Chapter 14
Meredith stepped out of the coach, carefully lifting her skirts and accepting the footman’s offered hand. She had changed into a promenade dress of blush pink with long tailored sleeves. Silver embroidered plumes decorated the hem of the gown and the bodice.
It was a more sedate gown. Meredith had chosen it out of a desire to blend in, rather than stand out.
Most of the dresses Darius had bought were stunningly beautiful works of art that would catch the attention of any man and the envy of any woman.
But today, that was exactly what she wished to avoid.
Mrs. Petersham shared a glance with Meredith as they noticed with regret how crowded Berkeley Square was at this time of day.
She’d wanted to get out and distract herself from the thought of Darius acquiring a special marriage license, but she hadn’t given thought to being around other people.
After Lady Mary Raikes’ stinging words, she felt strangely exposed whenever strangers looked at her.
“It’s just ice cream. I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Mrs. Petersham said.
They headed toward Gunter’s, the famed confectionery shop at number seven in Berkeley Square.
The shop had been founded by an Italian pastry cook, Domenico Negri, who specialized in a wide range of sweet and savory foods.
Darius had once said that Negri was one of the first confectioneries in England to establish ice cream and water ices as a delicacy.
When James Gunter had taken over the business, he renamed the shop and soon all of London’s ladies were eager to have Gunter’s cater their large dinner parties with fine pastries, sweets and ice creams.
As they entered the shop, Meredith felt dozens of eyes on her.
All of the ladies and gentlemen in the shop were watching her.
Unfortunately, Meredith recognized one of the women as one of those who had kept company with Lady Mary last evening at the ball.
Had Lady Mary’s cruel words last night traveled so quickly?
“Chin up, dear.” Mrs. Petersham took Meredith’s arm in hers and they approached the countertop to examine the confections and pastries on display. A waiter stood ready to take their order. Meredith stared at the collection of pewter molds and whimsical shapes that hung on the back wall.
“We freeze them in flavored ices,” the waiter explained to Meredith when he caught her examining the various molds that were in the shapes of animals or fruits.
“How delightful!” said Meredith.
The waiter’s face reddened at her reaction.
“I would like a flavored ice of jasmine and rose,” Mrs. Petersham told the young man.
“And may I try the orange flower?” Meredith added.
The young man accepted Mrs. Petersham’s payment and told them to find a table and he would bring the ices to them in a moment. There was a single empty table in the center of the room and Meredith hated how she felt like she was on display. Meredith sat down and placed her reticule on her lap.
Her chaperone leaned forward to whisper. “So we must get your note to Warren, that is our next task.”
Meredith nodded. She had been thinking the same thing.
But her eyes caught two men looking her way and whispering as they ate their desserts.
There were gentlemen, judging by their dress, but Meredith didn’t like the way there looking at her as though they knew something intimate about her. One of them smirked at her.
“Meredith?” Mrs. Petersham spoke her name in a quiet question.
“Two men are watching me,” Meredith whispered as calmly as she could to her chaperone. “Do not look.”
The waiter came to deliver their ices. Meredith tried hers, wishing she could enjoy it more without worrying. Several women started whispering nearby. It was hard for Meredith not to overhear some of their conversations.
“… some by-blow, I heard …”
“… likely entrap Tiverton in marriage…”
“…well, who wouldn’t? I heard…”
“…Nonsense. No gentleman would take…”
“…except as a mistress, I suppose…”The men who had eyed her before stood and came to her table. They stopped directly in front of her and Mrs. Petersham.
“Good afternoon, Miss Montague,” one of them greeted her, his lascivious grin twisting her stomach sharply in apprehension.
It was appropriate for single men and women to meet at Gunter’s for ice cream, but a man was not supposed to approach a woman without an introduction. These two men were breaking the rules of propriety, and Meredith dreaded discovering the reason that made them so confident in doing so.
“Sir, we do not know you,” Mrs. Petersham said sharply, though she kept her voice down. “Kindly walk away.”
