Lord Edgemere held her glance for a moment or so, then nodded.
“Very well, Lady Dashford, it is agreed.”
The arrangement was sealed on a slight, somewhat merry bow, before his lordship resumed his midnight amble to the stables.
Lady Caroline looked after his straight, imposing back for a moment. A wicked smile played on the corners of her lips.
“Oh,
Robert!
For all your worldly charm, you are still a mere greenhorn!” She snapped the swansdown shut with a click. “No one will believe, when I appear with your diamonds, that I am not betrothed. You
shall
marry me, Lord Robert, like it or no. For a man of breeding and conscience, there is no other course.”
She would have been discomforted, indeed, to learn she had just fallen, quite splendidly, into the trap of Lord Edgemere's careful crafting.
When he sprung it, there might, indeed, be a wedding. But whose?
The eighth Earl Edgemere's groom was surprised to hear his master whistle rather jauntily all the dark way home.
Â
Â
It was too late for Robert to hope Anne would be star gazing. Nevertheless, in the forlorn hope that she was, he ceased his restless attempt at sleep and stepped up to the library. There were no welcoming tapers, no revealing little flickers of light. He âopened the door and set his
own
candle down on the mantel. Well past one o'clock. A good night's work if everything went according to plan.
Strange how the room seemed so hollow without Miss Derringer. It seemed to echo with creaks and groan from the load of half-read books upon the shelf. To rectify matters, a little, the earl decided to take down his Byron. He was in the mood for something to balm his soul. It did not take long to flick through the familiar pages, nodding a little here, memorising a little there. Ah... Robert smiled with pleasure. He had not been mistaken. The words he had been seeking jumped off the page as if crying for deserved attention.
You walk in beauty like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in your aspect and your eyes.
Byron must have known such a one as Anne. His words whispered of truth, of immortal clarity. If my lord had not known better, he would have guessed that the poet had met Miss Derringer during one of her notorious seasons. After all, she had bright eyes and a mane of hair as pitch as midnight itself. It was only its lustre that granted it its sheen and likened its movement to the sparkle of so many stars on the celestial horizon.
Celeste, ah, Celeste! It belonged to her now, this library with its masculine smell of leather and the scent of pages well worn or waiting.
Waiting to be opened by slender, appreciative hands. Waiting to be granted life by the lady society had carelessly branded a bluestocking and heâhe had branded as life's sparkling joy.
He poured himself a brandy from the decanter and settled back on his chair. He tried not to think of his comely little governess, tucked up in crisp, well-aired sheets. She was dreaming, perhaps... he did not dare invade the privacy of those dreams.
He sighed and allowed the book to drop from his lap. No doubt he wasn't the only person lost to repose tonight. She might be sleeping, but Sir Archibald would be
seething
. He had not been pleased to be confronted with the total of his carelessly penned vowels. For an instant, Robert had feared the Manton's pistols that he sported upon his person.
Dalrymple was several thousand pounds freer of debt, but
that
was unlikely to weigh with him. It was the diamonds he would regret, their brilliant coming and their equally brilliant going. Then the instant passed. Sir Archibald would have to be crazed to challenge him, publicly, to a duel. He would have no wish for the world to learn of how pressing his debts were, or how ready his immediate need for cash. Besides, the vowels in Robert's possession were all debts of honour.
They had been called in, and refusing to cover them was social suicide of the deathliest form. No, Lord Robert had been safe from the pistols. He had slipped the gems into his waistcoat quietly and promised to say nothing of the matter. The relief on Dalrymple's ashen face had been instantly palpable. No doubt he had already secured some loans on the strength of his possession. If he did not hastily procure more tomorrow, Robert would miss his guess. The strength of his plan depended on Dalrymple illegally embroiling himself in this type of shameless transaction. Odds were, he would. And if not?
