“He only ate one meal a day,” Chase said. “He made do with bread and cheese otherwise.”
“That sounds dull,” Nicholas said. “You know the oddest details about him.”
“It did keep him from getting stout, that is all I am saying.” Chase glanced at Nicholas’s middle section.
Nicholas noticed. He looked down. “Are you implying I need to follow Uncle in this eccentricity? How dare you. I amnotstout.”
“Notquiteyet,” Kevin muttered. He caught Chase’s eye and they both laughed.
“Thisnot at all stoutduke still wants to return to the subject of women,” Nicholas said. “I don’t want to sound callous, Kevin, but the whole time you explained your inopportune visit to Uncle, I was occupied thinking about them in scandalous detail. My interest in the entire subject has, shall we say, grown.”
“Not so much that you can’t ride a horse, I trust.”
“He has become damned impertinent, Chase.”
“Which brothel do you want to visit?” Kevin asked.
“I will let you choose. I daresay that any of them will suit me.” He stopped, and looked hard at Kevin. “Unless you frequent the ones that are favored by men with peculiar tastes.”
Kevin looked innocent as a lamb. “No French cuisine for dessert, you mean. More simple pie. We will visit one that will accommodate you.”
Chase stayed while they finished the last of their ale. He sent them off to their evening adventures, and turned his own horse toward home.
* * *
I need to see you tonight. I will send a carriage at nine o’clock. The letter had come in the early afternoon post. Minerva had debated what to do for at least two minutes before relinquishing any pretense that she did not intend to go.
No scolds came from Beth while she prepared after dinner. Rather the opposite. Beth insisted on redoing her hair. She laid out an almost fashionable dress, a deep green one with a tiny ruffle around the neckline. She kept watch at the window when they went below.
“It’s here,” she announced. “Does he not have his own carriage?”
“I don’t think so. He doesn’t have much use for one.”
“He’ll be needing one now, I should think. How else will he take you to the theater and such?”
“He has not said he wants to go to the theater, Beth. Perhaps he doesn’t even care for it.”
“Everyone likes the theater. If he doesn’t suggest it, you should. It isn’t fitting for you to only see him for—” She snapped her mouth shut.
Minerva went to the reception hall to find Jeremy waiting. “What are you doing here? Don’t you dare follow again.”
“I’m only here to be your footman. Someone needs to escort you down and hand you in like a lady.”
She muttered her annoyance, but actually was touched by their interest and concern. Under Beth’s watchful eye, Jeremy helped her into the carriage.
To her surprise, the carriage was not empty. Chase sat within.
“Prompt as always,” he said while he ensured she was comfortable. “Do you enjoy music? There is a concert at the Argyll Rooms tonight. It is sponsored by the London Philharmonic Society. I thought we would go if you want.”
“I would enjoy that very much.”
He gave the coachman the direction, then slid from his seat over to hers. He gave her a kiss. He then looked around the compartment they shared. He brushed at the slightly worn upholstery on the seat across. “My apologies. This was the best Brigsby could procure. I have been negligent in not buying my own and must attend to that.”
She had not noticed anything amiss with the carriage. “Has Beth been interfering again?”
“I have not spoken to her. What makes you think she is meddling?”
“The concert. The carriage.”
