Enigmatic he might be, but she felt safer that Lord Dalton was there.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next days passed quietly. Nobody had any idea of who or what Dagobert might be, and only waited to discover if Lady Grayson would write to shed some light on it. Nobody knew what the purpose of the break-in had been, or if it would be tried again. Nobody was much interested in sea bathing after Lord Dalton’s misadventure.
Daisy did not mind how quietly they went on. It became a habit for Lord Burke and Miss Minkerton to arrive in the afternoon and for them all to gather in the garden. A large wood table had been set up with chairs round it and a tea was served. Were the breeze insufficient or coming off the land, Mrs. Broadbent would march out carrying one of her own inventions. She had made a series of basket frames and covered them with netting to sit over the cakes and biscuits to protect them from flies and bees.
These contraptions were enormously effective, and only overthrown occasionally by the cat when nobody was looking. The cat’s nature, as far as Daisy could divine it, was bold and inscrutable. It would use a claw to flick over a net basket, swipe at whatever was found there, knock it to the ground, examine it, and then stroll off if it was not deemed suitably tempting. It appeared to have a fondness for ham and an abhorrence of cucumber.
The cat was not interested in any other person aside from Lord Dalton, and sometimes Daisy laughed as she watched the incorrigible feline follow him when he walked the paths. If he chose to notice her stalking, she promptly dove into the shrubbery.
The garden itself was well laid out for opportunities to walk round it and have a private conversation, and yet remain under Mrs. Jellops’ watchful gaze. At least, watchful when the lady’s eyes were actually open.
Which they were very often not. The sound of the waves crashing in the distance seemed to lull Mrs. Jellops to sleep with regularity.
Daisy was determined to help Miss Minkerton in her effort to alert Lord Burke that she was in no way his sister, and she sent them off whenever she found the opportunity, usually to examine a particular flower in bloom in some far corner. She did not know if her suggestions were having any effect, but both parties seemed eager enough to follow them.
Just now, Miss Minkerton and Lord Burke were engrossed in examining a patch of recently bloomed sea pink. There was nothing at all extraordinary about it, though the couple appeared to be having an animated conversation nonetheless.
Lord Dalton sat at the table, his ever-present feline companion asleep under his chair. Mrs. Jellops had joined the cat in that activity and was gently snoring from a settee that had been carried out for her convenience.
“If you do not wish to attend the prince’s assembly,” Lord Dalton said, “I can easily make your excuses.”
“Why should I not wish to?” Daisy asked. The fact was, since she’d been thinking about it, shedidwish to attend. The distraction would do her good and she did always find the prince’s parties amusing. At least, those were the reasons she attempted to convince herself of. There were perhaps other reasons that it did not suit to examine so closely. She had always enjoyed dancing with Lord Dalton and she would much rather be doing that than staying home alone with Mrs. Jellops, wondering if someone might break into the house while her protector was out frittering the night away with the regent.
“I only say, there might be talk because you are in mourning. The prince may not condemn it, but others might.”
“And what can disapproving talk do tome?” Daisy asked. As she asked it, she realized that she was indeed past the time when talk could do much of anything. After all, what did gossip ever do but ruin a lady’s chances of marriage or cause invitations to dry up? She was in no need of either of those two things.
It was a cheering idea, really. Thetonno longer held any power over her.
Lord Dalton had only nodded and said, “I have hired a few more men for that evening in particular. If someone is intent on returning, they might choose the evening when we are likely not at home.”
“Excellent idea,” Daisy said.
“Why do you send them away so often?” Lord Dalton said, nodding toward Miss Minkerton and Lord Burke.
Daisy had not realized the habit had been noted. She supposed she ought to have known. While she was all for Miss Minkerton communicating her real feelings to Lord Burke, she had somehow managed to forget that Lord Dalton might have his own feelings for Miss Minkerton to contend with.
“Would you rather I did not send her away?” she asked, though she was not certain she wished to hear the answer.
“Her?” Lord Dalton asked, seeming confused. “I was rather thinking ofhim.”
“Him?” Daisy asked, completely lost.
Lord Dalton did not immediately answer. He played with a biscuit, crumbling it onto a saucer. “I suppose it’s too soon, in any event.”
“Soon for what?” Daisy asked.
Mrs. Jellops suddenly sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Soon? Are we late?”
“Not at all,” Lord Dalton said, rising. He walked away with the cat at his heels.
What had he meant by it? Why would he wonder about Lord Burke being sent away?
Daisy did not know, but could not ignore that she was rather happy that he did not seem to mind finding Miss Minkerton sent away.
Chapter Ten
