Chapter 10
EVELYN BLACKWELL
I arrived in the breakfast room early and made certain to sit next to Hattie while also arranging for Lieutenant Davis to sit on her other side. He might not be as charming as the other two possible suitors Mama had invited, but I liked his quiet steadfastness.
When Captain Calder arrived and found no place next to Hattie, he sat next to me just as he had at dinner.
I would have preferred he found a different table altogether, but if I couldn’t completely separate him from Hattie, the least I could do was try to counteract as much of his masculine allure as possible.
There were two other army men here for her to choose from if Hattie was looking for the kind of charismatic and commanding personality that came with an officer’s rank.
“Did you get enough liver, Captain Calder?” I asked with a voice so sugary I could have sweetened everyone’s tea with it. “I’ve heard it helps those of weak constitutions.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I wouldn’t say I have a weak constitution.”
I widened my eyes with concern. “But you were recently ill.”
“True,” he said, drawing out the word with reluctance. “Thankfully, that is a rare occurrence.”
“Even still.” I shifted a large slice of liver from my plate to his. “It is better to be cautious, don’t you think? I have an uncle who was healthy all the days of his life and then after one bad fever he no longer had the strength to lift a riding crop.”
Hattie placed a hand on my arm. “You do?” she asked. “Who?”
Blast. Why did I say uncle? Hattie knew all of my close relatives.
“Actually, he is a family friend, on Papa’s side.
I don’t think you’ve met him.” I turned to Captain Calder.
He was eyeing me in a way that made it quite clear he didn’t believe a word I was saying.
“He’s been homebound ever since. His poor wife.
It wasn’t at all the life she thought she would have when she married him. ”
“And you think the antidote to such an existence is—” Captain Calder prodded the thick slab of meat with his fork. “Liver?”
I blinked my eyes innocently. “I don’t think it could hurt.”
With a heavy sigh, he speared the slice of liver, rammed the whole of it in his mouth and made a show of chewing.
And chewing…
I pressed my lips together. Cook had perhaps over-prepared the liver.
And I’d foisted a large piece on him. He should have cut it into two or, better yet, four.
But he kept working on it, a pleasant, albeit false, smile on his face.
The captain was stubborn, I would give him that.
I pushed his teacup closer to him so that it was at the side of his plate rather than above it. “Make certain you drink as well.”
Lieutenant Davis leaned forward. “You are very kind, Miss Blackwell. You must take after your mother. The general never helped us with our tea.”
Captain Calder’s hazel eyes sparked as if he wanted to refute Davis’s positive assessment of my nature, but he still hadn’t swallowed.
Each bite was slow and deliberate as if he were trying to defy me even in his manner of eating, but I had the upper hand this morning, and I wasn’t going to give it up easily.
I reached for the sugar tongs and plucked a cube from the tray. “Sugar can also help you regain your strength,” I said, swinging the cube in the direction of his cup.
His eyes met mine just as my hand caught the lip of his cup.
The cup and, more importantly, the tea inside of it surged forward.
The dark liquid rushed down the table directly in Captain Calder’s path.
My aim was as good with a tea cup as it was a pistol.
He jumped up and back, his chair skidding out behind him, but I’d been too forceful with my bungling and at least half of the tea ended up in his lap.
“Oh heavens!” I grabbed my napkin and tried to hand it to him. “I’m so sorry.”
There was that lovely jaw tick of his again, this time paired with nearly visible flames in his eyes.
Meddling with Captain Calder was proving to be a most enjoyable pastime.
Every eye in the room was on the pair of us, so I couldn’t let a smile show, but I think he knew it was there, begging to be released from behind my concerned frown.
He swallowed hard and murmured something so low no one in the room could have discerned the meaning.
With a shake of his head, he bent down and picked up his own napkin from the floor.
By the time he stood, the muffled curse was forgotten, and a congenial smile, not unlike the one I’d greeted him with this morning, rose to his face.
“It was an accident.” He brushed off his waistcoat and trousers.
“There is no need to apologize for an unintended mishap.”
A twinge of guilt niggled at the back of my mind—not for the spill, or for him, but for his clothing.
The clothes I’d seen on him in the shepherd’s croft had been well-worn.
After years of warring with Napoleon, he might not have too many items of quality with him.
No matter, though. Our laundress, Lucy, was a master at removing stains, I’d make certain his valet knew to send his clothing to her. “I still feel I should apologize.”
“Do you?” He raised a judgmental eyebrow. “Interesting.” I pursed my lips tighter together. Do not grin at him. Don’t even consider grinning at him. He placed his damp napkin on the table. “I’m afraid I will have to excuse myself for a moment. I shall rejoin you . . . ”
He left the sentence unfinished, waiting for me to supply our plans for the day. It would be simple to tell him to meet us in the library or the garden room or somewhere we had no plans to be, but that would be too obvious to the other guests. I sighed. “In the east garden, for games.”
