Chapter 14
Oh, what I’d give to be a mouse in Dudley’s pocket!
—Caroline Lovell, upon discovering that Lawrence Sinclair has acquired not one but two servants!
“There you are, Teddy. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” The last place Caroline expected to find her brother Edward was in their father’s study, poring over the earl’s thick ledgers. He’d never been the sort for columns and sums. “What on earth are you doing?”
Lord Bredon ran a hand through his sandy hair without the slightest success in making it lie flat. Then he sighed and closed the heavy tome.
“Father said it’s time I take on some extra duties. He wishes me to familiarize myself with the running of the estate. It seems the rest of the family can flit about entertaining themselves, but now that I’m done with my education, a multitude of responsibilities loom before me.”
Teddy hadn’t looked this oppressed since she’d caught him cramming for exams over his holiday break from Oxford, but she couldn’t resist teasing him a bit.
“Ah, the perils of being heir apparent. How sad for you to look forward to becoming Lord Chatham. The peerage makes for such a long, weary lifetime when you consider all the wealth, honor, and prerogatives that go along with the title.”
“The duties are as plentiful as the benefits, I’m discovering,” Edward said.
“I rather doubt our brothers think their lots in life will be easier. After all, they’ll have to make their own ways in the world.”
“Not without a good deal of help from me,” Teddy said testily. “Who do you think will see to it that Ben acquires a generous living as vicar in some charming country parish? Where will Thomas get the funds to purchase that infernal ship he’s always talking about? And who knows what Charles and Harry will eventually decide to do with themselves? But whatever it is, the house of Lovell will be supporting them at every step while they do.”
Life was ever thus. Men could follow their own interests and decide for themselves. They’d even have the family’s support in their chosen endeavors. Once, Caroline would have railed at the unfairness of it all. Solely on account of being born a woman, she wouldn’t be allowed to determine what to do with herself. But surprisingly, just now, she had other concerns that were more pressing. Somehow, without seeming to, she had to steer this conversation toward Lawrence.
“Yes, yes, you’re a veritable rock, Teddy, and the family wouldn’t be able to scrape by without you.”
“If you’re trying to turn me up sweet, you’ll have to do better than that.”
“Me? Never considered it for a moment.” She batted her eyes in feigned innocence. “But have you ever considered what it would be like for our brothers if you and Father didn’t support them? They’d be flailing about, left to their own devices, wouldn’t they?”
Edward frowned. “I suppose so. Why are you so concerned about their futures all of a sudd—Oh, I see.” He tapped a finger alongside his nose and slanted a knowing look at her. “You’re thinking of Sinclair. His situation is much the same as our brothers’.”
“You always did know me far too well for my comfort,” she admitted. “And you’re right this time, too. But Mr. Sinclair’s case is much different from our brothers. His uncle hasn’t given him the kind of support Ben and the others will receive from you, that much is certain.”
The fact that Lawrence didn’t feel welcome in his family’s home made her chest ache. Caroline vexed her parents with regularity, but they wouldn’t turn her away. She’d never feel the kind of rejection Lawrence had suffered.
“I wouldn’t worry about Sinclair,” Edward said, reopening the ledger before him and scowling down at it. “He’s a very capable fellow.”
“Capable of what, I wonder?” Caroline walked her fingertips along the edge of their father’s massive mahogany desk, trying to seem nonchalant. “You never did tell me what he did to earn your undying gratitude and friendship, you know.”
“And I won’t now,” Teddy said without looking up.
“Why not?”
“Because it involves a third party, and besides, it isn’t my story to tell.”
Oliver. “It has something to do with Rowley, doesn’t it?”
“Caro, if you want to know so badly, why don’t you ask Sinclair?”
“Why are you being so difficult?” She started a slow prowl around the perimeter of the room in frustration. “You know as well as I that it would be easier to flap my arms and fly to the moon than to get Lawrence Sinclair to talk about himself.”
Edward laughed. “You’ve the right of it, Sister. He’s not one to monopolize a conversation, is he? And even better than not waffling on about himself, Sinclair doesn’t make a habit of gossiping about others either. A virtue I recommend we emulate.”
“You should have been the vicar instead of Ben,” she said, waving away his preachy suggestion. “Besides, you know Mr. Sinclair would never tell me, even if I asked. Which I wouldn’t, of course. It would be the height of rudeness for me to ask him something so obviously personal.”
“That’s a very mature attitude. I commend you.”
“And I you for protecting your friends’ secrets,” she said through clenched teeth. “But I hardly think it would be considered either gossip or rude if you should happen to tell your favorite sister what she wants to know.”
