“Before I get into any more trouble,” Geoffrey suggested, “let’s go down to dinner.”
After a sumptuous Christmasrepast of two soups and sixteen dishes, including doe-venison and goose, a roasted vegetable dish of parsnips, potatoes, and leeks, and poached pears and walnuts with fresh cream, their party of six sat with three empty carafes of wine on the table.
With their stomachs bulging, the Diamonds and the Chimes began to bicker.
“What was the wretched wager?” Lady Chimes demanded of her husband. “Didn’t this rascal,” she jerked a thumb at Lord Diamond, “try to make you claimhiswife was the most beautiful woman in London?”
“What!” exclaimed Lady Diamond. “I never heard of such a thing. It would be vulgar, no matter its veracity.”
“In fact,” Lord Chimes said, already red-cheeked, “the scoundrel tried to get me to claim thatyou, my lady wife, werenotthe most beautiful woman.”
Lady Chimes’s mouth worked as she considered. “Are you saying you lost the wager because you wouldn’t disparage me?”
“When Diamond set up the wager and said he would name the most beautiful woman in London and that I couldn’t disprove it, how could I know he would name my own wife? But he was correct, I couldn’t disprove it. I couldn’t lie,” Lord Chimes said. “You are the most beautiful woman, not just in London, but in all of England, as far as I’m concerned. Before a room full of our peers, I wouldn’t gainsay him. Thus, I paid my debt.”
“You thought I would name my own wife, I suppose,” Lord Diamond said, looking far too delighted at having outfoxed the other man.
“Any honorable man would have done so,” Lord Chimes stated, wiping the glee off the other man’s face.
Lady Diamond’s expression was furious as she rounded on her husband. “In front of all the men at White’s, you declared Lady Chimes to be the most beautiful woman.”
“InLondon,” Lord Diamond corrected. “And you were at our country home in Derbyshire.” He let that sink in.
Meanwhile, Lady Chimes had moved closer to her own husband. “Then you didn’t wish you had ended up with her?” She jerked her head toward Geoffrey’s mother.
Lord Chimes appeared shocked. “Of course not. She’s vain, fickle, and flighty.”
“I say!” Lady Diamond interrupted.
“Indeed,” Lord Diamond added, setting down his glass and leaning toward Lord Chimes. “You must apologize for such slander at once.”
“Oh no, dear husband,” Lady Diamond said. “He speaks the truth but still! He didn’t have to say it so boldly.”
“Indeed,” said Lord Diamond again. “Apologize to my wife for stating the truth so boldly and in mixed company, too. She may be vain, fickle, and flighty, but she’s perfect for me.”
Lady Diamond started to laugh. “I’m glad to hear that.” And then her husband draped his arm around her.
Lord and Lady Chimes stared at them as if they were in a madhouse. But then, the lady had another question for her husband.
“So, you don’t hate Diamond for takingheraway from you?”
“No, I hate him because he swindled me out of a goodly sum with his tricky wager.”
“Well, do you loathe Lady Diamond for going with him?” Lady Chimes persisted.
“Again, no. I’m glad she went with him because it opened the way for me to find you. But why doyouhate him?” Lord Chimes demanded of his wife.
“I don’t really,” she confessed, “only for your sake, dearest. I thought he’d pricked your pride and was a dishonorable dog to boot.”
Lady Diamond patted her husband’s cheek. “He’s not a dog, but he’s no saint, either. After all, he did lead me down the garden path,” she pointed out. “I never had a blemish upon my reputation before.”
This caused Lord Diamond to break out into whoops of laughter that instantly snatched the affectionate expression from Lady Diamond’s face.
Ignoring them both, Lady Chimes spoke only to her husband. “Anyway, it washerI hated because I thought she had won your heart before I ever had the chance.”
“No, my love. From the moment I saw you, I knew you were meant to be mine.”
Finally, Geoffrey spoke up. “That is precisely how I felt when I first saw Lady Caroline. That is, when I first bumped into her.”
