Miranda blew out her breath and stood again. She was so tired of sparing Vale any thought at all. But toothless or not, he was still in London. He was still in Mayfair, less than half a mile away. Would he try again to control her? Or to hurt her, once he realized she was out of his grasp?
“Stop it, Miranda,” she muttered, shaking out her hands.
Eloise had draped a pretty green muslin across the foot of the bed, its skirt embroidered with yellow and blue flowers. She’d also provided a simple night rail for Miranda to sleep in. Moving quickly, Miranda slipped out of her gown, unmade the bed and rolled across it a few times to properly rumple it, then wadded the night rail and left it at the foot of the bed.
The green gown was an inch or two too short and a little snug around her hips, but it would certainly suffice until she could return home and change. Of course, she preferred to remain at Oswell House. Aden lived there. And back at Harris House she would have to explain why Vale was no longer a suitor, and she would have to tell her parents something about what had happened. Matthew had helped; he’d given Vale exactly the information Aden had asked him to pass along, and he’d done it cleverly enough that the captain had believed it and called Aden out. But he’d also caused all this mess in the first place.
As she brushed out her hair and put it up in a coiled bun, she heard footsteps hurrying up and down the hallway, and Aden’s low voice issuing instructions. The first of the letters were going out, then. Good. The more people who knew they’d been freed, and the more quickly they knew it, the better. As far as she could tell, all of Vale’s allies were unwilling ones. Strip away their reason for being in his company, and he would find himself very much alone.
A knock sounded at her door. Tucking in a last hairpin, she went and pulled it open. She expected Eloise, or perhaps Aden, but instead Lady Aldriss stood in the hallway. “Good morning,” the countess said.
Oh, dear.“Good morning, my lady. It seems I’m not the only one to have risen early today,” Miranda replied with a smile.
The countess didn’t return the expression. “Accompanyme down to breakfast,” she said without further preamble, stepping back from the door.
“Certainly.”
“You went burgling with Aden last night.”
“It wasn’t as dangerous as it sounds.”
“Hm. Nevertheless, he took you with him.”
The last thing Miranda wanted was more tension between Aden and his mother. “I insisted. It wasn’t my fault all this mess happened, but it certainly wasn’t Aden’s, either. And we were successful. Captain Vale might not realize it yet, but he’s been stopped.”
Lady Aldriss nodded. “Thank heavens. I surmised as much, given the string of comings and goings this morning.” She paused on the stair landing, taking a moment to glance into the foyer below. “I was quite worried about you,” she said, lowering her voice further. “In fact, I knocked on your door a bit after midnight.”
“Oh, I’m quite a sound sleeper, I fear,” Miranda improvised, inwardly flinching.
“Mm-hm. I know who my sons are, my dear. Has he asked for your hand, or am I to pretend none of this ever happened?”
Miranda scowled. “He won’t propose.”
The countess blinked, real surprise crossing her features for the first time. “Really?”
“He kept promising to set me free, and then went on about how I couldn’t make a proper choice with my head on a chopping block, andthenhow I could never know if I was merely feeling gratitude or if I felt a sense of obligation toward him. And also something about him having to marry, which meant that he couldn’t know his own motives, and neither could whichever lass he asked. It’s very aggravating.”
“You love him, yes?”
She nodded. “I do. And he’s said more than once thathe loves me. I just can’t—it’s as if he’s walled himself into a room and now he can’t or won’t admit that he forgot to add a window.”
Lady Aldriss looked at her for a long moment. “Well, with you being so shackled to manners and propriety,” she said, sighing, “I don’t suppose there’s anything to be done about it.”
The countess continued on down to the foyer. Miranda, though, stood where she was. Whether Lady Aldriss knew more than she claimed or whether she was simply a very good judge of character, she’d just said some very pertinent things. Some very interesting things.
Shaking herself, Miranda resumed her way down the stairs and up the hallway to the open breakfast room door—where she froze again.
“Mama?” she quavered, taking in the sight of the three people sitting at the table with the countess. “Papa?Matthew?”
“Sit down, darling,” her mother said, patting the seat of the chair beside her. “Evidently we have a few things to discuss. It’s been a very busy morning.”
“I’m merely pointing out, Master Aden,” Smythe intoned, “that there are no footmen left in the house, or grooms in the stable. If you want more missives to go out now, I will have to hire messengers.” He fidgeted a little, his neck flushing. “And you should know—”
Aden took the pen from between his teeth, glad he’d moved downstairs to the library with his list of names and addresses. He waved a fistful of letters at the butler. “All of these can go by post. I’m nae sending anyone to India.”
The butler nodded. “The mail will be arriving shortly. Might I hand them over then?”
As impatient as Aden was for this to be finished,twenty minutes wouldn’t make any difference for letters sailing halfway around the world. “Aye. That’ll suffice.” He dipped the pen and started another note. Now that he’d settled on the wording, writing them out was a fairly quick process. “Has Miranda come downstairs yet?”
