Adeline debated not telling her friend everything, but she had to tell someone, and she could not tell her mother or her sister-in-law. Will would be bound to discover what had occurred, and he would either challenge Anglesey to a duel or kill him outright. “He saved me from Anglesey.”
Georgie’s eyes rounded. “Indeed?”
“Anglesey meant to compromise me into marrying him.” Adeline took a sip of lemonade and swallowed. “But he is already married.” Unfortunately, Georgie had just taken a drink, and the lemonade spewed out of her mouth. “Oh, dear.” Adeline took out her handkerchief and started mopping her friend’s gown. “I should have paid more attention to what you were doing before I told you.”
“No, no. It is quite all right. The gown is yellow.” Georgie took another swallow of the drink. “He is despicable. Tell me the rest.”
Adeline related that his lordship had married a very young, gently bred lady, got her with child, and left her, thinking the marriage was not legal in England.
“What a . . . a . . . Oh, bother, I cannot think of a word horrible enough for him and his behavior. Thank God Lord Littleton found you.”
“He has never liked Lord Anglesey, but could not say why.” He must be a very good judge of character to have known there was something wrong with the scoundrel. “In any event, Lord Littleton saw Lord Anglesey take me into the woods, and got to us shortly after we arrived at a fountain—that, by the way, is beautiful—and Maximus put himself between Lord Anglesey and me. Then Lady Riverton and Lady Holloway came from another path. I think Lady Holloway knew what Anglesey was going to do. Lord Littleton told everyone what he had discovered from Lady Harrington in Paris, and I hit Lord Anglesey.”
Georgie tilted her head and stared at Adeline. “You slapped him?”
Pressing her lips together, Adeline shook her head. “No. I punched him in the nose. I think it is broken.”
Her friend held the handkerchief to her mouth and went into silent whoops. “W-w-well d-d-done!”
“Thank you.” She was proud of herself for taking that particular matter into her own hands. After everything that had happened, it made her feel powerful. “My hand hurts, and it is probably bruised, but it was worth it.”
“I should say so. What did Lord Littleton say?”
Now that she thought about it, his reaction had been gratifying. “He said it was well done.”
And a little later he’d kissed her. But that was something Adeline would keep to herself.
Chapter Twenty-Four
When Frits arrived home from the garden party, he immediately sent a letter to Lord Watford requesting a meeting. Then waited, and waited, and waited, and waited.
Blast the man.
On the fourth day, Frits strode into his secretary’s office. “What is going on in the Lords today?”
Roberts stared at Frits as if he had transformed into someone or something unrecognizable. “The Lords?”
He would’ve thought the man was making a May-game of him, but for the fact that his secretary’s mouth gaped open. “I’d like an answer sometime this century.”
The mouth snapped shut. “Right away, my lord.” He shuffled through some papers and pulled one out. “There is a vote this afternoon at three o’clock.”
That most likely meant there would be meetings before the vote. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be at Whitehall.”
“Yes, my lord.” Roberts’s disbelieving tone followed Frits out of the office.
He chuckled to himself. There was no way his secretary could keep this a secret. Soon, most of his senior staff would be wondering if their world had tilted upside down.
Not wishing to wait in the house for his carriage to be readied, he walked out the back door, across the lawn to the stables, and barked, “Have my town coach readied.”
In much less time than it would have taken to have sent the order, he was on his way to Whitehall. However, once there, he had a devil of a time hunting down Lord Watford. Frits finally caught up to his lordship in close conversation with another gentleman as they strode down a corridor.
“Lord Watford.”
His hopefully soon-to-be-father-in-law glanced at Frits and blinked. “Littleton, are you here for the vote? We could use you.”
“I actually need a few moments of your time.” His lordship turned back to the other man, about to dismiss Frits. “But I’m happy to vote for anything you want as long as I can speak with you.”
“I’ll join you in a moment,” Watford said to the other gentleman. He looked at Frits. “Come with me.” They entered a small closet. “What can I do for you?”