Robert chuckled. If not, Caroline would have secured for herself a very expensive parting gift. No doubt, she, too, was awake, scheming, the little hussy, to cast her coils about him even tighter. Well, she could scheme. With a small smile, he toasted Lord Anchorford's unexpected guest, the good Lady Caroline Dashford. His
own
houseguest, Sir Archibald Dalrymple, he saluted with two large gulps of finest Madeira. The brandy had not been enough. It took
more
to toast the toadies of the world, the careless takers who thought nothing for consequences.
Fifteen
Sir Archibald Dalrymple was doing more than not sleeping. He was plotting dire and unmerciful revenge. He patted the mounds of vowels in his pockets and threw them on the table beside his bed bitterly. So! Lord Edgemere sought to play May games with him. Host or no host, he would be made to pay.
For an instant, Dalrymple relived the moment when the necklace, in all its shimmering glory, was placed in his hand. Oh, the exultation! He could read chagrin on faces the likes of Morrison and Cambridge. Stuck up old toffee noses! It was
he,
the honourable Archibald Dalrymple, who had plucked the nest egg from their noses.
He glanced sourly at his handwriting, scrawled untidily across the mass of screwed up paper. Can he have pledged so much? He supposed so. There was Latham and Cedric, and... but good God, how was he to know they would all sell up to Lord Edgemere? And why, for heavens sake, did the earl go to so much trouble? If he needed to hedge his bet with the diamonds, why bother to wager them at all? It was all rather a puzzle, and Dalrymple's head ached. He was not sure whether it ached from Anchorford's punch brandy, from the night's disappointment or from the shock of seeing the Derringer chit all over again.
Well, he had offered marriage, and she had taken off like a bolt of lightning for the Somerford woman. Now he would offer something else. A carte blanche to a mere governess must be regarded as a windfall. He sneered a little and made a series of lewd remarks that mercifully went unheard but for a few barn owls at the open window.
But first! He would retrieve those diamonds by hook or by crook. All the world knew them to be his, and he would prefer to keep it that way. He would set fire to the abominable vowels. That way, there would be no proof that the motley collection ever existed. If Lord Edgemere proclaimed the necklace to be stolen, the world would think he was indulging in a fit of pique over its loss. It would be hard pressed, certainly, to believe that the necklace had passed back into his possession then out of it again in a mere matter of hours.
Good! Time was on his side, but he would have to act now. Feverishly, Dalrymple lifted each bit of paper and cast it into the embers on the hearth. They failed to ignite, although little drifts of smoke curled at the edges, blackening them, and promising, by slight smoulders of red, to blaze at their own lazy leisure.
Dalrymple did not have the luxury of waiting. He grabbed an iron poker and stoked up the fire until, in a rush of flames, the last vestiges of his gaming debts were engulfed forever. He nodded sourly.
There
was an end to that! And now, to regain his lost fortune.
But how? Whilst the household was usefully occupied in slumber, he could not very well creep about it in the hope of stumbling upon the loot. He must think the thing through carefully. The last he had seen, Lord Edgemere had placed the necklace into the pocket of his deplorably raffish waistcoat. How
could
the man have such elegant taste?
He, himself was wearing the most modish creation, padded skillfully to bolster his shoulders and striped in the handsomest golds and lilacs. Did anyone notice? Not a one. Yet, when Lord
Edgemere
entered the room, all eyes turned. It was most provoking! Sir Archibald scowled and kicked the tasselled Axminster with his un-slippered foot. Yes, the diamonds had definitely been slipped carelessly into the pocket. What might have happened from there?
Lord Carmichael would have returned home, bathedâdrat the man, he was the type who insisted on cleanliness above perfumes and other more civilised devicesâand headed on for bed. At this very moment, he was probably lost in sleep. But what of the waistcoat? Had he thrown it unceremoniously on a chair? Would his valet have stayed up to attend to the matter? Very possibly, but then, my lord would first have removed the diamonds. Or would he have?
Very perplexing. Sir Archibald fingered his curling moustaches absently. If Carmichael had removed the necklace, it was probably sitting in a drawer in his library. My lord was prodigiously fond of that dreary room. On the other hand, it was more probable that he would have headed straight up for bed and left the tedious business of stowing the thing until morning. He would not, after all, have expected them to be thieved under his very nose. Especially when the world and his wife thought they were no longer his to stow.
