“You have been outfoxed, Bellamy,” Charles said drily. “My advice is, get on as best you can.”
Bellamy appeared stricken by this idea, as if there were simply no way to get on under these outrageous circumstances.
“Very well, my lord,” he said. “Though I may die of shattered nerves one of these days, I will soldier on. I can at least be satisfied that I have won the cocoa bean debate. Mrs. Broadbent may look down her nose all she likes about that, butIhave won. Wewillhave drinking chocolate every night.”
“I am delighted for you.”
Bellamy turned to exit and then stopped. “I am sorry, I nearly forgot,” he said, pulling a folded paper from his waistcoat, “this was just delivered for you.”
He handed over the letter and left, sighing loudly all the way across the garden.
Charles could see it was in Burke’s hand and tore it open.
Dalton,
I am well settled at the Minkertons and have taken the liberty of suggesting an introduction to Miss Danworth. Miss Danworth has replied favorably and Lady Bartholomew and Miss Minkerton are to call on Miss Danworth this afternoon. They will issue an invitation for a small dinner, just you, Miss Danworth, Mrs. Jellops, and the family. I presume you will welcome the invitation as the word in town is that you are living in a shed and have table scraps delivered for your dinner.
Burke
Dalton crumpled the letter and threw it on the floor. He was incensed over the idea that such a picture had been painted of him!
Perhaps he ought to ingratiate himself to the Minkertons and secure an invitation to stay there. He could, he was certain. A family with a lady ready to be launched always had invitations ready to throw at any highly-placed bachelor. Whatever their accommodations, it must surpass where he currently found himself. As well, he would dine at a dining table, not a tray in his hovel like he was a mistreated governess.
He paused his planning as he glanced at the pile of letters Miss Danworth had handed over. They were from rogues in town who would attempt to push into her company, all after her financial prospects no doubt.
Charles still had not decided what to do about it. Should he write them as her guardian and warn them off? Should he just ignore them and hope they took the hint?
As much as he wished to pack up and be off from this ridiculous place, he could not be entirely comfortable leaving Miss Danworth here on her own. What might be attempted by a man who saw a chance when there were no other chances in his future?
He’d hired a couple of watchmen, but if he were not here what might they be convinced to do for a few pounds. Fall asleep? Look the other way? Pretend they’d seen nothing?
He was still especially wary of Lieutenant Farthmore. So far, it had been silence from that gentleman. Silence, sometimes, was a dangerous thing. Had all of this occurred before the war, he would not have known how far a man would go. He would not have yet seen what desperate depths a man might travel. Now, though, he knew.
It was all well and good to defeat his father and that stupid pact at every turn. It would be another thing, though, for anything to happen to Miss Danworth. Despite her often impossible manner, she did not irritate him like the simpering misses that regularly surrounded him.
Truth be told, he was rather fond of Miss Danworth.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Belle had dressed with great care for her visit to Miss Danworth and Mrs. Jellops. She was all but convinced that she could not hold up against Miss Danworth and her famed blond curls. Harry, or Lord Burke, as she must be careful to call him when out in society, had gone on and on about the wonderful Miss Danworth. Belle had avoided any commitment to visit this paragon of beauty for as long as she could, but Harry would not be put off. Finally, it was her mother who arranged it all.
If only her dear mama could see into her daughter’s heart, she would not have done it! Belle could not tell her; she could not tell anybody. She could not bear to be seen as ridiculous.
And so, they had gone. There had been some slight hope, as she’d stood on the doorstep, that Harry had exaggerated Miss Danworth’s charms. Sadly, he had not.
The lady was exceptionally beautiful, elegantly composed, and so much taller than she was. Then, to add salt into the wound, she’d been so kind. Miss Danworth said she would herself likely not attend the next season, but she would write letters of introduction for Belle to her various acquaintances.
Belle threw aside her sewing. “Really!” she said to the empty drawing room. “It is all very inconvenient.”
Miss Danworth was to come to dinner, accompanied by Mrs. Jellops, and Lord Dalton, who she had not been introduced to yet. Belle knew very well that she’d end up liking Miss Danworth, though it would have been far more satisfactory to despise her.
She ought to be delighted for Harry. Is that not what one felt when a beloved found happiness?
Belle picked up her sewing and promptly pricked herself with her needle. She ought to be happy for him, but she was not. Her heart felt very like her poor bleeding finger.
Chapter Five
Daisy had become wary of hearing a knock on the front doors, but one knock brought a delightful surprise. She’d nearly forgotten that the London modiste had taken her measurements and promised to send her all manner of dresses, just as the duke had directed.
