Chapter Six
When they walkedwith the others in the park, Theodora had agreed to permit Lord Almano to call upon her. Unfortunately, she had known instant regret, but Alexander’s continued neglect of her person, and his obvious interest in Miss Moreau said Dora must accept her dream of being Lady Marksman would not know fruition.
Even so, when Mr. Fields announced the gentleman, she had been surprised. She presented the count with a quick curtsey and immediately began her apology. “Forgive me, my lord. I permitted the time to slip away. Please come in. Mr. Fields, might we have tea, or would you prefer something with more fortitude, my lord?”
“Tea is acceptable, my lady,” he said with an easy smile.
“Leave the door open, Mr. Fields, and ask Winston to join us.” To the count, she said, “My maid was to fetch some cleaning rags.” Theodora gestured to her present project.
“I cannot remain long, my lady. I let an open carriage so I might ride instead of walk,” Lord Almano explained.
“Now, I feel quite the fool,” Dora admitted. “If you would give me a quarter hour, we might still enjoy an excursion. I couldask Mr. Fields to have our footman walk the animal to keep it warm.”
“What have you there?” he asked, ignoring her suggestion.
“It is the telescope my mother purchased for Richard, Lord Orson,” she told him. “Richard is Lady Emma’s betrothed and my eldest brother. Orson has a very large telescope at his country estate, but I had hoped to clean and polish this one so he might have it while in London. Lady Emma thought he would like to have it close for his own children, if he should be so blessed. Orson was the first child my mother and father accepted into their home. He has more memories of Lady Elsbeth Duncan than any of us. I was barely two when she passed.”
Lord Almano appeared quite interested in the telescope, walking slowly about the tripod. “It is quite the instrument.”
“It has been in the garret for more years than I care to count,” she admitted.
“Might I?” he asked as he set his hat and gloves on a nearby table.
“I advise you not to search out Lady Ashe in the house on your left,” Theodora teased as he adjusted the knob on the side the instrument. “At this time of day, she often takes a nap so she might enjoy the evening entertainments.”
“And should I not look upon Lady Ashe because she is such a beauty and you will be quite jealous?” the count asked with a smile as he turned several knobs to adjust his view.
Theodora permitted herself to relax just a fraction. “Lady Ashe is nearly seventy and a bit plump. Wonderful woman, but likely you might not wish to waste a close view on her ladyship.”
“What if I turned it upon you, my lady?” he asked as he straightened to look upon her.
“A young woman testing her steps in the world,” she said softly. “Feel free to adjust the height. I can reset it later.”
“Have you viewed much of the universe, my lady?” he asked as he once more set his eye to the lens.
“Not so much on this smaller instrument, but I have viewed wide expanses of it on the one at Orson’s country home,” she admitted.
“Then you are interested in the sciences and the stars?” he asked casually.
“I know it is not fashionable for women to admit to an interest in subjects customarily dominated by men,” she said with a challenging lift of her chin.
“What have you seen, my lady?” he asked in apparent interest, rather than criticism.
“Quite a few asteroids. And then, when they are aligned with Earth, there is Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter,” she told him.
“I viewed Saturn once,” he admitted. “In the southwest at sunset,” he said with a look of admiration on her person. “We share a common interest, my lady.”
Theodora ignored his compliment, for she was not confident regarding how she should respond. Instead, she said, “Richard claims he once saw Jupiter and Venus in the same night sky, and they appeared to be side by side. Just on the horizon. One may see so much more of God’s design for the world while in the country, rather than here in London,” Dora repeated her earlier remarks to keep the connection to the count active.
“Just consider what the great thinkers of the past—those such as Copernicus and Kepler, for example—would feel and think if they could view seven planets now that Uranus has been discovered,” he said with ease. “If you are still willing to join me on a drive about London, perhaps you might also point out some of the places you enjoy in this fair city. I would very much like for us to become better acquainted, my lady.”
Theodora glanced to the beam of sunlight making itself known. She would take God’s gesture as a sign of renewal. “I,too, could benefit from a bit of sunshine, as well as seeing the sights through your eyes, sir.”
It had beenseveral days since Alexander had laid eyes upon Miss Moreau, except, to say, through the lens of a long glass. Along with Duncan, Beaufort, Lionel, Orson, Hartley, and a few others, Alexander had spent multiple hours spying on Honfleur’s household, noting the comings and goings of a wide variety of London society from tradesmen to members of the Houses of both Lords and Commons, all hoping for Honfleur’s patronage.
The fact that nothing from the ordinary appeared to be happening, while they each instinctively knew Honfleur was the puppet master, who practiced what they all assumed were villainous acts was all quite frustrating. They would learn a small fact, but when they traced it down, it was another cog in a very large wheel, which had yet to have been exposed fully. Not knowing Honfleur’s actual role in what was to happen nor when it would happen had all their nerves on edge. For Alexander, he worried extensively on what his decisions meant to Theodora, who, if he were not so stubborn, he truly admired and might even love. And then there was Miss Moreau, whose innocent essence Alexander could not seem to shake nor could he understand the connection he had with the woman. Both paths appeared to lead to different outcomes. He did not want to lose Theodora, but he seriously doubted he could simply walk away from Miss Audrey Moreau.
They had easilytooled about Bond Street and before the important buildings of Westminster, the Tower of London, and several others of the most popular venues. All along, they kept a running conversation of first this and then that—all things they had in common. The count was proving himself an excellent alternative, if Theodora was brave enough to accept that she required a change.
