Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid (18 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY

“Look at all the pretty gowns,” said Vi in awe as she
watched the ladies promenade. 

Lizzie, accompanied by a footman and her best friend
Rosalind, had taken Vi for a walk in the park.

“The ladies may be wearing pretty gowns, but none are as
beautiful as you, poppet,” said Lizzie.  

Vi looked up at her.  “You and Mama are the two most
beautiful ladies I ever saw,” then realizing her omission, quickly turned to
Rosalind.  “You, too, Miss Rosalind.”

Rosalind laughed good-naturedly.  At four and twenty,
Rosalind knew her looks were average.  Average height, average build.  Hair
color an average brown.  Her only truly good feature was her eyes, but even
they were hidden behind spectacles.  She knelt, to come face-to-face with Vi. 
“You, my dear, are not only beautiful, but very kind.”         

Vi smiled.  “I like your hair pin,” she said, then shyly hid
her face in Lizzie’s stomach.

“That is a lovely pin,” said Lizzie as Rosalind rose to her
feet.  Rosalind’s family had fallen on hard times and it was rare when she had
anything new.

Rosalind smiled and patted the pin, which was in the shape
of a violet.  “Thank you.  I bought it from a street vendor.  I know I probably
paid far more than it’s worth, but I was struck by its beauty.  And if I hadn’t
spent the money…”

She left the sentence unfinished, but Lizzie could’ve
completed it for her.  If Rosalind hadn’t spent the money, her scapegrace
brother would have.  Her brother, abetted by her stepmother, was pushing the
family ever closer to financial ruin.  Elizabeth worried about her friend, for
she showed little interest in marrying and, truth be told, had received few
offers if any for her hand.  While Lizzie would hate for her friend to wed
where there was no love, she also didn’t like seeing her at the mercy of her
brother and stepmother.  And all efforts Lizzie had made to help Rosalind
financially had been politely, but firmly rejected. 

The two had been fast friends since Lizzie’s come-out two
years earlier.  Rosalind had come to her aid when a drunken admirer had tried
to take advantage of her.  The two of them had fought him off and sworn
complete secrecy because if word had gotten out, the drunken admirer would’ve
been killed in a duel and one of Lizzie’s brothers would now be living in exile
on the continent.

“What have we here?” said Lizzie as she looked up to see
Arthur and Hal riding toward them on horseback. 

They dismounted, then gave their reins to the footman.

“Lord Arthur, Lord Hal!” said Vi. “We’re prome…prome…What
are we doing Lizzie?”

“Promenading.”

“Why ever for?” asked Arthur. 

“I don’t know.  It’s just like walking, but slower,”
answered Vi.  “But we get to see all the pretty ladies and their gowns.”

“Uh-oh,” said Hal.  “It looks like the pretty ladies are
descending.”

Lizzie looked up to see at least a dozen of her
acquaintances swarming toward them, or, more accurately, swarming toward her
two handsome brothers.

“It is too late to escape?” asked Arthur.

“Why’d you come to the park at his hour if you didn’t want
to be noticed” asked his sister.

“We wanted to be noticed,” clarified Hal, “just not by ladies. 
We were looking for more, uh,
sporting
company.”

“Might I remind you there are ladies present?” asked Lizzie.

“Where?” asked Hal.  “All I see are you and Rosalind,
hoydens the both of you.” 

“I have very little sympathy for either of you rogues,” said
Rosalind with a smile.  “It’d serve you right if one of them dragged you to the
altar.”

“You wound me, Rosalind,” said Arthur. 

The hordes arrived and the two men were enveloped in a cacophony
of giggles and curtsies.

“What a delightful child,” said Lady Gwendolyn Bossert,
barely looking at Vi but addressing her comments to both of the handsome and
quite eligible Kellington brothers.  “I do find it charming when a gentleman
turns his attention to children.”

“Gentlemen should turn their attention to children since
they’re half responsible for their creation,” said Rosalind, to Lizzie, Arthur
and Hal’s delight.  “I’ve always found it odd that the slightest interest a man
takes in his children is thought to be an act of great sacrifice, while a woman
dedicates her life to them – and most of her figure – yet it’s only what’s
expected.”

“What an odd thing to say, Miss Rosalind,” said Lady
Gwendolyn.  “And what an interesting gown you have.  I particularly enjoy the
intricate stitching at the hem and pockets.”

