Now that was really a very good sign. He’d not beendevilishlyfond of it at Almack’s.
“Well, I suppose I must be off,” Lord Baderston said. Rather than turn his horse to be off as he had just promised, he paused as if he had just recalled something. “I say, Lady Viola, I understand you will be out next season.”
“That is true, my lord,” Viola said.
“Excellent. Very good. Well. Yes. Of course. Indeed.”
With that rather wonderful string of words, Lord Baderston tipped his hat and was finally off.
“I like the look of him,” Viola said as he trotted away.
Rosalind nodded knowingly. “And he is nowdevilishlyfond of ham.”
“Just think, Viola,” Juliet said, “next season you shall go to Almack’s and the earl will be there, already waiting for you.”
“I suppose he will pine away until he can properly be introduced to you and request to be on your card or sit next to you at a dinner,” Cordelia said.
“I would not wonder if we do not find him standing near the doors of Almack’s next year, to be sure of the opportunity to take your supper,” Miss Mayton said.
“It is all so glorious to think about,” Viola said. “But you do not suppose that he might encounter some other lady before then? Some other lady who prefers his hair color and is partial to ham?”
“I cannot imagine that would happen, my dear,” Miss Mayton said. “It would be too cruel.”
Viola sighed. “Then, I must trust the fates, just as Rosalind does.”
“Very sensible,” Miss Mayton said. “Now, where is that duke, I wonder?”
Rosalind had been looking everywhere but Conbatten was nowhere to be found. Where was he, indeed?
“Perhaps we will see him tonight at Lady Hightower’s musical evening?” Miss Mayton said.
“Oh yes, that would be marvelous,” Rosalind said. She paused, then said softly, “Though I am hard-pressed to think of what sort of danger I might encounter at a pianoforte.”
“Do not lose hope, Rosalind,” Miss Mayton said. “After all, anything could happen. What if Lady Hightower’s guests are attacked and robbed by a horde of masked intruders? Certainly, Conbatten must do something then.”
“Now that would be something,” Rosalind said. “It is the sort of thing that would be a perfect opportunity to show his bravery. He’d have to fight them off to keep me safe. I might even faint in his arms.”
“You have never fainted in your life,” Juliet pointed out.
“But I might pretend to faint, as it seems a very direct way into a gentleman’s arms.”
“Very good thought, Rosalind,” Miss Mayton said, nodding approvingly.
“Is it usual, Aunt,” Cordelia said, “that hordes of masked men attack and rob a musical evening?”
“Not that I know of, but so few things that are really interestingareusual. And then, Conbatten himself is not particularly usual.”
Miss Mayton told no tales. Conbatten was anything but usual and so was it not likely that unusual things might happen in his vicinity? Rosalind reminded herself that she could not predict the future and Miss Mayton was right—absolutely anything might happen. She must just be ready.
After all, if theywereattacked and robbed at Lady Hightower’s house, that would really be something, would it not?
*
Balthazar had acceptedLady Hightower’s invitation to a musical evening, just as he did every season. It was a tedious event meant to allow various young ladies to showcase all their years of slaving over a pianoforte or a harp.
Very occasionally, there was a lady who seemed to have a real ear for music and would bring a piece to life. Mostly, it was a plodding along and he could practically hear the lady’s music master in the background crying, “Remember, back straight and shoulders relaxed!”
As tedious as it might be, he would go as there were two salient facts to consider.