“My favorite you may be,” he said with a laugh at their shared standing joke, “but your logic is astonishingly absurd.”
“How so?”
“You won’t ask Sinclair anything personal, but it’s not rude to harass me about it.”
“You’re my brother. Rudeness doesn’t signify between you and me,” she said, trying not to whine. “And in any case, it’s not as if it could be considered gossip because anything you told me would go no further.”
“No, Caro,” he said with firmness. “Your wiles may work on Father, but I am immune.”
She plopped into the leather wing chair near the cold fireplace. “Men are such vexing creatures.”
Teddy studied her for a moment. “Are you harboring a tendresse for Sinclair?”
“What? No.” She willed her cheeks not to heat, without much success. “Now you’re being absurd.”
“Am I? You were exceptionally keen on teaching him to dance.”
“Only as a favor to you, chucklehead,” she said, feeling quite out of charity with him, favorite brother or no. Teddy used to be far easier to manipulate. “I couldn’t very well let your friend disgrace himself at Lord Frampton’s ball, could I? And by the way, you’re welcome.”
He made a hmphing noise that sounded eerily like their father when he caught one of them in a faradiddle. “‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks,’” he quoted.
“All right.” Caroline decided a change of tactics was in order. “For the sake of argument, suppose you are correct and I am addlepated over Sinclair. Our parents have been waiting and watching with bated breath for the day when I become besotted with an eligible parti. Wouldn’t they want you to tell me why you are indebted to him? After all, if Mr. Sinclair’s actions aided my dear brother, it’s something that would only increase my infatuation with the man.”
“First of all, I doubt our parents think Sinclair is all that eligible.”
“Why not? He is heir presumptive to an earldom.”
“I wouldn’t count on that,” Edward said. “If the betting at White’s is any indication, Lord Ware is about to announce his impending nuptials to a young lady from a notoriously fertile family.”
“Who is it?”
Teddy shook his head. “I shouldn’t have said anything, and I trust you not to repeat it. But suffice it to say that the ledger at White’s is giving very long odds on Sinclair succeeding his uncle.”
Caroline rose and resumed her nervous prowl about the room. “Oh, yes, by all means, let us consult the oracle of a betting book.”
“In such matters it’s rarely wrong,” Teddy assured her. “Besides, as to your claim that the tale of how Sinclair and I met would redound to his credit, let me assure you, the reverse is true.”
That stopped her in her tracks. “You cannot make that kind of statement and then keep mum. Now you’ve simply got to tell me. But no matter what you say, if Mr. Sinclair gave you aid, I would only rejoice in his actions.”
“You didn’t see the actions,” he said softly.
“Oh, Teddy, you’ll drive me to Bedlam.” She leaned on the desk, bending down to meet his gaze. “You may as well get to it; you know you’re going to tell me eventually.”
“And why would I do that?”
“Because I’m your favorite sister. Because you know I won’t give you any peace until you do. And because I can keep a secret,” she said, ticking off the reasons on her fingers. When he rolled his eyes, she straightened her spine and played her trump card. “After all, I’ve never told Father who really wrecked his curricle that summer before you left for the Continent. At least, I haven’t yet.”
“You wouldn’t.”
She shrugged. “Father was very attached to that equipage. ‘The finest, fastest in the shire,’ he always said. Well, you’d know, wouldn’t you? Because you and Rowley discovered exactly how fast it would go.”
“Botheration! I should have learned from that episode not to blithely fall in with Oliver’s plans.”
“So, Rowley was involved in your meeting Lawrence—I mean Mr. Sinclair.”
Edward leaned back in his chair. “Close the study door.”
She obeyed quickly and returned to perch on the edge of the wing-chair seat. “If ever I hear the slightest whiff of this story anywhere, I shall know who to blame,” he said.
“Your secret dies with me. I’ll swear on anything you like.”
“Don’t swear. It’s not ladylike.”
“Neither am I, half the time.”
“Nevertheless,” Edward said in an imitation of their father at his reproving best. Perhaps it was sitting behind Lord Chatham’s desk that gave him a much graver demeanor than usual. “Your word should be enough, Caro.”
“Very well. You have it.” She folded her hands on her lap to still them, but her insides still jittered. She was finally going to learn something important about Lawrence. “Where did you first meet Mr. Sinclair?”
“In an Italian jail.”
Caroline blinked hard. She’d heard that sometimes people paid to view the unfortunates at Bedlam, but she’d never understood the charm of it. “You were touring a jail?”
“No. I was incarcerated in one. We all were.”
A pent-up breath whooshed out of her. “Why?”
