Chapter Four
After the meal,as she had predicted, Lord Orson and his friends claimed they meant to enjoy a cheroot out in the garden, while Lord Duncan excused his nurse and asked his daughter and Emma to join him at his end of the table. Once the servants and his nurse disappeared, Lord Duncan said, “Orson tells me he was following a suspicious man when he became disoriented for a matter of a few streets before he encountered you.”
“In truth, I never asked why his lordship was in that part of Covent Garden,” Emma admitted. “At first, I was afraid of Lord Orson, but he was so...”
“Insistent?” Lady Theodora asked.
Emma smiled. “I suppose he was, but I would never have found my way out of Covent Garden if he was not. Either I would have been left to die in an alley or someone would have robbed me of my pearl hairband or executed worse on my person.”
Lord Duncan frowned. “And the color red? From my short talk with Orson this morning, I understand the man Orson was following wore a black cape with a red lining and you were temporarily frightened by Mr. Rheem’s red waistcoat.”
“Again, I cannot speak with any confidence. Lord Orson mentioned something of a strange-acting man, but I hold nomemory of encountering him, whether it be yea or nay,” she admitted.
“And the number three?” Lord Duncan asked.
“I recall telling Lord Orson I must find ‘three,’ but, like the other questions, I am unable to name the significance of the number. Three could have been a part of the house number or a street or three particular baskets or any number of things. As I lost two shoes and a reticule, such could be three.”
“How did you lose your shoes?” Lady Theodora asked.
“As I would not likely have worn half boots with the gown I had on last evening, I must have worn evening slippers on my feet. If I was running away, which makes sense, for I staggered into Lord Orson’s arms, I imagine I might have lost them in that manner.”
“Anything else?” Lord Duncan asked.
“You have trained Lord Orson well,” she commented with a lift of her brows. “You asked the same questions as his lordship.”
“I was asked by... by someone I cannot name to protect each of the men you encountered at my table today. Part of that protection was to teach them how to defend themselves and others,” Duncan confirmed.
“He was a boy, my lord,” Emma remarked with a lift of her brows.
“As were they all,” Lord Duncan said with a nod of appreciation. “The world is not perfect, my lady, as you have quickly discovered. Sometimes even a child must know how to defend himself. Even so would a woman.”
Emma looked to Theodora. “Is such true, my lady?”
The girl shot a quick glance to her father. “I am proficient with several weapons.”
“Lord Orson said something similar, but I did not initially think upon his words as you described them. Perhaps my parents would have been served better if they had sent meto you, my lord, rather than home from Europe with an insufferable governess. If so, I would have been better able to defend myself last evening.”
“Did you not have a proper governess, my lady?” Lady Theodora asked.
“I truly cannot say, but I would assume so. Are not all governesses both proper and insufferable? Mayhap no one served as my escort from the Continent, at least, no one of a permanent nature.”
“You would have,” Lord Duncan said with a smile of understanding.
“Would have what?” Emma inquired.
“Would have possessed a proper governess and have done well in defending yourself if you had been raised under my care,” he said with a smile.
Before more could be said, Lady Theodora suggested, “It is not as if I mind sharing clothes with you, but had you thought to send to your home for some of your things? Orson says Mr. Rheem believes you will be with us for a sennight or longer, depending on when the swelling on your head lessens and your memory returns.”
“I do not think Orson wished others to know Lady Emma was staying with us,” Lord Duncan reminded his daughter.
“There are servants in this house and in the surrounding houses who know Lady Emma is with us,” Lady Theodora reasoned. “Moreover, eventually, someone at Lady Emma’s house will report her absence to the authorities. It would be best if my new friend was known to have had an ‘unfortunate accident’ and will be staying with the Duncan household for the foreseeable future.” The young woman squeezed the back of her father’s hand. “No one would dare question Lord Macdonald Duncan’s word or think to cross his threshold without an invitation.”
His lordship sighed heavily. “Lady Emma, please provide Theodora a list of items you wish your staff to send over to Duncan Place. If you cannot recall specific items, ask for a certain number of changes of clothing. I assume you employed a lady’s maid who could assist in arranging an appropriate wardrobe.”
“I doubt Richard would wish for Lady Emma’s maid to join us here, as we do not know who all is involved in her attack,” Lady Theodora suggested diplomatically.
Lord Duncan sighed heavily, obviously annoyed by his daughter’s apparent manipulations. “List your clothing needs. Theodora and Orson will drop off the list before this afternoon’s tea and retrieve Lady Emma’s trunks after the entertainment.”
