The poor earl. Him in his nightcap, attempting through a sleepy haze to take in that his daughter had been kidnapped, but only very briefly and all was well. As he attempted to parse that information he whispered, “My dear Rosalind! First a pickpocket, now a kidnapper? What is London coming to?”
Balthazar thought it well that the earl did not dwell on the circumstance too long or look at it too closely. As soon as the facts, such as they were, were relayed, he announced his wish to marry Lady Rosalind.
The earl was further staggered. “But I thought,” he said rather unsteadily, “Rosalind dear, you did say, there was the fellow on horseback as we came into Town, you seemed quite set on him…”
Lady Rosalind hooked her arm through her father’s and led him to a chair. “Indeed, I am set, and have been since that moment.”
Balthazar did not have the first idea of what she was talking about. He only knew he did not like it. Who was this fellow?
“Do you remember, Conbatten?” she said. “You swept up a little girl who had run into the road.”
He nodded. He did remember that, though he’d not had the first idea that he’d been observed by Lady Rosalind.
“But why didn’t you say it was the duke?” Darden asked his sister.
Lady Rosalind looked quite exasperated, as if it were the simplest thing in the world to understand.
Miss Mayton said, “Rosalind required that the duke prove his courageousness on her behalf. Now he has.”
“He certainly has,” the earl said softly. “Well, Your Grace, if Rosalind is for it, then I have nothing to say against it. We can discuss the details in the morning.”
“I am all for it, Papa.”
“Earl, you’d better call me Conbatten,” Balthazar said.
“Look at this,” Lady Beatrice said cheerily, “it’s all ended very happily.”
“I don’t know how,” Van Doren muttered.
Lady Beatrice patted Van Doren’s arm. “I will take my curmudgeonly husband home now. By the by, on the morrow, we’d best talk about what to do about Shrimps.”
“Shrimps?” the earl asked.
“Shrimps, Papa,” Lady Rosalind said. “He is a long-lost baron.”
“Shrimps?” the earl said, entirely befuddled.
“Send Shrimps to me in the morning,” Balthazar said. “I know quite a bit about that particular case. If he is indeed James Conroy’s son, I will see that he is properly installed in that household.”
“The kitchen boy?” Van Doren said. “Are you certain? I do not mind it, of course, as long as the dog goes with him.”
“The duke will be delighted to take charge of Oyster too, I am certain,” Lady Beatrice said with a laugh.
Balthazar nodded, though he thought Henri would be in a state of collapse were he to be discovering dog hair on various items of clothing.
Lady Beatrice and Van Doren took their leave. Lady Rosalind said, “Papa, be off to bed now or you shall be very tired tomorrow. You too, Darden.”
The earl rose. “Well, I suppose if Miss Mayton stays it should be all right.”
Darden dragged his feet a bit, and mumbled something about how pleased he was that His Grace should be his brother-in-law, but he finally did go.
They had not been gone a minute when Miss Mayton rose and said “Goodness, I believe I will retrieve my book. Of course, I cannot recall where I left it so I might be quite some time at it.”
After the door closed behind her, Lady Rosalind threw herself into his arms and they fell on the sofa together.
He traced his finger along her cheek and kissed her lips. She was rather enthusiastic in the kissing back. Balthazar should not have been surprised. Lady Rosalind was no delicate flower on any matter.
Shelookedas if she would be, with her elegant and very perfect features, but she was not.
