“You are a stalwart brother, Darden,” Rosalind said.
“Yes, I know,” Darden said, no doubt remembering the stalwartness that had been required of himlastseason.
After Darden had left, Viola told her sister all about how Lord Baderston was the best man living and had a black eye.
*
Roland had hopedhe might slip in the house unnoticed, but that was not to be. He’d gone in through the front doors, assuming she would be out somewhere, as she usually was during the day.
As it happened, the dowager had been cruising the great hall like an enemy warship guarding a harbor.
She followed him into the library.
“What has happened to your face?” she asked.
“A minor scuffle not worth reviewing,” he said, not at all wishing to discuss it.
The dowager sniffed. “Perhaps Miss Mayton has claimed another victim.”
Roland did not answer, and she continued on, “Never mind, I will not be turned from my purpose. I have heard alarming reports. Alarming reports, Baderston.”
“Yes, alarming reports seem to be the fashion these days,” he said drily.
“Lady Rumsgartner paid a visit this morning,” the dowager went on. “Guess what she told me?”
Roland suppressed a sigh. He had no need to guess. “That old bat told you that Lady Viola once ran off with a tinker’s son to Gretna Green, then changed her mind and went home.”
The dowager staggered and sat herself in a chair. “What?”
“What?” Roland asked back, entirely nonplussed. If Lady Rumsgartner had not told that story, whathadshe told?
“Lady Rumsgartner informed me that she has written to Lady Viola and told her not to attend her soiree. She informed me that everybody has seen that you are partial to Lady Viola, but the girl is not what she appears to be. What is this about a run to Gretna Green?”
Roland really did not feel like explaining things to his mother, and he reallydidfeel like hitting Lady Rumsgartner over the head with one of her own ridiculous bonnets. How dare she shun Lady Viola?
Of course, if Lady Rumsgartner had turned her back on Lady Viola, just as Lady Margaret had, there were probably others. Lady Viola was so brave in the face of it all!
“From your silence, I will presume that tale is what Lady Rumsgartner meant when she came to warn us away from Lady Viola. As if I needed any warning. I’ve said right from the start that countenancing that person was a mistake. Really, Baderston, at this point it is difficult to even style her as a lady. My own opinion—”
“Stop where you are, Dowager,” Roland said.
The dowager did stop, likely from surprise. She was not accustomed to being interrupted and certainly not accustomed to her son calling her dowager.
“The story going round is entirely untrue,” Roland said, “and it was your protégé, Lady Clara, who sent it round. The real story, if you must know it, is that a tinker’s boy asked her to run off when she waseight years old. Obviously, she did not go anywhere.”
“Well, regardless of what the truth of it is—”
“No! Not ‘regardless of what the truth is.’ What a ridiculous thing to say. Lady Clara has caused a deal of trouble, and all because you have encouraged her to think there will be a match, which there will never be. You will stop your meddling or you will be out of this house. This is your last warning. Furthermore, you can tell Lady Rumsgartner that she is a sour old thing and I would sooner she jump off a cliff than give me her opinion. That is my final word.”
He left his mother looking rather pale and jogged up the stairs and into his bedchamber.
Chapter Fourteen
Viola held herhead up high as she entered the theater box. Miss Mayton had been very clever in counseling her on what dress she ought to wear. They had chosen a white silk edged in yellow daisies. The white would signal that she was not in hiding, she was not afraid to be seen in the dim light of a theater, and the daisies communicated her innocence.
As further ammunition, Rosalind and Conbatten had brought their carriage to Portland Place and then followed them to Drury Lane so that they might be noted walking in together.
Conbatten held his arm out for her, while the earl took Miss Mayton and Darden took Rosalind.