“Trust me, there are any number of ways an Englishman can run afoul of the law in Italy. Rowley and I found several, I’m afraid, one of which would have been a capital offense had things gone badly for us at trial.”
Caroline’s belly roiled uncertainly. Punishment for crimes in England could be severe. If the boy who’d stolen her reticule were brought up on charges, he might well be hanged or deported to New South Wales. No doubt other countries were just as firm about enforcing their laws, but she never imagined such harsh punishment would be meted out to members of the aristocracy.
“What on earth did you do?” Surely they hadn’t dabbled in thievery.
“It’s not a tale fit for your ears, Caro. I shouldn’t have told you this much.”
Which meant her brother probably wouldn’t tell her what offense Lawrence had committed to land him in the same jail.
“Thank heaven things didn’t go badly for you at trial,” she said softly.
“Only because we didn’t make it to trial. We were being transferred to another prison closer to court when Sinclair, in shackles no less, overpowered the guards.”
“Guards?” she repeated. “As in more than one?”
Edward nodded. “There were four of them, all goodly sized fellows, too. Honestly, I’ve never seen the like, Caro. Sinclair went from docile prisoner to Viking berserker between one heartbeat and the next. He laid them all out, with no help from me or Rowley, I regret to say. We were too astonished at the sudden change in him to move. His blows were methodical and ruthless and…” Edward met her gaze. “Such things aren’t meant for feminine ears. I’m sorry if I’ve distressed you.”
“I’d be more distressed at the thought of you languishing in a foreign prison,” she said, only a bit ashamed of the little thrill that danced on her spine. She’d suspected Lawrence Sinclair could be dangerous, but instead of being repulsed, she wished she’d been there to see the lion uncaged. “Then what happened?”
“Then Sinclair grabbed the keys from the fallen guards and unshackled himself, and Rowley and me as well. The three of us took to our heels. We dodged through dark alleys and lanes down to the docks and jumped onto the first ship leaving that harbor. We didn’t care where it was bound so long as it left quickly.” Edward massaged the bridge of his nose, as if a headache were forming between his eyes. “Needless to say, we’ll not be welcome in Rome again anytime soon.”
“Well! I can certainly see why you feel you owe Mr. Sinclair a great debt.” If she’d had a million guesses, she wouldn’t have come up with that story. She still had more questions about Lawrence than answers, but it was a start. “It’s obvious you won’t tell me the exact nature of the offense that landed you and Rowley in jail, but why was Mr. Sinclair there?”
“Enough, Caro. You will have to ask him. I’m done with my quota of gossip for the month. Now, if you have nothing more—”
A smart rap sounded on the study door. Caroline sighed. If not for the interruption, she felt sure she could have wheedled more information out of her brother.
“Come,” he ordered.
The door opened to reveal the inept footman Dudley, and, standing slightly behind him, the boy who’d recently stolen Caroline’s purse. The lad doffed his deplorable hat and gawked openmouthed around the room at the myriad books and decorative statuary as if he’d entered a palace. Then he noticed Caroline. His eyes went round as an owl’s when he recognized her, and he took a step back.
“Beggin’ your pardon, my lord,” Dudley said with a proper bow. “This…person bears a message for you and claims he has instructions from his employer to place it in your hands alone.”
Lawrence wasn’t the only one who could change personas in a heartbeat. Edward straightened his posture and went from Caroline’s dear brother Teddy to the imperious Lord Bredon between one breath and the next. He motioned for the boy to come forward and took the carefully folded note from him. His gaze swept over the missive quickly.
“It’s from Sinclair,” he told Caroline. “He thanks me roundly for Lovell House’s hospitality, but it seems he’s found other accommodations.”
Lord Bredon turned his attention to the footman. “Dudley, according to this letter, you are to pack Mr. Sinclair’s effects and deliver them into this lad’s keeping.”
“Are you sure about that?” Caroline asked, eyeing the boy with suspicion. If he’d steal her purse, he might be brazen enough to try to steal Lawrence’s belongings by trickery as well. “How do we know the note is genuine?”
“This is Sinclair’s writing, no doubt.” Teddy flashed the note at her. It was too quick for her to read anything, but the words slanted strangely across the page. “I’d know his cack-handed scrawl anywhere. So, boy, I assume you are in Mr. Sinclair’s employ.”
The lad nodded gravely and swallowed hard. He obviously couldn’t trust his tongue at the moment.
Bredon shook his head. “He must see something in you, but frankly, your meager services cannot possibly be sufficient to meet a gentleman’s needs. Therefore, Dudley, you will accompany this young man to Mr. Sinclair’s new residence,” Bredon said to the footman before turning his gaze back to the boy. “Your name, lad, if you please.”