Dalrymple eased into the wing chair situated by the window and mused. My lord's apartments were on the second floor, along with his precious bookroom. Either way, he would have to head off in that direction. If necessary, he would check both, though he hoped, for once, that his luck would be in. He would start with the chamber, for Lord Robert was just the sappy type to permit his valet to shirk his duties and sleep until morning. In that case, the waistcoat might just, with a stroke of luck, be dangling inelegantly from his chair.
He uncrossed his legs, threw a dressing gown about his personâa glorious sapphire brocade, emblazoned with buttons of the first stareâand lit a wax candle from the fire now raging in the hearth.
Then he crept out stealthily, his nightcap just catching on the door handle. With a muttered curse, he pulled the thing from his head, turned it about crossly, then jammed it on again. Then he left his door ajar just a crack.
Â
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Miss Derringer opened the window and allowed a cool rush of night air to linger over her face. The stars were more glorious than anything she could have imagined. It was the perfect night for star gazing. Again, she thought longingly of the Herschel telescope stowed safely away in the glass cabinet. If only she could use it, just once, to glimpse the outer vistas of that which she had only imagined before!
She was rich enough to commission her own; but Sir William was an old and frail man now, and though his son was becoming just as great an astronomer, she did not think he had the time to produce the precision, hand-crafted instruments that were his father's especial gift. Maybe... she would set inquiries in train. Strange to think she was wealthy enough to indulge her interests in this way! Still, she doubted whether she would feel the same about her own instrument as she did about Lord Edgemere's. The telescope was a symbol, for her, of combined passions, interests, aspirations... .
She sighed. She would have to leave tomorrow. Lord Edgemere had started to indicate this was his desire, and it was not fairânever mind downright foolhardyâto press on with her charade. She was not a penniless upper servant, no matter how much she wished to be!
Anne's delicious sense of humour could not allow this thought to pass without an exasperated chuckle. Strange how odd life was. She had thought the world was coming to an end when she had sent herself into service. Now she was loath to remove, once more, to the fashionable world. Why? Because, scandalously, she would rather be in Lord Edgemere's keeping than not. She would rather be prattling proverbs and participles than batting her eyelashes and allowing herself to be whisked across a ballroom by the likes of Lord Willoughby Rothbart and the mincing, brainless fop, Sir Archibald Dalrymple.
Better to be a wallflower, or the ice maiden... but no! She wished for neither, yet both were to be her destiny. She sighed. Perhaps it would have been better if Mr. Clark had never been so good as to inform her of her change in fortune. Now, she supposed, she would be at the mercy of fortune hunters. At least she need never worry that Lord Edgemere was one of those detestable creatures! He made her small fortune look paltry!
Which reminded her... it would be dangerous to think of the earl in those terms. No doubt, when she was no longer living under his roof, in his employ, the attraction on his part would cease. Gracious heavens, he would never consider
marrying
her! Look at how appalled he had been when Lady Caroline had ventured to shackle him! And she refusedâutterly refusedâto be placed in the same category as Lady Caroline.
She would pen a note and leave it for him in the book room. If he discovered her altered position, it would be just like him to fathom she was compromised. Anne had no desire to have to convince Lord Robert that she was not ruined. Some temptations were best left alone.
Now she left the window and the shooting stars that left a blazing trail across the skies and sat down to sketch a missive to her lord. The room was dark, so she boldly, wastefully, lit several tapers at once and set them in the wooden candelabra set aside for her use. She had no qualms, for Lord Robert's spirit, like his pocket, was admirably generous.
If a few tears stained the missive, she was not so foolhardy as to leave them to dampen the crisp, cream sheets. Instead, she rubbed at them carefully with her handkerchief and blotted the inky letters neatly with the little muslin square. After all, she reasoned, she could always buy another. It would not do for her work to be either illegible or tearful. Either way, it would reflect detrimentally upon her character. Somehow, even though she was bidding farewell, she still found it necessary to retain the eighth Earl Edgemere's high esteem.
