Could that be true? Lady Letitia might have been irritated that Lord Tramondeley had not danced with her all night. But no, it was preposterous. A lady did not attack a gentleman with a knife. That was a man’s work. Anyway, why had he run away and Lady Letitia had not?
“In any case, it is well that all this is to be out in the open now,” the count said.
“What is to be out in the open?” Valor whispered. The count was slowly moving forward, as if to calm a skittish horse. Valor was slowly moving backward.
“I have been tracking Tramondeley’s movements,” the count said. “That story of him harassing French frigates was just that—a story.The truth is he was going out in his sloop at night to deliver messages to the French. It was he who planted that story in the newspaper to discredit me. He understood I had discovered his game.”
The count moved ever closer. Valor was backed against the far wall of the room. She did not believe any of it. Lord Tramondeley could be intemperate and too prone to taking risks, but he was not a liar and a traitor. The liar was right in front of her and he was coming closer. She glanced to her right. A heavy gold candelabra sat on a pedestal.
“Now, all this need not trouble you. I cannot know why Lady Letitia made such a move this night, but perhaps she sought to eliminate who she knew to be a spy for the French. There are those ladies the crown employs for such things. But as for you and I, none of this need affect us. These sorts of things do not occur in Hertfordshire, it is very quiet there.”
Valor looked at him in horror. He’d moved close enough that she could feel his breath. He was going to try to kiss her.
She grabbed the candelabra and hit him over the head. As he slid to the floor she recoiled, very surprised at her own strength. She picked up the skirt of her dress and leapt over him, running for the door.
As she neared it, four of the prince’s guards came through it, followed by Tramondeley. She threw herself in his arms. He caught her just as one of the guards called to Lord Tramondeley. “He’s here, my lord. Looks like he fainted.”
“No,” one of the other guards said, turning him over, “he’s got a gash on his head.”
“I hit him with a candelabra,” Valor whispered.
“Brave girl,” he whispered into her hair.
“Well, I had to,” Valor said, “you chased after him and he might have had another knife.”
“I went for the guards,” Lord Tramondeley said.
“Oh, well, that was very sensible.”
“I did not think he’d left the premises. I thought he might bide his time and try again. A cornered rat always bites.”
The guards had picked up the count, each lifting one appendage. As they passed by them, the lead guard said, “We’ll put it about that he’s drunk, lock him up, and then see what the Crown intends to do about him.”
Lord Tramondeley nodded, and they hauled the count out of the room.
Lord Tramondeley pushed her hair from her eyes as her pins had all come loose. “Now, as I was saying…well let me skip over the whole part of looking askance at your father. Lady Valor Nicolet if you do not agree to wed me, I will get on my sloop and sail into the ocean until I am dead.”
Valor shivered at the very idea. “I would on no account allow you to do such a rash and dangerous thing.”
“Is that a yes, then?”
“It is a yes, then.”
Lord Tramondeley bent over her and touched his lips to her own. He was gentle, as if he understood her.
“Are you frightened of me?” he asked.
“A little,” she said. “But not enough to keep you away.”
He kissed her again and she most definitely did not keep him away.
“My father will wonder where I am,” Valor said. “I should probably go into the prince’s table.”
Lord Tramondeley held her just a bit away from him and looked her up and down. “First, your hair is in a shambles. Second, there are blood spots on that lovely dress. Third, I would rather get you safely home.”
She had been so frightened of Lord Tramondeley’s bold nature, but now she was not frightened. He knew just what to do.
“Stay here, do not move,” he said. He went to the doors and motioned a footman passing by in the corridor. “Retrieve the Duke of Pelham from the prince’s table. Tell him his daughter has been taken ill. Send someone else to the garden for Lord Ledderbey, he will be at the top of the table on the left-hand side.”
