“Georgiana,” he said.
*
After staying outon the lane far longer than they meant to and far longer than the horse had any patience for, Jasper said, “Come, let us face whatever awaits us.”
They had paused at the stables to ensure that Asturt was held secure. He was, as was Marcus. After Georgiana had left for the park, Mr. Perry had lured Marcus out of the house with some tale of more champagne being delivered and left in the stables. He’d then slammed the tack room door shut and put the padlock on it to the amazement of the grooms. The grooms were particularly amazed that the butler could not explain exactly why he locked Marcus up. The valet was not who he said he was, but Perry did not have the first idea of who he actually was. Mr. Perry also seemed very much relieved to know that Carstares had accompanied Miss Wilcox to the park, though again he could not explain why.
Now, both Asturt and Marcus were under lock and key with three grooms sitting against the door and Carstares sitting in a chair in front of it with his pistols by his side. Jasper wrote out a note for the queen and sent it with one of the grooms to the palace, accompanied by the code wordmeddle.
Both Georgiana and Jasper were in agreement that they needed an outlandish explanation for their current outlandish appearances. They had concocted one so bizarre it was likely to be believed. After all, who would invent such a tale? It was a wobbly story if one peered too close, but it was all they had.
They slipped in the back door and made their way down the corridor. As they neared the front of the house, they could hear Lady Mendleton speaking to Perry.
“I do not understand,” Lady Mendleton said, her voice full of handwringing and nerves. “Lady Annabelle said she’d gone out and you say she may have gone out but are not certain. Where is she? You don’t suppose she eloped with somebody? She would not, would she? Do you know from what heights Lady Heathway will crow if the girl has eloped?”
“Calm yourself, Mother,” Jasper said, turning the corner with Georgiana on his arm. “All is well. We only encountered a mishap.”
Lady Mendleton was, for one brief moment, all relief. Then, her eyes took in the pair that stood before her. Her son’s arm bandaged and her protégé’s skirt being the bandage. A pearl from that bandage dropped and rolled across the floor.
Lady Mendleton staggered and Perry propped her arm to keep her upright.
“I only meant to go out to the garden for a moment,” Georgiana said. “I needed some fresh air. But then I heard a shot.”
“A shot,” Jasper said, “from the mews. As I left to see the Queen, I was set upon by armed footpads.”
“Armed footpads!” Lady Mendleton cried. Perry led the lady to a bench in the corridor so that she might take the alarming news sitting down. Perry himself looked as if he might need a chair, as he was entirely lost.
“I raced to the scene,” Georgiana said. “And found Lord Langley’s valet was among them.”
“Marcus?” Lady Mendleton said, her eyes nearly rolling back in her head. “Your valet is a footpad?”
“Miss Wilcox discovered me laying on the street, hit. Just a graze, though.”
“I tripped Marcus and he hit his head and was unconscious,” Georgiana said, “though the rest of them escaped. I am afraid Lord Asturt was in on it too and is some sort of fraud, as he was later found hanging round the end of the mews waiting for him. As you can see, I was forced to tear my dress to stop the bleeding on Lord Langley’s arm. I’m very sorry I ruined it.”
“But Marcus? Lord Asturt? Thieves? It seems impossible!” Lady Mendleton cried.
It might well seem impossible. It was the most ridiculous story ever told.
“Jasper, you are not terribly hurt? Georgiana, you should not have rushed into danger! Where were Carstares and the grooms?”
This, they had not discussed. Georgiana glanced at Jasper. Jasper said, “I did not wake them when I left, and you know they all sleep like rocks. Had Miss Wilcox not sounded the alarm, I would likely be laying in the street even now. Carstares was able to overcome Asturt and has locked him up.”
Lady Mendleton clutched at Perry’s sleeve. “A fan, and sherry. Get them for me.”
Georgiana sat by Lady Mendleton on the bench and patted her hand. She dearly hoped the lady would not stop to consider what in the world Marcus or Lord Asturt hoped to steal from Lord Langley outside of the house, rather than inside it. Still, it was the only way to account for both of those rogues being tied up in the stable, which would never stay quiet among the servants. “It has all come out right in the end,” she said encouragingly to Lady Mendleton. “Though, we might send for a doctor to dress the wound.”
“The wound!” Lady Mendleton cried.
“It is just a scratch,” Jasper said.
Mr. Perry hurried back with the items he had been sent for. Lady Mendleton downed the sherry, of which Mr. Perry had been exceedingly generous and brought the whole decanter lest it was not sufficient, while Georgiana fanned her.
“Also,” Jasper said, looking meaningfully at Georgiana, “Miss Wilcox and I are engaged.”
“Engaged?” Lady Mendleton said querulously, holding out her glass to be refilled. “To be married? On account of Marcus and Lord Asturt being footpads?”
“Something like that,” Jasper said, appearing amused.