“It’s B-Billy, your mightiness.”
“Billy,” Edward repeated, lips twitching as he stifled a smile. Caroline’s brother was m’lorded from morning till night, but to her knowledge, no one had ever dubbed him your mightiness before. “Dudley will go with you to make sure Mr. Sinclair’s effects reach his new abode in good order. You may wait in the hall while Dudley packs, and mind that you keep your hands in your own pockets.”
“Aye, sir, I mean, your exceedingness, your fulsomeness, your—”
“Lord Bredon will do.”
“Aye, Lord Bredon.” Billy executed an awkward bow, then made a great show of shoving his fists into the deep pockets of his jacket as he slipped out the door.
“Dudley,” Bredon said, turning his attention back to the footman, “did you enjoy serving as Mr. Sinclair’s valet while he was in residence here?”
The footman-turned-temporary-valet straightened to his full gangly height. “Oh, yes, my lord. Mr. Sinclair is a fine gentleman. A pleasure to be of service to him, I’m sure. I was proud to be his valet.”
“Good. Then you shall continue in that role.”
“But, my lord, I don’t…” Dudley said, clearly dismayed. “Does this mean you’re releasing me from service? I’m more than happy to remain a footman here at Lovell House. Please, my lord—”
“No, no.” Edward raised a hand to silence him. “Rest easy, Dudley. You’re not being given the sack. You’re being…promoted, as it were. Permanently. Nominally, you shall remain on the Lovell House staff, without any diminution in pay, but your duties will be performed elsewhere. Instead of being our footman, you’ll serve as valet to my particular friend, Mr. Sinclair, in his new quarters.”
“Then I’m to leave Lovell House?”
“A valet can’t very well serve his master if he’s across town from him, can he?” Edward said. “Mr. Sinclair will no doubt provide a place for you to stay near him. He has a number of engagements coming up and he’ll need someone to assure that he has a sharp turn out for them. Since my friend is heir presumptive to an earldom, I don’t need to tell you what a splendid opportunity this is for you.”
Dudley was not the sharpest quill in the inkpot, but he was quick enough to realize a servant borrowed his standing in the world below stairs from the rank of those he served. Being valet to a possible future earl was several steps up from answering the front door and dropping silverware down diner’s dresses at Lovell House.
“So tell me now,” Edward said. “Are you the man for the job?”
“Oh, yes, my lord,” Dudley said, but Caroline suspected he was about to gnaw through the inside of his cheek. The move was not all positive. Her maid Alice would be inconsolable when she heard about Dudley’s new living arrangements.
“Good. I shall apprise Mr. Price of your new assignment. You may leave the study door open as you go.”
“Very good, my lord. Thank you.”
Once Dudley had gone, Caroline’s shoulders slumped. “Well, it’s official, then. Mr. Sinclair has truly taken his leave of us.”
“Can’t say I’m surprised. He’s not the sort to be satisfied to hang on someone else’s sleeve. When we were traveling, Rowley and I had a good deal more credit at our disposal, but Sinclair always insisted on paying his own way.”
“Still, won’t it be a problem, your sending Dudley off like that?” Caroline said. “Isn’t Mr. Price supposed to be in charge of the staff?”
“Price will thank me. Truth to tell, he’s been looking for a way to give walking papers to his nephew for weeks, but he feared angering his sister. Price says Dudley is too clumsy to serve at table, and he’s doubtful further training will help.” Teddy shook his head. “I’m sure his services as a valet leave a good deal to be desired, but Sinclair won’t mind. I don’t think he’s had servants of his own since he left Ware Hall.”
Lawrence had seemed uncomfortable each time he was waited upon by one of the Lovell House staff. “You may be right,” Caroline said.
“His standards are a good bit lower in that regard, so Dudley will undoubtedly suit him well enough.” Edward stood and stretched his arms wide. “That’s a job well done. I found a way to rid Lovell House of a less-than-ideal footman and since Dudley will be of some use to Sinclair, I can continue to show appreciation to my friend by providing a valet for him. Two birds with one stone and all that.”
“Yes, you’re very clever, Teddy.” When he looked away, Caroline scooped up the note from Lawrence that her brother had left on the edge of the desk. She was certain there was much more in the letter than he’d shared with her. She slipped it into the bodice of her dress. The gong sounded, signifying that the family had one hour to prepare for their evening meal. “I must be off. See you at supper.”
Caroline scurried out before her brother had time to notice his note from Lawrence had disappeared. She nearly stumbled over young Billy, who was cooling his heels in the hall.
“Nice pull, my lady,” the boy said with a grin. “When I peeped round the doorway, I seen you nick that note, slick as snot. Couldn’t a done it better meself.”
