“And the duke will know that he has satisfied your requirement and can go ahead and declare himself,” Cordelia said. “He must realize it—what could be more brave than a duel?”
Miss Mayton nodded her approval. “It certainly would be direct enough to penetrate his understanding. Though, we still must find a person to stand in for this lovestruck baron.”
“I was thinking,” Rosalind said, “that we look for a stand-in for the baron’ssecond. The second need not look like a person willing to fight the duke.”
“No, indeed,” Miss Mayton said. “A second very sensibly stays out of those sorts of things.”
“All the second need do is look like a man, deliver a written challenge, and wait for a verbal acceptance. The second need not even enter the house, but could stay on the street, inside a carriage, so he would not be viewed too closely.”
“Do you suppose our pickpocket would do it?” Viola asked. “We could lend him the right clothes and hire a carriage.”
“No, that won’t work,” Rosalind said, because of course that very idea had occurred to her during the night. “He won’t have the right accent for a countryside baron or be able to carry himself with the right authority. The footman who took the note would notice, I’m sure.”
“Wait a moment,” Miss Mayton said, “you mentioned the second only needlooklike a man.”
“Yes!”
“Well now, I suppose I could, if I were to get hold of the right clothes and pull a hat very low and stay in the carriage,” Miss Mayton said. “Naturally, it would be unusual, but itisin the name of love. I could very easily lower my voice, say as little as possible, and sound very gruff.”
“That is what I thought!” Rosalind said.
“It is rather genius,” Juliet said.
“We could borrow some of Darden’s clothes and make adjustments,” Cordelia said.
Miss Mayton looked at her pile of toast, and then at her ever-expanding mid-section. “Or perhaps the earl’s?” she said.
“Oh, yes, Papa’s would do better,” Viola said.
“He should not miss them, I do not think,” Rosalind said. “Though he gets new tailoring every year, he holds on to the last year’s just in case.”
“And since Aunt will be in a carriage,” Cordelia said, “all that will be needed is a shirt, neckcloth, waistcoat, and coat.”
“And the hat,” Viola said.
“Also, very bushy sideburns to cover her face,” Juliet said. “We could snip off some fur from Bess, she shan’t mind it.”
“And glue it on,” Rosalind said. “We could write out the challenge and so all Aunt would have to do is call a footman forward and say, ‘This must be delivered to the duke at once. I will wait for an answer.’”
“This must be delivered to the duke at once,” Miss Mayton said in a gravelly voice. “I will wait for his answer.”
“Oh that’s very good,” Juliet said. “The footman will never know anything is amiss. He will be too busy thinking about the note that must be delivered at once.”
“Then there is only the carriage to think about,” Miss Mayton said. “We’ll have to see how one goes about hiring one.”
“We need not, though,” Rosalind said. “Father’s carriages have the coat of arms only on the right side. If we direct the carriage to approach the house from the left it could not be seen.”
“What about Sandren?” Cordelia asked. “If we take our own carriage, he will be driving. He shan’t like it, I do not think.”
“We could tell him it is a game,” Rosalind said, having already thought of how to get around the coachman. “We can say a Mrs. Ellington has set us all off on something she calls a goose chase. We are given clues and hints and must follow them to the letter. If we are successful at each stop, we finally reach her house and receive a prize. Then, after we leave Conbatten, we say we did not get the right answer and so must go home.”
“That sounds wonderfully fun,” Juliet said. “I wish there really was a Mrs. Ellington with such a good idea.”
“Once we receive his answer, that hewillmeet my baron at dawn, we tell Sandren to speed away and around a corner,” Rosalind said, the delightful scene playing out in her mind.
“But what then?” Viola asked. “You will have named the place and time for the duel and he will go and nobody will be there.”
“He will think the baron has thought better of it and run back to the countryside,” Rosalind said.
