“No, no, you have to get up. The dragon wants to talk to you.”
“Dragon?” Lance muttered sleepily. Then, sitting up abruptly, “The marchioness? Wants to talk to me? The devil she does! And I want to talk to her, too. Quick, quick, man, where is my—” He laughed suddenly. “No. Let her wait.” Another bark of laughter. “Yes, she can wait for me, for a change, but it will not help her.”
“You speak in riddles, my enigmatic friend,” Denny said. “Come on, your washing water is getting cold.”
“I want a bath,” Lance said.
“Abath?That will take an hour at least. Oh, I see. Very well.”
It was almost two hours before Lance presented himself, immaculately groomed, in the Blue Parlour, where the marchioness awaited him. However thunderous her expressionmight have been at being kept waiting for so long, by the time the footman had opened the door fully and ushered him inside, her face was wreathed in smiles.
“Ah, Mr Chamberlain! How good of you to wait upon me so early in the day. I do hope the early start has not inconvenienced you.”
“Not at all,” he said in his blandest tones. Which was true, of course, but he was not about to apologise for keeping her waiting. The apology should be entirely in the other direction.
“Do sit down, Mr Chamberlain… or may I call you Lance? I feel we know you well enough now to take that liberty.” He inclined his head in acknowledgement. “I have ordered some food… coffee and chocolate… pastries… or there is wine, if you prefer.”
“Nothing, thank you.” As if he would eat or drink with this wicked woman!
“Lance…” She smiled at him again, and he thought he had never seen such a false smile. “Patience has confessed to me what she did — such a naughty girl! She is an innocent, of course, and although she has been told many times that she must not be alone with a man, and especially not in a bedchamber, well… I have never explained to her just why it must be so. Indeed, much as a mother may wish to protect her daughter from false steps, she would never wish to despoil her innocence.”
That was a sentiment with which Lance could agree wholeheartedly.
“You were quite right to be angry with her. Indeed, I have rung such a peal over her myself as she will not forget in a hurry, I assure you. She has been a very silly girl, but it was all because of love, you see. She loves you very much, Lance, and it drives her to foolishness.” She sipped her cup of chocolate, as if this were just another morning call. “I assure you, once she is married she will be entirely content, but her distress at presentis so great… I do believe that the most sensible course of action now is for you to marry sooner rather than later. I have not always thought so, as you will recall, but given my poor girl’s unsettled state of mind and her desire to be joined to her true love at all costs, I feel a mother’s natural caution must give way. So it will be best to obtain a bishop’s licence and marry at once. There, now that that is settled, I shall—”
“No.”
The chocolate cup slipped from her fingers, to crash onto the saucer. “I beg your pardon?”
Lance rose, looking down at the marchioness’s white face, eyes wide as she saw her plans disintegrate around her ears. “I am very sorry to disoblige you, but I cannot possibly marry Patience at once. May — that was what you stipulated in November, was it not? May or June, and that suits me perfectly well. A spring wedding in town, with all her friends about her — what could be better? So why the rush? Why drive through the desperate state of the roads at this time of year? Why the desire to marry immediately? Why the clumsy attempt to compromise me? I could make a guess, Lady Pentavon. I could wonder whether Patience is quite as innocent as you profess. I could, but I believe I know the answer and if that is true, then Patience is not a fit wife for any respectable man.”
She recovered herself quickly, glaring at him superciliously. “Mr Chamberlain, we have overlooked your humble standing in society and prepared to accept you into the family for the sake of our love-struck daughter, but you forget your place! Have we not been generosity itself in offering you the full dowry, and a house as well, since you cannot provide a suitable establishment for her? Twenty thousand pounds — it is a princely sum! And you throw our kindness back in our faces with these dreadful insinuations.”
“Then it is not true? Patience is entirely innocent, is she?”
“Of course!”
“And you would swear that on the Holy Book, would you? Think carefully before you answer, madam.”
A long pause. “Thirty thousand pounds… and a knighthood. Pentavon has influence at court, so—”
“You disgust me,” Lance said savagely, turning for the door.
Lady Pentavon burst into noisy sobs, collapsing in upon herself like a hot air balloon with a leak. “But you love her!” she wailed. “Surely you cannot believe such dreadful things of your own darling girl? Marry her and all will be well, I swear it!”
“Marry her, and I am cuckolded before the parson has even done his work,” Lance said disdainfully. “I am right, am I not? There is only one reason for a girl to want… no, toneedto marry in such haste. You are a disgrace to your noble rank, Lady Pentavon. I am not your equal, indeed, I am barely a gentleman by your standards, but I am of respectable stock, and I will not have my family’s blood tainted by a woman of such loose morals as Patience appears to have. I suggest you go back to Gloucestershire and look about you there for someone prepared to take her off your hands.”
And so saying, he swept out of the room.
***
Agentle tap on the door drew Lance from his darker thoughts.
“Who is it?”
“Lily. I have brought you something to eat, since you missed breakfast.”
He smiled. How kind she was! Crossing with quick steps to the door, he unlocked it and threw it wide. She stood on the threshold, as composed as ever, waiting while a maid bustled in with a tray and then withdrew.
