Now they would come to the pivotal moment when Cordelia would dramatically run across the room. This was generally when a candle got knocked over and a fire was started.
Matthew noted the earl paying close attention to the candles and Tattleton glancing at a sand bucket near the hearth. He was certain they were both less concerned with Desdemona’s fate than they were the risk of flames.
Cordelia twirled and raced to the window. Naturally, one of her legs bumped the table and the candle on the far end wobbled. Viola was able to grab at it before it hit the rug.
The earl sat back looking relieved. Tattleton steadied himself on the doorframe.
In front of the window, Cordelia cried, “O, falsely, falsely murdered! A guiltless death die I. Nobody, I myself. Farewell! Commend me to my kind lord. O, farewell!”
There was another round of clapping.
“Well done, Cordelia,” the earl said.
“Very moving,” Darden said, though Matthew was certain he found the whole thing as ridiculous as he did himself.
Beatrice had clapped, though she did not commend her sister aloud.
“It simply gets better each time you recite it,” Miss Mayton said.
Cordelia took all of these compliments in stride. Matthew was certain she silently complimented herself in far more lofty terms. If it were at all a possibility for a lady to tread the boards, Cordelia would be hotfooting it toward Covent Garden just now to share her Desdemona with the world.
“Now I wonder,” Miss Mayton said, “whether there is any interest in discovering what the one-eyed duke and his gentle governess are up to?”
All the sisters were enthusiastically interested in it. All, except Beatrice. She smiled and said that she was, but it lacked the feeling he would have expected. On the other hand, theearl’senthusiasm was far more than he would have expected.
As for Matthew’s own feelings, they always seemed beside the point.
Miss Mayton, having fully expected to be encouraged to it, had already the volume in her hand.
“We are just getting to the duke seeing all the scratches on his governess,” Miss Mayton said. “You will recall, she fell off the roof in an attempt to view the duke in the bath without his eye patch on and landed in a stand of bushes.”
All eyes drifted toward Matthew. He supposed they wished to discover if he would once again challenge how the lady fell off the roof and then just hopped up and dusted herself off with only a few scratches.
He sipped his tea. There was no reasoning against the preposterousness of the one-eyed duke and his governess.
“Excellent,” Miss Mayton said, and began to read.
“Governess!” the duke raged, “These scratches on your hands and face! You have been attacked! I must know who has done this to you! I will have vengeance for this outrage!”
“Oh no, Duke,” the governess said, “nobody has attacked me.”
“Tell me you did not attack yourself! I will not have my gentle governess attacking herself!”
“I accidentally fell off the roof, you see.”
“Nobody accidently falls off a roof!” the duke cried.
No, they do not, Matthew thought. At least, not while hanging upside down while trying to get a look at a duke in a bath.
He leaned his head back. He would like to doze off just now, but it was impossible with Miss Mayton practically shouting the duke’s and the governess’ ludicrous conversations. He had begun to notice that this particular duke said everything with an exclamation point.
He imagined that might be uncomfortable to live with for his gentle governess.Good morning! It’s raining! Shall you want eggs!
As the hour droned on, the one-eyed duke refused to believe that the governess had fallen off the roof and was convinced she’d been attacked. He mounted his horse and rode to the village to discover the culprit.
First, he encountered a butcher who had blood on his apron, indicating a recent struggle. Naturally, he must be slain.
Then, the duke realized his mistake when he encountered a woodsman with scratches on his arm, so he must die.
