“I’m sure she will. I don’t think she would hold you responsible for anything she perceived I may have done,” Lakehurst said grouchily.
“Perhaps we should ask Mr. Martin to discover who the man is who followed Lady Darkford and why,” Gwinnie suggested.
“An excellent idea,” the Duchess said. “I shall send him a note at the Bow Street office.”
“You should have been a General in Wellington’s army,” Lakehurst quipped.
“I know, I know,” his grandmother said, nodding.
They all laughed, and for the first time since the incident with Lady Darkford, Lakehurst felt himself relax.
CHAPTERFIVE
Mr. and Mrs. Tidemark
With trepidation, Cassandra joined Edmund and Vanessa Tidemark at breakfast the next morning. She did not want to answer questions from Vanessa about yesterday afternoon, and she knew Vanessa would be full of them. She had avoided her at dinner by the simple of expedient of a dinner tray in her room, claiming the continued headache as her reason. She could not avoid her indefinitely. It was best to get past the barrage she knew would be forthcoming.
She’d hardly seated herself and accepted the cup of tea from the footman when the butler appeared with another letter for her.
Edmund Tidemark frowned heavily. “Who is this message from? That Lady Guinevere again?” he asked.
“I trust not,” Vanessa declared. She reached for the jam pot. “She might be a duke’s daughter, but did you know she plays music for money? I was quite shocked when Mrs. Waghorn told me that bit of information,” she said as she spread a large dollop of jam on her toast. “Quite shocked, I tell you.”
“Did she also tell you that any payment Lady Guinevere receives is donated to Mrs. Southerlands’ House for Unfortunate Women?” Cassandra asked, exasperated. “—And no, the letter is not from Lady Guinevere. It is from the Dowager Duchess of Malmsby. She says she will pay a morning call on us today at eleven o’clock.”
“It is the height of rudeness for her to only acknowledge one person on a visit,” Vanessa exclaimed, quite irritated.
“Wait a minute, pet,” her husband said, reaching over to lay his fingertips on her pudgy hand. He looked at Cassandra. “Did she say ‘us?’”
Cassandra nodded solemnly. “Yes, in the paragraph right after she asked how Alex liked his ice that she had sent to him yesterday afternoon, she mentions you.” Cassandra looked up at the Tidemarks. “Alex did not receive an ice yesterday afternoon that I am aware of,” she said pointedly.
Vanessa blushed.
“Vanessa! Don’t say you withheld it from the boy!” Edmund exclaimed.
“Now, Edmund,” Vanessa began. “I only meant to have a taste.”
“You ate it all?” Cassandra asked, staring at Vanessa. Of all the things Vanessa could do, or had done in the last eighteen months, this was by far the worst. Stealing a child’s treat.
Vanessa’s face crumbled. “I only meant to take a taste, but it was so good!” she wailed.
“Vanessa!” Cassandra cried out.
“I’ll see that Alex gets an ice,” Edmund said tiredly. “What flavor was it?” he asked his wife.
“Orange,” she said in a feeble voice. She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. “I really didn’t intend to eat it all,” she repeated.
“I know,” Edmund said in a long-suffering tone.
“When you do, can I have another, too?” Vanessa asked.
Cassandra frowned at her audacity. Her husband did not. Though she’d lived with them for eighteen months, she still learned how insular they were, so caught up in themselves.
“Yes, yes. I’ll send the footman out after breakfast.” He turned to Cassandra. “I suggest we not say anything about this unfortunate occurrence to the Duchess.”
Cassandra stared at him a moment before she nodded her head in reluctant agreement. She knew Vanessa liked sweets. She had no idea she would steal a child’s gift of a sweet! It was kind of the Duchess to make up for the unfortunate circumstances of yesterday. And she thought it fitting that Edmund would finally be forced to provide for the ice he had seemed so reluctant to pay for yesterday afternoon.
“And regarding the Duchess, we shall await notification she is here in the library.”