Task doneâshe had only written the sketchiest of explanationsâshe folded the letter and tucked it into her chemise. Then she scribbled a longer, more tearful, letter to her charges. This she planted next to her bed. They would be bound to search her rooms, the rascals!
She tucked her feet into Kitty's delectable outcastsâlittle satin things with ludicrous spangles that the staid Miss Derringer would never
dream
of purchasing, but nonetheless rather enjoyed wearingâand headed, for the last time, toward the second floor.
Â
Â
The door was locked. Drat! Sir Archibald set down his candle and tried the handle again. Locked, if his name was not Sir Archibald Latham Arthur Dalrymple! But how could this be? If the earl was within, sleeping, he would surely not lock the heavy oak door? How, then, was his valet to enter in the morning to open the drapes and hand him his copy of the
Morning Post
or the equally essential
Gazette?
No, Sir Archibald was certain Lord Robert was not the type to lock his door.
Not unless he was pleasuring some ladybird ... but no! The earl was too much of a gapseed to indulge in such interesting activities. Dalrymple tried the handle again. He was so engrossed in the activity that he did not notice another, more shadowy figure appear down the hall. This time, with a creak that made him positively startle, the door gave way. He was propelled, rather unceremoniously inside.
It did not take long for his eyes to adjust to the relative darknessâthe halls were well lit with a series of hanging tapersâso he moved swiftly to the bed. No doubt the earl was fast asleep, though no snores, sadly, were emanating from his person. Sir Archibald shrugged. What odds? The bed was rumpled, and he could detect some slight lump on the far end of the lavish four-poster. This was draped luxuriously in the finest Friesland velvet, in a moss green shade that even the fastidious Dalrymple could approve. He did not, however, dwell over long upon this point of fashion. Instead, his quick eye took in the washstand and the intricate chestnut dressing table inlaid with marble and harbouring, to his profound relief, my lord's discarded cravat, beaver, buckskins, enviable lawn shirt with chitterlings and yes, yes,
yes!
The Weston waistcoat of ruby serge peeked invitingly from beneath the greater frock coat. If only the necklace was still there!
Sir Archibald listened for breathing. Hearing none, he eyed the lump on the bed again. Was it Lord Robert? He thought so, but must take nothing for granted, nonetheless. There was a cupboard on the far side of the room. If there were footsteps down the corridor, he could bolt into it, though he fervently hoped that such a cramped fate was not to be his. Especially not in the sapphire brocade. The creasing would be horrendous.
Cautiously, he sidled up to the dressing table. A marble bust exactly matching the inlay stared down at him from a pedestal. He shuddered, then moved the frock coat out of the way. It glimmered, slightly, in his hand, and he could not but envy the rich quality of the materials used. This did not stop him from unceremoniously dropping the garment to the floor, along with the velvet-lined bea-. ver and the discarded neckerchief. His hands alighted, for a moment, on the chitterlings, before reaching their final goal: the waistcoat. He could hear his heart hammering heavily in his chest and wondered whether he was in danger of revealing himself to the sleeping form. Surely Lord Robert would not sleep through the heavy pounding? Apparently he would, for he did not move an inch, and Sir Archibald breathed a little easier. He eased the waistcoat toward him and smiled as he felt the revealing bulge. Excellent! The night's work was achieved. He placed his fingers along the satin lining and drew out the pocket. Nothing but a snuff box and a discarded piece of flint! He half cursed before remembering the other side.
Feverishly, in the half darkness, he fumbled with the garment, pulling relentlessly at the lining until the second pocket was exposed. There
was
something hard! A moment more of furtive fury and the diamonds were his again. He breathed a sigh of sheer relief and was surprised to find beads of perspiration standing on his forehead. He wiped them carelessly with his nightcap. The necklace felt delightfully heavy in his hand. He watched the diamonds twinkle a little in the soft candlelight, before taking up his taper and creeping to the door.