Chapter Eleven
It was one thing to sneak out of the theater in a fit of righteous indignation. It was another thing to bang on the door of the Secretary of State’s home to find her errant fiancé.
Janelle had enough fury to sustain her through the cab ride, but two seconds after being deposited in front of Lord Castlereagh’s front door, she abruptly reconsidered her actions.
What would she to say to the butler? “I know I’m not invited and they’re discussing matters of international importance, but I should like a word with my fiancé.
No, nothing urgent. I’m just furious with his secretary. Major Vance and I do not suit at all.”
She’d be lucky if he didn’t slam the door in her face.
God, she was an idiot. Unfortunately, the hansom cab had already driven off and she was now a lone woman standing on a street corner.
She was about to rush after the cab in the hopes of flagging it down when the front door opened.
She looked up at the spill of light, praying that she would see Lord Benedict stepping out of the house.
She didn’t. Worse, the gentleman just now putting on his hat saw her, and his eyes opened wide.
“Miss Caddick? Whatever are you doing here?”
Hell and damnation. What was she going to do now? It really would not do to be caught standing alone on a street corner by anyone but her fiancé. Why hadn’t she thought this through?
Meanwhile the man rushed down the stairs. “Don’t be frightened. It’s me, Lord Nathaniel. We met the night you announced your engagement.”
She nodded in a distracted kind of way. “Yes, my lord. I remember you, though I think we met long before then.” She remembered him as someone perpetually around, always on the periphery of one event or another.
He frowned as he studied her face. “Is everything all right?”
She balled her fists in frustration. “I’m such an idiot. I came to see Lord Benedict, but I didn’t think it through.”
“Nonsense. I completely understand. The days before a wedding are particularly unsettling, and you want to see your fiancé. It’s all perfectly natural.
” He turned to look back up the steps. The door had closed and suddenly it looked very uninviting.
“The thing is, it’s a delicate matter going on in there, and the French ambassador is getting unruly, if you know what I mean. ”
She didn’t, not exactly. “The French ambassador is in there?”
“Several ambassadors, but he’s the most cantankerous. He wants more land and more respect, which, in his case, means more wine and women.”
“I thought wives were in there, too. At least that’s what Major Vance implied. He said I didn’t go because we weren’t yet married.”
“Oh well, that’s partially true. The wives were there—mine included—but they know when to depart. We’re in the middle of the Season too, so most went off to some other form of entertainment.”
She frowned. “Is that typical?”
“Oh yes. Certainly, there are many events where women are required, but more often, it’s a couple official functions a week, and then off they go to their own amusements.”
So the major exaggerated her responsibilities to make it sound like her entire life would be wrapped up in her husband’s. Her fury returned with a hot burn. “I really need to see Lord Benedict.” She squared her shoulders. “I’ll just have to knock—”
Lord Nathaniel grabbed her elbow. “You can’t!
If you present yourself now, the French ambassador will get the wrong idea.
” Indeed, at that exact moment, a carriage pulled to a stop a few feet away and five women tumbled out.
They were laughing gaily, dressed scandalously, and every one of them was a lady of easy virtue.
Thanks to Janelle’s extra activities, she knew how to recognize differing levels of prostitutes.
These were of a higher class than the normal street walker, but not so elevated as to expect special courting.
Indeed, if she didn’t miss her guess, at least two of them worked at the Rose Garden.
She remembered them from the night she’d delivered Holly’s baby.
“Damnation, they’re here,” muttered Lord Nathaniel as he tugged her into the shadows. “Are you sure you want to speak to him tonight?”
“Is my fiancé likely to be…um…preoccupied now?” Many husbands tomcatted around on their wives.
Indeed, it was so common as to be expected.
Still, it turned her stomach that her future husband comported with these ladies and called it an affair of state.
Especially when the Secretary of State pretended to be an upstanding, moral—
She was interrupted by Lord Nathaniel’s chuckle. “I assure you, Lord Benedict is not participating in the revelries. At least not in the usual way.”
“What other way is there?”
The man shrugged. “Have you ever heard the expression In Vino Veritas?”
“It means there is truth in wine. Or, I suppose, that drunks often say things they should not.”
“Drunken lechers do it even more. And your fiancé is very skilled at manipulating such situations to England’s advantage.”
Oh. That sounded almost noble in a disgusting sort of way. Worse, she could not interrupt him during it. “I must learn to think things through before I act.”