Caroline’s mouth opened and closed twice, but she couldn’t very well scold the lad over his cheeky attempt at a compliment. Billy was right. She’d just purloined something from her brother as surely as this boy had sliced the laces on her reticule earlier. So she settled for turning on her heel and forcing herself to walk sedately up the stairs to her chamber when everything in her wanted to fly up them.
Because the dressing gong had sounded, Alice was waiting for her, but Caroline wanted privacy, not primping. “Go at once to Mr. Sinclair’s chamber. He’s moved out and Dudley is packing his things for him. I’d like you to help him.”
“Right away, my lady,” Alice said with a wink and a breathless smile, jumping at the chance to work alongside her sweetheart. “Oh, but how will you manage without me?”
“I’ll wear the sprigged muslin this evening.” It was one of the few garments in Caroline’s wardrobe that she could wiggle into by herself. “In a pinch, I can tie up those tabs, and with a good brushing and a fresh ribbon, my hair will be fine. Now, off you go.”
Alice scurried away, humming to herself. Caroline felt a bit mean, sending her maid off to certain disappointment, but she wasn’t ready to deal with the hysterics that were bound to come. She’d rather Alice heard about Dudley’s supposed promotion and new living situation from him rather than her.
Besides, she needed Alice out of her chamber. She couldn’t bear to wait another moment to read Lawrence’s letter. She drew it from her bodice and unfolded it carefully. Her hands were surprisingly unsteady. If she were this pent up over a letter the man had written to someone else, she wasn’t sure what she’d do if he ever screwed up his courage to write to her.
My dear Bredon,
No one has been a better friend to me than you. I’m more grateful than words can convey. The gracious hospitality of Lovell House has been far beyond what I deserve. I shall convey my thanks to the earl and his countess in a separate missive, but I wanted you to know the real reason I must remove myself from your family’s home. I owe you that much.
It is because of your sister.
I love her.
There it was. Ungilded. Direct. True.
Plenty of gentlemen had offered Caroline flowery words and grandiose protestations. One had even composed the most dreadful verse of more than one hundred couplets praising, of all things, the slight upturn of her nose! But none of her previous suitors’ words had reached anywhere near her heart. Lawrence’s simple confession went straight to her soul.
“He loves me,” she whispered. Caroline sank onto the foot of her bed because her knees would no longer support her weight. She felt warm all of a sudden, glowing as if a candle had been lit inside her.
The fault is not hers, she read on. Lady Caroline has not encouraged me.
“Oh really? You didn’t find my meeting you in the dead of night for a waltz lesson encouraging? Honestly, men are so stupid sometimes.”
She shook her head at his foolishness, feeling both tender and giddy about him at the same time. She didn’t understand the strange mix of emotions swirling inside her. It was as if her stays had been too tightly laced. She couldn’t make sense of her sudden urge to dance and laugh and weep all at the same time.
Only that it was so.
I understand that my attachment to Lady Caroline may cause awkwardness between us. I would not put you in that difficult position. My prospects alone make me an inadequate suitor for your sister’s hand, and I will not insult her with less than she deserves.
“Perhaps you might let me be the judge of whether you are adequate, Mr. Sinclair,” she said, wishing he were standing before her right then so she could scold him properly for thinking so poorly of himself.
But even laying that aside, you, of all people, know why I will not shackle Lady Caroline to one such as myself.
“Oh, for pity’s sake.” If this self-flagellation was about the incident in the Italian jail, she knew all about it now and felt more warmly toward him than ever. After all, he’d saved her dear Teddy from heaven knew what horrific end.
She turned back to the note.
I pray God to grant that she find someone respectable and worthy, who will love her as deeply as I.
“Oh, pish! Doesn’t he imagine I might have something to say about this?” She’d started reading with a flutter in her chest and hope in her heart. Now she was angry.
What was wrong with the man? What good did it do for him to explain himself to her brother? Didn’t he know that if she failed to buckle under pressure to conform from her parents, she certainly wasn’t the sort to be managed by her male relatives?
When she heard the longcase clock chime the half hour, Caroline refolded the note and hid it in her diary before she began to dress herself for dinner.
“If the man has something to say about me, he’d better say it to me,” she muttered as she struggled out of her morning dress and into the sprigged muslin for evening. Yes indeed. Lawrence Sinclair owed it to her to speak his heart plainly and let her choose what to do about it.
This was far too important a decision to leave solely in a man’s keeping. Lawrence couldn’t make it without her. And Teddy certainly could not.
She’d see to it that Lawrence made his declaration.
And there’d be no better time or place for it than at Lord Frampton’s ball.