The intricate stitching was a result of the garment having
been mended many times.  Several ladies tittered behind their fans, Rosalind
blushed, and Lizzie went on the attack.

“I’ll have you know, Gwendolyn dear, that…”

But whatever else Lizzie said was lost to Vi.  There was an
odd noise, like a cry of some sort.  All the ladies talking made it hard to
hear, but if she could just move closer, she might learn what it was. Vi walked
to nearby bushes, but there was no sign of what she’d heard.  She went past
them to a thicket of trees. The crying was getting louder, like a whimpering
animal.  Then in the distance she saw a light brown puppy.  It looked like it
was caught in a trap.  She ran the rest of the way to the dog.

“Don’t be scared.  I’m here to help you,” she said as she
knelt beside the animal, which was in a great deal of pain.  One of its front
paws was caught tightly in a snare and there was blood on the paw from where
the dog had tried to free itself. Vi worked hard to loosen the trap, as the
puppy began licking her hands.

“Don’t worry about that mutt.  You cain’t take him where yer
goin’.”

Vi looked up to see three filthy men approach her.  They
looked different than the men in Marston Vale, but just as dirty and
frightening.  With one more yank, she freed the dog, who began growling at the
men. 

“Come with us.  We got some biscuits fer ye, don’t we boys?”
said the first man again.

“We got everythin’ a lass like you might want.”  His friend
closed in on her.

The dog put itself between Vi and the men, then bared its
teeth.

“I hate dogs,” said the first man.  “I look forward to
slittin’ its throat.”

“Don’t touch that dog!” said Vi as she picked up a rock and
threw it at the nearest man.  He ducked, but it hit him on the side of the
head.

“You stupid li’l brat!”

The man tried to grab Vi, but she ran out of his grasp.  The
dog pulled at the pant leg of the second man, who tried to kick it, but tripped
instead.  Vi grabbed the puppy, just as the third man began closing in on her. 
She screamed, then ran in the direction she’d come from, with the men on her
heels.

 If only she could reach Lizzie before the bad men caught
her.

She ran as fast as her legs would go, then she heard one of
the men behind her say a naughty word.  She took a quick look behind and saw
they were now running in the opposite direction.  She turned around to see
Arthur, Hal, Lizzie, that nice Miss Rosalind and the footman running toward
her.  She hoped no one was chasing them.

Arthur, Hal and the footman ran past her, chasing the men. 
Lizzie caught her up in her arms and suddenly Lizzie and Miss Rosalind were
hugging her and rubbing her back and asking if she was all right.  The puppy
got squished, so she had to put him down.

“Sweetheart, are you all right?  Did those men hurt you?”
asked a very worried Lizzie.

“I’m all right,” Vi said.  “I’m sorry I wandered off, but I
heard the puppy crying.  He was hurt and when I was helping him, those men came.”

“The brigands used the puppy to lure her to them,” said
Arthur, who’d just returned.  “We couldn’t catch them.  They must’ve had horses
on the other side of the bushes.  Did they say anything to you, Vi?”

“They said they were going to take me with them and
that…that they were going to slit the puppy’s throat.”  Then she burst into
tears.

Lizzie and Rosalind hugged her again.

“I don’t want them to hurt the puppy!” sobbed Vi.

“The puppy will be fine,” said Lizzie.

“How do you know?” asked Vi.

“Hal, pick up the dog,” said Arthur.

 Hal looked at the puppy, which met his stare with a wide
one of his own.

“It’s bleeding.  And this is my favorite waistcoat.”

“I’ll take him, my lord,” said the footman, as he walked
toward the dog.

“I’ve got him,” said Hal.  He picked up the puppy, who then
began to lick his face.  “No wonder the villains didn’t like this dog.  It’s
disgusting.”  But despite his words, he began petting it.

Vi was shaking with silent tears.

“Poppet, please don’t be sad,” said Rosalind, as she pulled
the pin out of her hair.  “You can have my pin that you liked.  A violet for
Violet.”

Lizzie looked at her generous friend.  Rosalind has so few
items to call her own.  Now, she’d given away one of her favorites.

“I can’t take your pin,” hiccupped Vi.  “You love it.”

“Of course you can take it,” said Rosalind.  “It’d make me
very happy to see you with it.  May I place it in your hair?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Vi gave a glint of a smile and
nodded.  Rosalind put the pin in her hair.  “Now you look like even more of a
princess than you did before.”

