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“Paris?” Kitty said. “Oh, I think I might enjoy that. I have often wondered what Paris would be like … and in fact, Uncle Edwin insisted I learn French, though I am not very good at it.”
The butler appeared and said in harried terms, “Harold Brentley insists … and I could not keep—”
“That’s a good man,” Harry said, charging into the room. “Kitty … oh hallo, Lady Halloway.” He bowed his head and then looked at the earl squarely. “My lord. I do apologize barging in on you, but I have come to see Kitty, and I have not a moment to lose.” He turned to Kitty. “He means to have her—and has told her a pack of lies!”
Kitty was on her feet and taking Harry’s hands to steady them and him. “Easy, my friend. Slow down …” As Harry was jerking his head in a manner that led her to believe he wished to speak to her in private, she turned and twinkled at the earl. “I do beg your pardon … my lord, Minnie … but I think Harry needs a word.”
“Of course, my love.” The earl was beside her, taking her fingers to his lips. “But I think the time has come for you to call me Brandon.”
“Indeed, it has, Brandon,” Kitty said, trying it on for size and smiling prettily.
The dowager waved them off as well, and Kitty took Harry’s hand and pulled him along. Even through his distraction Harry had noticed this exchange and said, “Ah, it is like that, is it? Thought it might end that way. Now you must fix things up for me as well, Kitty, for I shall lose my mind if she rejects me because of a lie.”
She took him to the library, poked the small fire in the grate, and turned to find Harry pacing. “Od’s life, Harry do stop. Tell me what has happened.”
“Clay has Henrietta thinking I am chasing after the Wrigley chit, and I swear I am not,” Harry whined.
“Why would he be able to make Henrietta believe such a thing? But you know, Harry, there was a time when even I thought you had a tendre in that direction.” Kitty’s brow went up.
“At one time, ages and ages ago, perhaps I did, but not for at least a year. At any rate, it was
nothing. However, recently we—Henrietta, Clay, and I—were at a little soiree, and the Wrigley chit appeared out of nowhere, took my arm, and I was only being polite but the next thing I knew we were in the garden and she threw her arms around me and kissed me. I didn’t kiss her back, I swear, but who came looking for me at that moment but Henrietta, who I had been courting vigorously … vigorously, Kitty … she … I … she thought I …”
“Ah, that explains a great deal,” Kitty said thoughtfully. “You know, Harry, I am shocked. If you were courting Henrietta, you should not have gone into the garden with that little tart!”
“That is something like what Henrietta said, but the thing is she said she needed to fix her shoe and could I just stand for her to hold onto while she took care of it—”
“Nonsense. You are old enough to have seen through that, and if you didn’t, you should have called a footman to stand for her. It is not your place to serve another woman while you are courting Henrietta.”
He looked down on the ground. “I didn’t see through it, so does that make me some kind of flat? How can anyone always know what a woman means when she says this or that?” he said, flinging his hands in the air.
“Did you try and explain to Ree?”
“It is all I have been trying to do, but each time I get close, Clay throws a spoke into the wheel. He is forever lurking about. Like this morning. I tried to tell her I was here in London just for her, and what must he do but tell her that the Wrigley chit was here and that was why I was in London.” Harry was back to pacing.
“Well, we shall set things right—”
“That isn’t all!” Harry wailed. “On my way here, I stopped by my lodgings, and as I left and rounded the corner, who should I bump into but Sarah Anne Wrigley and her duenna. I had barely said hallo, when who should drive by in an open curricle?”
“Ree and Clay,” Kitty said. “This is absurd. What a devil a bit.”
“Upon my soul, I am beginning to believe he has orchestrated the entire thing,” Harry shouted.
“I agree. Timing you know is everything, and it seems to me that all of this is too much of a coincidence not to have been orchestrated,” Kitty mused out loud. She eyed him and said, “Listen to me, Harry, for this is what we are going to do …”
* * *
Timing, Kit had told Harry, was everything, and so she watched the clock. Finally, dressed to the nines in a hunter green velvet hat with a single white feather that curled near her ear, she gazed at herself in the mirror. She wished the earl were home to see her in her new walking ensemble, which matched her hat to perfection.
She had left Harry only to find that the earl had left her a quickly scribbled note advising her that there were things to be done before he could carry her off to Paris.
She hugged the note to herself and smiled, and then she had gone off to see Nanny to tell her about her upcoming nuptials. Some happy tears and many hugs were shared before she went off to get ready.
A note was sent off to Henrietta, and then all she had to do was get dressed and make her way to meet her friend.
What she had to do was fix this silly situation between Harry and Ree, who were meant to be together, and make certain Clay got just what he deserved for his backhandedness in this mess.
She gave her golden curls a tweak and off she went to collect Ree. Nanny met her in the hall and stopped her. “Darling, where are you going?”
