On the other hand, he would also make himself ridiculous if he were thought a poor sport by showing himself in a pique and refusing to attend.
“How bad is it?” Matthew asked. “I presume you looked before bringing it up.”
“It is not as bad as you would imagine. Assuming you have an exceedingly vivid imagination,” Marcus said.
From below, Matthew heard Oyster howling and Shrimps weeping over some new upset.
He’d like to howl and weep himself.
Chapter Seventeen
Lynette fussed withthe various accoutrements of Beatrice’s costume. Darden had promised he would help her dress for his tomfoolery ball, and he had. She was to be Anne Bonney—fearless lady pirate and excellent swordswoman.
Personally, she did not see what was so ridiculous about a lady pirate and found herself well-pleased with the choice. Darden had attempted to dress her father as a squid, so she felt herself very lucky to end up a pirate.
Her sisters were crowded into her room, in part thrilled with the costume and in part dejected that they had not one of their own.
Beatrice was already dressed in a very roomy linen blouse, a voluminous lace fichu tied in a gentleman’s knot at her neck, and a skirt of sturdy kersey.
“Oh look,” Viola said, pulling the hilt of the cutlass from its scabbard, “there is no blade.”
“It looks ever so menacing, though,” Juliet said.
Lynette looked critically at the silk sash and the broad leather belt. “I reckon the sash goes under the belt to keep it secure?”
“Yes, I believe the pistol is hidden in the sash with just the butt showing, and then there is the leather pouch that will be my reticule for the evening,” Beatrice said. “I believe the belt goes through the loop on the pouch.”
“Goodness,” Rosalind said, “you will be well-armed.”
Beatrice laughed at the notion. “As I have no blade and the pistol is only painted wood, I shall onlylookwell-armed.”
Lynette made the arrangements. “Now, there is only the hat,” she said.
The hat in question was a jaunty brown felt with a deep brim and a brown plume.
“Do set it at a dashing angle, Lynette,” Cordelia said. “She is a pirate, after all.”
“Yes, yes,” Lynette muttered, never very enthusiastic about receiving directions from five different people, though she ought to be well-used to it.
“Beatrice,” Viola said, “what shall you do if your mysterious gentleman keeps hiding himself away? Shall you end the season with no engagement?”
“I hardly know what to think,” Beatrice said, “nor what to do. It seems he really should step forward and if he is not able…”
“If he is not able, then he is no Henry the Fifth,” Cordelia said.
Beatrice nodded. She did not say that her feelings had started to turn against the mysterious gentleman. Or that she thought of him less and less.
“I wonder what Darden has planned for Van Doren,” Rosalind said. “I do hope he does not come as a pirate too.”
Beatrice understood what her sister alluded to. She said, “I believe Darden understands that I was not amused to find our neighbor coming as Benedict to Lady Bloomington’s masque and will not try another such joke.”
“Our brother is so very amusing, though,” Juliet said.
“Our dear brother,” Cordelia said. “Just think, Beatrice, you will be one of the honored guests—it is Darden’s club, after all.”
“I cannot imagine what he’s planned for the evening’s festivities,” Viola said.
“Whatever it is, let us all hope Van Doren does not throw cold water on it,” Juliet said.