The girl beamed.

“Lord Arthur, Lord Hal, how brave you were,” said Lady
Gwendolyn, now that she and the other ladies had finally ambled over to them.

“How much trouble this child caused you,” said Lady Helen
Henderson with a disparaging glance at Vi.  “And, Lord Hal, is that…is
that…blood on your waistcoat?”

Half the ladies appeared ready to swoon, as long as they
were in range of being caught by either of the two lords.

“What happened?”  The quiet voice of Lynwood reached them
from the back of the mob.  “I saw the chase, but was too far away to get here
in time.”

The ladies swept into a deep curtsy, then they all tried to
get his attention by telling the bits of the story they’d gleaned from having
stood a safe distance away.

“Lady Elizabeth, what happened?” asked Lynwood, ignoring the
others.

“We were careless enough to let Vi wander off.  She heard a
puppy crying and when she found it, three men tried to kidnap her.  Arthur, Hal
and Norton ran them off.”

“And Miss Violet is…” Lynwood looked at the girl, and for a
moment Lizzie saw a flash of fear in his eyes.

“She says she’s fine.”

Lynwood smiled at Vi.  “Miss Rosalind’s pin looks beautiful
on you.”  

Vi smiled at him, then leaned into Lizzie.

Lynwood turned to Rosalind.  “Thank you, Miss Rosalind for
the loan of your pin.  It was most generous of you.”

Rosalind looked at the duke, her mouth too dry to speak. 
“It was a gift, not a loan,” she finally managed to say quietly. 

Lynwood looked at her, then opened his mouth to speak.  But
just then Lady Gwendolyn placed a delicate hand on his elbow, turning him
toward her.

“Your grace, I was just in the process of removing this
ribbon to give to the girl when you walked up.”  She slid the ribbon slowly out
of her hair, keeping her eyes locked with Lynwood’s.  “If you would be so kind
as to give it to her?”

“Since it obviously means so much to you, why don’t you give
it to Miss Violet yourself?”

Pleased to have the undivided attention of the duke, but
completely at a loss for how to approach a child – where was the chit’s
governess, anyway? – Lady Gwendolyn held the ribbon out at arm’s length.  The
child looked up and Lady Gwendolyn could swear she was cross.  Ungrateful
brat.  Lady Gwendolyn dangled the ribbon, hoping the girl would simply take the
thing so she could turn back to the duke, when suddenly the dog that had bled
on Lord Hal’s waistcoat grabbed the ribbon and slobbered – slobbered! – on her
gloves.  That made the stupid girl laugh. 

It made everyone laugh.

Barely suppressing her fury, Lady Gwendolyn turned back to
the Duke of Lynwood, whose lips were set in a straight line, but seemed to
quiver just the slightest amount.  Damnation!

“It has been an exciting day.  We’d best be leaving for
Lynwood House,” he said.  “Thank you for the use of your ribbon, Lady
Gwendolyn.  It seems to have cheered Miss Violet up considerably.  Now, if you
will excuse us, we must be for home.”

*                 *               *

As Jane walked into the house after her drive with Wills
Overton, Heskiss informed her that Vi and Lizzie were still in the park, but
Ned was awaiting her in the drawing room.  As Jane entered, she got the
distinct impression she was about to be on the receiving end of a sound scold.

“Did you enjoy your drive, Jane?”

“It was perfectly fine,” said Jane, still trying to discern
what she’d done to upset him.

“Was it?”

“Yes, it was a beautiful day and while I was surprised to
see Wills, I enjoyed myself well enough.”

“Wills?   I didn’t realize you were on a first-name basis.”

“I’ve known the man almost my entire life.  When you’ve
fallen out of a tree with someone, formality often goes by the wayside.”

“When did you fall out of a tree with him?” asked Ned,
hoping he didn’t sound ridiculously jealous.  Although it certainly sounded
that way in his head.

“I don’t know.  When I was 10, perhaps?”

“Oh,” he said, slightly mollified.                

“Did you think this had been a recent occurrence?  That I’d suddenly
taken up tree climbing?”

“I don’t know.  I mean, I climbed two trees just last week. 
Perhaps it’s a Marston Vale tradition.”

“To be honest, you didn’t actually climb a tree the second
time,” said Jane, struggling not to laugh.  “You climbed a branch.”