Giles stood up and drained his brandy. “Well,” he said, “I have no time to lollygag around here with you all night. I have an imposter to catch.”
*
Kitty poured teafor Penny, they having arranged between them to have a cozy morning in her drawing room. Penny and Lord Cabot would return to Dorset in a fortnight and, with the season so busy, neither were certain how often they might see each other before then.
“But you will come to Dorset soon?” Penny asked. “I would wish that you had come already—you will be most impressed with our improvements to the stables.”
Kitty smiled over the idea that she would be enamored of the stables. “Of course I wished to come all along, but my mother was certain that those who are newly wed should be left on their own.”
Penny blushed prettily and said, “I suppose she was right. We have had rather a glorious time in our own company. Now, you are not to think we’ve set the house up as my father’s cottage in Newmarket. It is not all dusty floors and no carpets.”
“It is not?” Kitty asked in some surprise.
“Well, it is,” Penny admitted. “But just as in Newmarket, I have made certain there is a room you shall like very well. It is stocked to the hilt with velvet and pillows. My lord took one look at it and said it might suit the most delicate princess and so I know you shall like it.”
“I hardly think myself a delicate—”
“You know what I mean, though.”
And of course, Kitty did know what her friend meant. Penny might fall asleep on the back of a horse, but she preferred a deal more softness.
“Now, do tell me how the season progresses for you,” Penny said. “I am all hope that it runs a deal smoother than my own.”
Kitty sipped her tea to delay. She was not certain how to express her thoughts on the last few days. But then, it was Penny. Her dear friend forever, and holder of her secrets since they were small children. Nothing should be held back from Penny.
“A great deal has happened, actually,” she said. “First, Lord Grayson sent me a book. It was kindly meant, but made him look foolish. It was written in jest, you see, but he did not know it. I believe he was charmed by a rather fine binding.”
Penny giggled. “That sounds very like him.”
“Yes, I know,” Kitty said. “Though, I could not like that Sir John was intent on mocking him over it. The subject came up while we were visiting the Palaskar collection of books.”
Penny’s brow wrinkled. “I will not even ask what the Palaskar collection is or why Lord Grayson should be visiting books of any sort. But Kitty, can you really fault Sir John for his disdain of Lord Grayson? He may be my husband’s friend, but he is a bit of a scoundrel. He toys with ladies’ feelings for his own amusement. Should he not be disdained?”
“That I cannot say, only that Sir John was particularly unkind about the misstep. And also, Penny, I sat at supper with Lord Grayson last evening and he has heard of the rogue who is intent on embarrassing the royal society and has engaged himself to catch the man. He was quite sensible, and I really did enjoy our conversation. Perhaps he is not as bad as you think.”
Now Penny’s brow was truly knit. “I do not claim to know of any rogue who wishes to embarrass anybody, but I am truly worried now. Of course I knew that Lord Grayson had singled you out for his attentions at Newmarket. I suspected he might continue with those attentions. But Kitty! You cannot allow yourself to be taken in by him! Really, you are too clever for it.”
Kitty felt her heart skip a beat. Naturally, she knew of Lord Grayson’s reputation. She had even experienced his absurd flattery. But the conversation they’d had between them last evening had not been that.
“I am no fool,” Kitty said. “I would not be so silly as to fall for false compliments. But Lord Grayson has seemed to have ceased that ridiculous gambit. He did not try it with me last night. Our conversation was full of good sense. It was interesting and intelligent. I could not help but be charmed by the circumstance.”
Penny stared into her teacup. “He is more diabolical than I took him for,” she said quietly.
“Why do you say so?” Kitty asked.
Penny set her cup down. “I say so because he has modified his advances to suit you. Do not you see? He has realized that the stratagems he has employed with others will not work on you. So instead, he has changed his approach.”
Kitty felt as if her heart had hit the ground with a thud. Could that be true? Was it all just a game? Could she really have been such a fool?
If it were true, how he must laugh over it today! He would have seen that she was such in earnest, entirely taken in with this new ruse.Ifit were true, it would make him more than a rogue, it would make him a devil.
Could it be true? She did not know. She did notthinkso.
“But he even spoke of Shakespeare and quoted from him,” she said. “I was led to believe that possibly he was not entirely a dolt. He might be learned in his own way, though his interests differ from my own.”
“Oh yes, he often does throw Shakespeare around,” Penny said derisively. “I used to wonder if he kept quotes written down on slips of paper to be brought out when convenient. I remember a particularly tedious dinner when he went on and on about words in the trees and something in the water and everything in the forest.”
“FromAs you like it,” Kitty said softly.
