Chapter Seventeen
Valor had been very much hoping they would not encounter Lady Letitia in this crowd, but Lord Tramondeley seemed to be her lodestone. Wherever he was, she would find him.
“There you are, Tramondeley,” Lady Letitia said. “No, do not say it. You looked for me everywhere, but in such a crowd, well it is quite impossible.”
“And yet you found us,” the duke said drily. His Grace found himself positively hilarious, though Lady Lititia did not seem to grasp the jab.
Valor was taken aback by the lady’s appearance. Lady Letitia always did favor…rather more than Valor would favor. Madame LaFray would downright condemn it. But this was…even more than usual.
The lady was dressed in a bright-yellow brocade with gold thread.
If she had stopped there…but she’d not stopped there.
There were lace trimmings and ribbons and buttons and it looked very complicated.
Then, she wore very elaborate hair ornaments of citrine and even had citrine buckles on her slippers.
She carried a reticule of beaded ornamentation, its closure covered in… citrine.
It must have cost her father a fortune, though the whole effect was rather off-putting.
“Oh I see,” Lady Letitia said, “we head to Lord Ledderbey’s table. Excellent.”
Valor was certain she heard Lord Tramondeley quietly sigh.
“Lord Ledderbey, how do?” Lady Letitia said, sitting herself down.
Just then, the orchestra in the garden began to play. Lord Tramondeley took Valor’s arm and steered her toward the makeshift ballroom floor with other couples who gathered.
They joined three other couples for a square. “I hope you do not mind that I dragged you away without so much as a by your leave.”
Valor laughed. “I do not.”
“Then I hope your father does not take offense to it.”
“He will not. Though he might take offense to being left to entertain Lady Letitia.”
“I would not blame him for that. I do not mean to be ungentlemanly, but I really feel as if she cannot perceive a hint. Where does she think it’s all going?”
Valor looked away, as she could not answer such a question and, in any case, did not wish to gossip about where Lady Letitia might think things were going. It might get uncomfortably close to where Valor was thinking things were going. Or at least, hoping about where things were going.
“I’m sure it makes me a bad person, but I really am getting very aggravated with it all.”
“Mrs. Right always says there are two kinds of people in the world,” Valor said.
“One understands the subtlest of hints and the other needs to be clobbered over the head. She says she knows that from our housemaids. Clara will dissolve into tears over a frown and Becky cannot be convinced of something until she’s threatened with dismissal.
Perhaps Lady Letitia simply needs more of a hint than you have given so far? ”
“Perhaps she will get more of a hint with something definite,” Lord Tramondeley said.
What did he mean by it? What would be definite? Would she be stupid to imagine an engagement might be the definite thing? What was he thinking?
She did not know. All she could do this moment was enjoy the dance. He really had gotten very good at it. Or maybe she just admired him so much that it seemed so. She did not know and she did not care.
*
Damiano had been admitted to the prince’s party. He’d covered his disdain when his ears were assaulted with some sort of military orchestra all wearing the most preposterous costumes, or uniforms as he supposed they were.
He’d covered his feelings of insult when it became apparent to him that he was not to be admitted to the special room set aside for the French noblemen. He, a European just as they were. He, in a position to tell them what he’d seen and observed in Sardinia.
He would have told them too. His family were royalists to the end.
What else would they be? If there was no nobility, there was no marquis.
The prince was an idiot to not have brought him in.
If the marquis had a certain Monsieur Bernard in the villa, it was not because he wanted him there.
He just put up with it to protect their land.
At least, he put up with it when he was not trying to poison Monsieur Bernard.
On the other hand, if he had been brought in and been introduced, it might have brought up some questions regarding that piece in the newspaper. A French nobleman could not be too careful these days. As it was, nobody had taken any notice of him. Insulting, but probably for the best.
He made his way to the gardens. The sun had long set and the place was lit up with candles.
There were an endless amount of tables around a second ballroom floor and the scent of flowers hung heavy in the air.
