“If I’m understanding correctly,” Camilla began, reining her horse, Fiona, to a walk and garnering Gideon’s attention, “Miss Duveen helped you out of a bit of a pickle last night, which, unfortunately, has left her facing censure from society yet again.”
Gideon nodded. “I believe that sufficiently sums it up.”
It was not encouraging when Camilla sent him a rolling of her eyes.
“No, it doesn’t. You’ve not told me what type of pickle you were in, or how it came to be that Miss Duveen became involved in the matter in the first place.”
“I knew it was taking you far too long to change from a morning gown to a riding habit,” Gideon muttered. “You evidently used the time you left me lingering in the music room to drum up numerous questions regarding last night’s event, ones you know I’m not at liberty to answer.”
“It took me a mere thirty minutes to change.”
Gideon’s brows drew together. “You told me, after you surprised me by saying you wanted to speak with Adelaide without delay, that you needed to fetch a hat for the ride and that you’dbe back in a jiffy. A jiffy suggests you’d be a few minutes, not thirty.”
“I couldn’t very well ride over to the Duveen house in a morning gown. It would be unseemly.” Camilla lifted her chin. “And I don’t know why you’d be surprised I’d want to speak with Adelaide as soon as possible, especially when you’re being less than forthcoming with pertinent details.”
“You can’t interrogate Adelaide about last night because, while it’s true she became involved in what was the most unlikely of circumstances, I didn’t provide her with more than a cursory outline of the situation either.”
“I’m sure she knows more than I do” was all Camilla said to that before she kneed Fiona into a gallop, Gideon urging Zeus to do the same because he really had no choice but to catch up with her.
The last thing he needed was for Camilla to meet with Adelaide without him present because the ladies would undoubtedly put their heads together and that certainly wouldn’t bode well for him.
“Don’t you think it would be a more prudent use of our time, instead of having you try to worm information out of me about last night, for me to tell you a little background about Adelaide?” he asked once he caught up with her. “You admitted you don’t know much about her, other than that she suffers the reputation of being thought peculiar within society. Surely you’re going to need to know more than that if you decide to grant me my favor, and the first thing you need to know is that Adelaide isn’t peculiar at all. She merely possesses an unusual attitude toward life.”
“If you think that’s going to encourage me to take her in hand, you’re sadly mistaken,” Camilla said. “Society doesn’t embrace ladies with unusual attitudes. And given the two debacles she experienced last night, it might be downright impossible to convince the Four Hundred she’s an Incomparable.”
“If anyone can accomplish that, it’s you,” Gideon argued. “You’re one of the most innovative leaders within society, and where you lead, others will follow.”
“Your confidence in my abilities might be overstated,” Camilla muttered before she took a deep breath. “However, I have been suffering from boredom of late, and taking on Adelaide would cure that particular condition.”
“Does that mean you’d like me to tell you more about her?”
“I suppose it does, but don’t think for a second that we won’t revisit the topic of what transpired last night at the Nelson event.”
Being only too willing to turn the conversation to something that didn’t revolve around the debacle of the previous evening, and knowing he’d think of something else to distract Camilla once she broached that subject again, Gideon spent the next ten minutes answering Camilla’s pointed questions about Adelaide.
“Her image will need a complete overhaul,” Camilla mused as they turned onto the lane that led to the Duveen mansion. “But it’ll still be tricky to restore her reputation, especially when society is considering giving her the cut direct.”
“But Adelaide’s from a Knickerbocker family.”
“Which may save her from complete societal ostracization, but we’ll worry about that later.” She bit her lip. “Do you think there’s a possibility Adelaide would give up a few of her cats? It’s one thing to have a cat or two around to keep mice in hand, but you said she has twenty of them, which evokes images of a mad cat lady who speaks to cats as if they were human and has a great love of knitting.”
“Adelaide probably does speak to her cats, but I’m not certain about the knitting. I am sure, though, that she’ll be unwilling to part ways with any of what she calls her ‘little darlings.’”
“That’s too bad since cats haven’t been considered fashionable in decades, if not centuries, but I suppose it’s a good signshe might not spend her time knitting, since embroidery is the needlework of choice these days.”
“I don’t think Adelaide enjoys needlework either because she mentioned she’s woefully lacking when it comes to any of the feminine arts.”
Camilla reined Fiona to a stop. “You do realize that even though I was highly successful as a matchmaker, I’m not a miracle worker, don’t you? How in the world do you expect me to find success with Adelaide when she seems to be the most eccentric woman to ever grace the Four Hundred?”
“I say we use her uniqueness to our advantage. She’s one of a kind, which makes her stand out in any given crowd.”
“Hmm...” was all Camilla said to that before she urged Fiona into motion again, a comfortable silence settling between them as they traveled around a turn in the road before steering their horses onto a gravel drive that led directly to the front door.
“Good heavens, is that Mrs. Duveen?” Camilla suddenly asked, pulling Fiona up short as she nodded to something in the distance.
Gideon squinted in the direction Camilla was peering and blinked when his gaze settled on a lady wielding hedge trimmers against a poor hedge that was now devoid of most of its branches, while a groundskeeper stood off to the side, rubbing a hand over his face as if he didn’t quite know what to make of what seemed to be the massacre of perfectly innocent shrubbery.
He kneed Zeus forward and brought him to a stop five feet away from the lady with the hedge trimmers, who did, indeed, turn out to be Phyllis Duveen.