Lord Nathaniel chuckled. “It’s something we all must learn, I’m afraid. Everyone except your fiancé. I swear he is playing chess when everyone else is just throwing dice.”
“I wouldn’t know,” she said glumly. “Our engagement was rather precipitous.”
“And that, Miss Caddick, is where you are wrong. Lord Benedict does nothing in haste.” He looked about him. “Come, I can see this is important to you.”
“I cannot interrupt him now.”
“Actually, you can if the timing is done correctly.” He tugged her around the side of the house.
“Where are we going?”
“To the servant’s entrance. I can stash you in the housekeeper’s room while I find him for you.”
“But what about the secrets he’s gleaning?”
“Well, if it’s something important, he won’t come down to speak with you.” The man winked at her. “Don’t worry. I am very good at this.”
“Do you often hide women in tiny rooms in the hope of interrupting state-sanctioned orgies?” She spoke lightly, her sense of the ridiculous coming to her rescue.
He glanced back at her, his eyes wide with surprise. “I do believe you find this funny.”
It was either laugh or die of embarrassment. “There is too much tragedy in life to not take joy in the silly. And this is perhaps the silliest thing I have ever done.”
“Then you are an excellent match for Lord Benedict. There is much in government work that is sublimely ridiculous. You should learn to embrace it, as Lord Benedict has.”
They made it around the house, then waited in silence as a pair of maids left the house. They probably wanted to be far away from the entertainment above stairs.
“Cover your face,” he whispered. Once she’d pulled the hood of her cloak down, he crossed to the back door. “Stay close and don’t speak,” he said, then he knocked three times in quick succession.
The door was opened by a man with a wizened face and eyes narrowed tight as he inspected both Lord Nathaniel and her. “I wasn’t informed of another one tonight.”
“Open up, Limpy.” His voice had abruptly dropped to a coarse tone that perfectly matched the other man’s accent. “They don’t tell either of us everthing.”
“Ain’t that the truth. All right. I got room in the wine cellar if’n she don’t drink.”
“Not a drop. I swear it.”
Limpy grunted as he swung the door wide. “We’ll see about that.”
A moment later, they were in the house and rushing down the stairs to a surprisingly large wine cellar, complete with a table, a cot, and several chairs.
Good lord, did secret meetings happen down here, too?
Was it a place to question prisoners or hide spies?
It was large enough that she could comfortably use it to manage two women in labor at once.
“This’ll do,” Lord Nathaniel said. Then he grabbed Limpy’s elbow as the man turned to depart. “Leave ’er alone down here. She’s special, this one.”
“Special, huh? Ain’t everyone?” He didn’t wait for a response. Instead, he frowned up the stairs. “Want me t’ guard the door?”
“Be sure no one else goes down here.”
“Do I tell anyone—”
“I’ll manage it, thank you. It’s not quite time.”
Then all three of them fell silent as Limpy—who did not have a limp—climbed the stairs with a swiftness belied by his apparent age.
“You might as well sit down,” Lord Nathaniel said as he dusted off the nearest chair for her. “This will take some time, but no one will bother you. Limpy’s grumpy but he knows his job.”
“I cannot thank you enough.”
“Oh yes you can,” he said with a sly smile. “If you marry Lord Benedict, you will have a chance to repay me. Of that you can be sure. Indeed, I think you and my wife will become good friends.”
And didn’t that make her pause? But she didn’t have time to question it because he abruptly pulled out another chair for himself. “And since we have a moment while the gentlemen select their women, I should like to talk candidly with you, if I may.”
“Of course.” After all, they were in the Secretary of State’s secret wine cellar meeting room. Why wouldn’t they speak candidly?
“You came here in a high state of agitation. Who, exactly, upset you?”
She grimaced. Lord Nathaniel was turning out to be remarkably perceptive. “Lord Benedict has expressed his wish that I work closely with his aide-de-camp.”
“Is Major Vance being prickly?”
“He’s being impossible.” She abruptly leaned forward. “He says he’ll need to keep track of my every move once I marry Lord Benedict. He lied about tonight. And he…he pokes his nose into my business, as if it’s his right.”
Her companion shrugged. “He could hardly tell you the truth about tonight.”
She frowned. “Does your wife know the truth?”
Warmth filled his expression. “She does. And she knows I will not indulge as the French ambassador does, but I might have to pretend here and there.”