“Wonderful.” He took the three steps to where Hattie sat and bowed his head slowly, his eyes steady on hers.
She blinked in surprise. Confound the man and his weighty stares.
Even in the darkness of the shepherd’s croft, those eyes of his had magnetic appeal.
“It was a pleasure to see you this morning, Miss Pryor.” Hattie’s double dimples rose to her cheeks and her eyes flashed to me for the quickest of moments.
Yes, Hattie, I saw exactly how charming this young man was, but you promised you would not be swayed.
Captain Calder bade farewell to everyone else at the table, even me, but none of the rest of us received a bow.
There was no focusing after he left. Hattie had agreed to pay attention to the other men at the party, but if he kept giving her smoldering bows like that one, she might change her mind.
How I was going to keep him away from Hattie for the rest of the day?
It wouldn’t be easy when we would be out-of-doors all afternoon.
It was unfair to the other men and Hattie that she and the captain already knew each other.
He was starting ahead of everyone else, and I wanted nothing more than for him to finish last.
I excused myself after as few minutes as I could without seeming suspicious, leaving abruptly so Hattie didn’t have the chance to follow me.
The moment I was out of the room, I hitched up my skirts and practically ran to the west wing of the house.
Mama had housed all of the bachelors there, and while I might run into a servant or two on my way, the rest of the men were currently in the breakfast room, so I wouldn’t stumble into any of them.
My return would be more dangerous. Most of the men were nearly done eating and the only other room I could claim to be visiting on this wing and floor was one used for storage.
I’d helped Mama with all of the preparations, including choosing which rooms would be used for each guest. If she knew what I was going to do with that information, she would have made certain I’d never been involved.
I reached the west wing and climbed the stairs two at a time.
Captain Calder’s door was the first one on the right. It was closed, just as all the others were. I slowed my steps and concentrated on quieting my breathing. After my mad dash, it was so loud Captain Calder might hear it through his door.
With a calmer walk, I grabbed the chair that sat at the end of the corridor and hefted it to his room.
I pulled out several hairpins and eyed the wire that ran from the bell pull in Captain Calder’s room to the servants corridor.
If I could fasten it with the bell in its pulled position, Captain Calder wouldn’t be able to ring for help.
I stepped on the chair and tugged on the wire with slow, inching movements that I prayed wouldn’t make a noise on the other side of the house.
Then it was a simple enough task to lock the wire in place with my hair pins pushed through the plaster.
I stepped down from the chair and put my ear to the door. There was a murmur of voices. His valet must be in the room with him. I’d never met the man, which brought a short twinge of guilt for dragging him into this mess. But no matter, the friend of my enemy and so forth.
I peered through the double-sided key hole and certainly enough, Captain Calder’s key blocked my view into the room.
Now, had he or the valet bothered to lock the door?
I turned the knob in a movement so slow the men on the other side would have to be watching it steadily to notice.
When it finally stopped and I pulled, the door moved toward me.
Unlocked.
With the key in the slot on the other side.
This was a fortunate day, indeed.
For me, at any rate. Not so fortunate for Captain Calder and his valet.
The one part of my plan I hadn’t thought through was whether or not I should try to glance in the room before sneaking my hand into it.
A slowly opened door may not be noticeable, but a woman’s hand?
That would be hard to miss if either of them happened to glance at or be looking in the general direction of the door.
But Captain Calder had come to his room to change, and even though I’d seen him shirtless before, that had been out of necessity. Peering into his bedroom while he was a guest in my home went well beyond what anyone would deem necessary.
Grabbing the key would have to be fast then, and not careful, just as my dash to the west wing had been. It wasn’t as if Captain Calder wouldn’t know exactly what happened once he noticed. I didn’t need to hide what I was doing so long as I got it done.
Conversation continued inside—something about the knot on the captain’s cravat.
I took a steadying breath and then quickly slipped my hand through the crack in the door.
The key was only a few inches inside the room and I grabbed it and yanked it out of its slot.
Then I closed the door with swift but silent movements, shoved the key in this side and locked it.
I’d never heard a more satisfying click.
I held my breath. Their voices were muted with the door closed, but their tones hadn’t changed. I clapped a hand over my mouth but felt a wicked smile form beneath it. Had I really just locked Captain Calder in his room without him noticing?
I silently pulled the key out of the lock.
Now to return to the rest of the party without anyone seeing me.
Once again, it was time for speed, not stealth.
I had nowhere else to hide the key other than inside my glove, so I shoved it into my left palm.
Fortunately it fit. Then I dashed away. I reined myself in from flat-out running.
There was still a chance I could be seen, and there was never a good reason for a woman to be running inside her own home.
But I don’t think I’ve ever walked faster in my life.