Despite his disdain of anything and everything the English did, he was forced to admit it was well done.
What was not well done was noting that Tramondeley had led Lady Valor to the floor for a dance.
He would like to dance with her himself, but for this particular night he must make himself inconspicuous.
He did not want Tramondeley or anybody associated with him to know he was there.
After Tramondeley was done in, there would be the natural questions about it.
After it was done he would slip away as if he’d never been there at all.
He took himself off to a dark corner to wait out the time.
Let these people drink and drink and drink.
When they were all woozily looking up at fireworks, he would strike.
*
Valor was having the time of her life. Lord Tramondeley had thrown over all of society’s rules and danced every dance with her.
Her father had not minded, Lord Ledderbey had not minded.
Lady Letitia had minded very much, but Lord Tramondeley had claimed it was Valor’s birthday and it was a Cornwall tradition to never allow a birthday lady to sit out a dance.
Valor had almost snorted over it. Lord Tramondeley seemed to blame an awful lot on Cornwall traditions. Lady Letitia had sniffed but there was not much she could say. Valor suspected the lady was silently cursing Cornwall, though.
Now the orchestra had stopped and the fireworks would soon go off. Valor supposed they would be lovely but then afterward she would be forced to go inside to the prince’s table. She did not wish to be separated from Lord Tramondeley.
She almost took herself by surprise with that thought.
Gentlemen had seemed so off-putting until now.
She had warned all her sisters about the inconvenience of having a gentleman sleeping in the same room, particularly because they might stare at a person while they slept. Now it did not seem quite so terrible.
Crowds of people had emerged from the house to see the fireworks.
Lord Tramondeley helped her to an open space for viewing while her father remained behind at a table with Lord Ledderbey.
Valor had lost track of where Lady Letitia was, but she seemed to have given up on Lord Tramondeley.
Valor could not say she was sorry over it.
And then it began. Valor had only seen fireworks once, when her father had hired a man to set them off for Christmas.
That particular display had been far smaller and had ended burning down a barn so not a wonderful memory, but for all the horses being saved.
She seemed to recall it had cost her father a deal of money to rebuild it and house all the homeless horses that had been the result of it.
This was something different. Fountains of color shot up in the sky, golden suns spun in the air, it was simply stupendous.
“Lady Valor,” Lord Tramondeley said, “you cannot mistake my attentions.”
Valor took in a breath. Was this it? Was he going to ask?
“I will admit, when I first arrived in London, I was set to be very against the duke. That, however, is over. Upon meeting you, I knew, almost instantly—”
“Count! No!” Lady Letitia shouted behind them.
She and Lord Tramondeley were suddenly shoved from behind.
“You stupid woman,” the count said.
Valor turned round and saw the count pushing his way through the crowd toward the house.
“Look,” Lady Letitia said, pointing at the ground.
A large and very sharp-looking knife lay there, glinting as the fireworks burst overhead.
“Tramondeley, he was coming at you from behind, holding it straight out and aiming for your back. He was inches away when I shoved you out of the way and knocked it right out of his hand.”
Lord Tramondeley looked down at the knife and said, “This ends now.” He began pushing through the crowd after the count.
What ended now? Why would the count wish to harm Lord Tramondeley? She wished to call him back, he should not chase the count. It was too dangerous.
“Gracious me,” Lady Letitia said, “I’ve never seen the like of that. I realize both gentlemen were competing for your attention, but that was…well I really do not know.”
Valor did not answer. She’d wished to call Lord Tramondeley back, but nothing had come out of her. Now it was too late. He was gone.
Her knees felt weak but there was nowhere to sit. The fireworks had ended and the surging crowd carried her forward. Lady Letitia was far ahead of her, both helpless against the hundreds of people who had now turned to get inside. She could not see her father or Lord Ledderbey at all.
She was squeezed in through the doors and began to be afraid that somebody would be trampled in their desperation to get to their table.