“Allegra, my dear gel, what are you doing here?” the older woman said, surprised to see the Duchess of Sedgwick.
“Aunt, it was the duchess, her friends, her maid, Honor, and their husbands who rescued us. They came to the house dressed as those horrible creatures who always sit below the guillotine, knitting. Honor was wonderful. She boldly faced down the head of St. Jean Baptiste’s Committee for Public Safety, suggesting that if he did not cooperate he would face a dire fate.”
“We can speak of this over breakfast,” Allegra said. “Come, dear Lady Bellingham, and sit down to eat with us.”
Lady Bellingham had gone white with her niece’s brief explanation. “You, Honor, and who else?” she gasped. “Not Eunice and Caroline?”
“Good morning, Aunt.” Lady Walworth popped around the door.
“Ohh,” Lady Bellingham cried, and sat down heavily upon the bed. “I cannot believe what I am being told. You might have all been killed!”
“But we weren’t,” Allegra said airily. “In the end it was all quite simple.” She took the good woman by her arm, and drew her up. “Come, and join us. We have a private dining room, and if we do not come now, the gentlemen will have eaten everything.” She laughed.
They repaired to the dining room where Lord Bellingham was being regaled by the duke and his friends regarding their adventures of the last few days. The old gentleman was most impressed, and quite delighted by their success. When his niece, in her dressing gown, entered the room, he greeted her with great affection, welcoming her and her little family to England.
“You must stay with us, of course,” he told her.
“Only for a short time,” the comtesse said softly. “We cannot impose upon you. I have jewelry, and a cache of gold coins I brought out with me. I must find my own home so I may look after myself, the children, and my two servants who have come with us. Without Thérèse and Céline, my children and I would not have survived.”
“We will speak on it after you are well rested, m’dear,” Lord Bellingham said in kindly tones, and he patted her shoulder lovingly.
“Frederick!What have you to say to these foolish gels?” Lady Bellingham demanded.
Lord Bellingham turned, gallantly saluting Allegra, Caroline, and Eunice. “My dears,” he told them, “I stand in awe of the three of you. What courage. What clever planning. Allegra, I understand it was your maid, Honor, who carried the day.”
“It was, my lord,” Allegra admitted.
“Frederick!They could have all been killed!” Lady Bellingham said.
“But they weren’t. Now, wife, I am hungry, for you rousted me from my bed at an early hour to make the trip down here to Brighton. I can wait no longer for a beefsteak, and some of those delicious-looking eggs.”
Everyone laughed, including the comtesse who had not understood her uncle’s words, but his tone was very telling.
They departed for London at noon, and arrived back in town shortly after dark. Reaching Morgan House on Berkley Square they discovered Lord Morgan awaiting them. Marker took their outdoor garments.
“I am relieved to see you both,” Lord Morgan said as they went into the small family salon where a warm fire was burning. A young footman hurried in with the tea tray and set it down.
“Tea, Papa?” Allegra asked her parent. “I must admit to being surprised to see you up in town today.”
“How was Brighton?” Lord Morgan said. “Or perhaps I should say France.”
“I asked Charles not to tell you,” Allegra said, calmly handing a cup of tea to her husband, and then another to her father.
“He had no choice, Allegra. I arrived in London yesterday. Had I come today he might have been able to keep your folly from me, but when you did not return by late last night he had no choice but to tell me. Only Quinton’s message saved me undue worry.” He turned to his son-in-law. “And you, sir? Could you not prevent your wife from playing this dangerous game?”
“Sir,” the duke returned, “when you were her guardian, could you prevent her from her headstrong ways?”
Lord Morgan sighed. “I had hoped her fondness for you would have made her change. I see now that it has not.”
“Oh, Papa,” Allegra wheedled him, “do not fuss. We have been, and gone. The Bellinghams are delighted that we were able to rescue Anne-Marie and her children. We even brought two of the countess’s servants with us. The old cook, Thérèse, killed the head of the Committee for Public Safety so we might escape. And remember when you thought it amusing that Honorlearned to speak French? Well, Papa, it was Honor who was our greatest heroine. She pretended to be our leader, and knew just how to speak to this dreadful man. She had him quite intimidated, Papa. I don’t know what we would have done without her.”
Lord Morgan sighed. “It is over now, thank goodness, but Allegra, I hope that you and Quinton will never do such a foolish thing again.”
“No, Papa, we are going home to Hunter’s Lair in a few days,” Allegra told her father. “We have had enough excitement, and enough of London now to last a lifetime.”
“I want you to stop down at Morgan Court before you go home,” he told her. “Your stepmother has not been well at all, and wishes to see you both.”
“Papa! What is the matter?” Allegra looked truly worried.
