daphne found she had been staring off into the distance where the earl and Eugene had ridden. “Yes, he helped me rescue a cat at Astley’s Royal Amphitheatre earlier this week. But, come, you must call me Daphne, and with your permission, I shall call you Leonie.”
At Miss Shelby’s nod of agreement, Daphne continued. “You might have heard the earl’s comment on the loss of Miss Oakswine. She was my companion, and I have not yet replaced her. I wonder, Miss Shel—Leonie, if you would consider coming to me.”
Miss Shelby’s eyes grew suspiciously moist. She looked into Daphne’s light green eyes and said firmly, “I knew I was called to the Park this morning for a reason.”
Before Daphne could question this odd response, Miss Shelby said, “I want you to know I have never stolen anything in my life.”
“Silly. Of course I know that.” Daphne reached out and touched Miss Shelby’s arm. “Tell me, how can I alone possibly be expected to look after these three dogs, one of whom is quite a disgrace,” she said glancing briefly at Folly, who hung his head, “without your expert help?”
Miss Shelby’s expression lightened. “Thank you, my dear, I would be grateful for the position.” She tugged her shawl tighter about her shoulders and reached down to pick up her portmanteau, but James was there before her.
Miss Shelby smiled her thanks at the footman and returned her attention to Daphne. “I believe Holly might have been a lady-in-waiting to a French queen in a former life, but Folly ... hmmm, I shall have to give his other incarnations some thought.”
Daphne chuckled, but was not really paying attention to Miss Shelby’s nonsense about former lives. Her thoughts had strayed back to the moment when Lord Ravenswood’s fingers had touched hers, and the warm feeling that touch had evoked.
And he would be calling on her. Daphne wished the time would hurry past until she saw him again.
* * * *
She did not have long to wait.
Daphne and Miss Shelby spent the rest of the day getting to know one another better, while they settled Miss Shelby into a sunny room down the hall from Daphne’s bedchamber.
Daphne knew her decision to bring Miss Shelby home as her companion had been impulsive but, in her opinion, justified. A more amiable female she had yet to find since Mama’s death. And Miss Shelby’s loving nature acted like a balm on Daphne’s self-esteem, which had been wounded over the past three years by Miss Oakswine’s constant criticism.
If Miss Shelby had some odd views on past lives and what she called the Spirit World, well, Daphne was willing to tolerate it. After all, some people would call her own desire to help stray animals peculiar.
In Miss Shelby’s opinion, Daphne was nothing short of an angel of mercy. The girl had earned her unerring loyalty, Miss Shelby going so far as to say dramatically, “I would lay down my life for you, my dear, and be glad of it.”
The next afternoon the ladies were seated comfortably in front of a fire in the drawing room when Daphne’s butler, Cramble, announced the Earl of Ravenswood.
Daphne put away the piece of stitchery she had been toiling over. Miss Shelby, who judged all needlework except dressmaking a waste of time, placed the book she had been reading,
The Planets and You
, on a small satinwood table next to where she was seated on the sofa. She turned about and gazed eagerly toward the door.
The tall, elegant figure of the earl entered the room, and Daphne could only admire his masculine appearance. His indigo blue coat sat on his shoulders without a wrinkle. Buff-colored pantaloons molded his legs and disappeared into Hessian boots that were shined to look like black glass. His cravat rose in stiff folds above his white waistcoat.
He handed his hat—a new one, no doubt—and stick to Cramble, but as the elderly butler had been nearly blind when Daphne hired him, he saw only the hat, which he accepted. To Lord Ravenswood’s credit, he said nothing, retaining the stick and merely advancing with Eugene behind him.
Unfortunately, as Cramble was exiting the room, he jostled the wicker basket that Eugene carried, resulting in the company being treated to an angry, high-pitched “Grraow!”
“My deepest apologies, my lord, did I step on your toe?” the butler asked his lordship.
Daphne’s hand flew to her mouth to stop a giggle from escaping. Miss Shelby and Eugene shared a smile.
“‘Twas nothing,” Lord Ravenswood said, dismissing the servant’s concern. He bowed low to the ladies.
“Cramble, please have one of the maids bring fresh tea,” Daphne said to the servant. Then she turned to the earl. “Do be seated, my lord.”
Anthony studied the inviting room. It was done in rich, dark green with cream-colored wallpaper. Pretty pieces of furniture were placed more for comfort than style, and the room was strewn with books, magazines, and bowls of flowers.
Making sure to wait until the butler had closed the double doors, Anthony sat on a green satin chair next to a matching one where Miss Kendall was seated, and motioned for Eugene to open the lid of the basket. “Here is your cat, Miss Kendall.”
Mihos slowly raised his striped head from the basket and gazed at his surroundings. Upon seeing the earl, he promptly jumped out of the wicker container to the floor, and then, with a great leap, flew into Lord Ravenswood’s lap.
Anthony was seized with a desire to order the cat back into the basket until he heard Miss Kendall’s musical laugh ring out.
“Did you see that? He flew across to you! Oh, my lord, I would not say he was my cat. Indeed, he seems much attached to you.”
“Grraow,” agreed Mihos. He raised a paw to the earl’s chin.
“I suppose you are correct, Miss Kendall,” Anthony agreed grudgingly. He patted the cat’s head awkwardly. Every time Mihos stretched a paw toward his face, Anthony was convinced it was to claw his nose off. As yet, though, the cat had only been affectionate. “And he is quite the acrobat. I am persuaded that Mr. Cuddlipp did not understand the cat’s true value by keeping him locked in a cage.”
“He appears the picture of health, my lord, and does seem rather agile,” Daphne said, watching with approval as Lord Ravenswood handled the cat.
“Yes, you could say that.” The cursed animal had hardly awarded him a moment’s peace since taking over the household. Always “flying” from place to place and wanting to be in his lap, atop his desk, or worst of all, draped about his shoulders. And while Anthony assured himself he would never change his mind regarding felines, he supposed Mihos must be tolerated.
Feeling seven kinds of a fool, he stroked the cat’s striped fur, aware of Miss Kendall’s scrutiny. “He would not get along well with your dogs, so I am forced to house him.”
Miss Shelby said, “You should feel honored, Lord Ravenswood, that the cat has chosen you as his person. Daphne told me the story of how you rescued him at Astley’s.”
Anthony eyed the woman curiously. It seemed she was Miss Oakswine’s replacement as Miss Kendall’s companion. She appeared foolish, but harmless, which was more than could be said for her predecessor. “What can you mean, the cat chose me? I assure you, he was in no position to choose anything, being at death’s door.”