As the last tea tray came in before they would retire and Nelson staggered to his three legs in anticipation, they all speculated on how Grace was making out at Lady Montague’s ball. Winsome hoped Grace had given Lord Dashlend no end of perishing looks. Verity was adamant that tripping another lady, who may or may not be Lady Lavender, was a very accepted thing. Patience claimed Grace would be better off pretending she did not know Lord Dashlend was even alive, of so little consequence was he. Serenity posited that Grace might stand just to the right of a chandelier, allowing the warm light to present her as an unattainable Venus, so Lord Dashlend might see what he’d lost. Valor was of two minds—Grace might hit him over the head with a wine glass or she might set his coat on fire.
Even Nelson was in agreement as to Lord Dashlend. Whenever the lord’s name was mentioned, he gave a little snarl. Mrs. Right knew very well that the dog did not hold any sort of personal grudge against the gentleman, but Winsome had been rewarding him with a bit of biscuit every time he did it.
All in all, it was a very cheery evening.
Therefore, the very last thing they’d been expecting was for Grace to come home on the back of a farmer’s cart, with Lord Dashlend in a litter beside her.
For the first few minutes, Mrs. Right did fear that Grace had taken some of her sisters’ advice and clobbered the fellow. While it would be satisfying in the extreme, it was the sort of thing that might cause her girl some trouble.
As the men who’d accompanied the cart took the litter above stairs to a spare bedchamber, the duke explained what had happened. Or as much of what happened as he knew.
This explanation did put a damper on all their ideas of destroying Lord Dashlend. It was hard to reconcile that he saved Grace from a fire and was also a scoundrel who ought to die a painful death.
As the duke led the physician above stairs, Mrs. Right poured Grace a large glass of sherry and her sisters gathered round her.
“So you went by yourself to the room so you could jump around in private?” Winsome asked.
“She does it all the time in her own room,” Valor said. “I’ve tried it, it’s not very interesting.”
“I do not know what anybody else does to settle their dizziness,” Grace said, “I only know that it helps me.”
“What dizziness?” Serenity asked.
“Dizziness can be a common thing. I’ve read,” Verity said.
“I don’t get dizzy,” Valor said. “Not unless I close my eyes and spin around.”
“I never got dizzy at your age,” Grace said. “It comes on later.”
“Does it?” Valor shouted, seeming alarmed by this news.
“When, though?” Patience asked. “I’m never dizzy. Serenity is never dizzy. Winsome?”
Winsome shook her head.
Grace turned to her. “Mrs. Right?”
She slowly shook her head. It really did set her to wondering. She had of course known that her Grace was… not all that graceful. She’d not known anything about regularly feeling dizzy. What was causing it?
Just then, the duke entered the room.
“Papa,” Grace said, rising from her chair. “He is paralyzed. Just say it. We must pull him through it. It will be a heavy blow for someone like Lord Dashlend.”
“He is not paralyzed,” the duke said. “According to Phillips, he’s got several broken ribs, a badly sprained ankle, and a bang to the head. He’ll recover, but he’s got to go on quiet for now, so we’ll keep him here for the time being.”
“Not paralyzed?” Grace said. Mrs. Right got the idea that she’d firmly decided the lord was paralyzed and the idea that he was not was hard to take in.
“He’s staying here?” Winsome asked. “He’s the enemy, Papa. At least, he was.”
Patience nodded. “Papa, are we to be civil to him? We hate him, but now he’s saved Grace, so we don’t know what to do with him.”
“What about that Lady Lavender?” Valor asked. “Are we supposed to let her in to see him? Are we supposed to talk to her and give her tea?”
“I could just cry thinking about it,” Serenity said, wiping a tear from her cheek.
“Now settle down,” the duke said. “He’s done our Gracie wrong, I do not deny it. But on the other hand, he saved her from a fire at great inconvenience to himself. That must count for something, I think.”
Mrs. Right nodded gravely, as if she were in full agreement with the duke.