“Ahh, but I wish to know the young lady,” the man said, his eyes still locked on Meredith.
His companion chuckled and added, “As do I.”
Meredith’s mouth fell open at what these men were suggesting about her.
“I believe I said walk away,” Mrs. Petersham’s tone was as cold as the northernmost sea.
Meredith glanced around, all too aware of the people now watching this encounter, but desperate not to show how much it upset her.
“Oh hush, you old dragon,” the first man said his voice a little louder as he snapped at her. “Your charge needs no protecting, not when it comes to sharing her favors.”
“Oh, I am a dragon … but old?” Mrs. Petersham set her flavored ice down on the little table and stood up, glaring at the two men. Neither of them seemed to be the least bit frightened by her.
“Come now, Miss Montague. Why don’t you join us outside in our carriage? We can make it worth your while.”
Meredith gasped as she rose to her feet as well, abandoning her orange flower ice in its little glass cup. “How dare you!”
“Come now. You do yourself no service by playing coy,” the second man said. “We know you are willing to keep us company.”
“I am most certainly not!” She turned to Mrs. Petersham. “I believe it’s time we left.”
“Agreed,” Mrs. Petersham reached for Meredith’s arm, but one of the men stepped between them and grabbed Meredith’s arm with a gloved hand.
Mrs. Petersham swung her reticule at the second man who tried to block her from getting to Meredith.
He grunted as whatever she had in her small bag obviously hurt when it made contact with his skull.
“Let go—” Meredith wrenched her arm free of the one who’d grabbed her. The man scowled and reached for her again, this time more forcefully.
A deep voice rose from behind Meredith. “The lady said to let her go.”
The two men glanced up. One paled slightly, the other one laughed in defiance.
“This has nothing to do with you, Lord Grey.”
“Is that so?”
Meredith could breathe again and recognized the voice now. Felix Hawkins, the Marquess of Grey. He would chase these horrid men away.
“She’s not claimed by any man,” the second gentleman said to Felix. “She’s open to spreading her favors and her legs. We have a right to her.”
At this, Felix laughed. “Oh, that’s rich. You have a right to her? No, you do not, and your insults will deal you only one favor … from me. But I’m feeling generous today, so I will thrash you here rather than kill you in a duel.”
“Hold on—” The first gentleman blustered as he backed away. “You wouldn’t hit a gentleman in Gunter’s.”
“No, I probably would not hit a gentleman. Fortunately for me…you aren’t one.” That was the only warning that Meredith had for what came next.
Felix swept her to the side with one arm while he swung a balled fist at the first man’s face with the other.
The dull sound of flesh impacting against flesh made Meredith’s stomach turn.
Several women screamed as the man Felix hit flew over the table behind him, sending it toppling to the ground with a crash of glass.
The second man spun to face Felix with a snarl and tried to land a blow. But Felix was ready. He ducked backward, light on his feet as he taunted the other man.
“Come on now, Lauder. Show me what all those expensive boxing lessons have done for you!”
Lauder raised his fists as the two began to circle one another. By now, most of the shop patrons had fled in terror. Meredith and Mrs. Petersham rushed to get out of the way of Felix and Lauder.
The waiter waved his arms frantically, as if somehow that would gain their attention.
“Sirs! Please, I beg you, stop!” He tried to get between them, but in his haste he slipped upon a sponge cake that had fallen from a nearby table and landed on some broken glass.
The waiter cried out in pain, and Meredith hastened to the poor man’s side with Mrs. Petersham to examine his injuries.
“Please, let me help you,” Meredith told the man.
He nodded shakily as Meredith fetched some clean cloth from behind the pastry counter and cleaned the man’s wounds.
She didn’t know too much about wounds, but she did know the basics of bandaging after one of Uncle Ben’s new grooms had been bitten by one of the horses.
She tried to bandage his arm while staying out of the way of the fight.
The shop was all but empty of patrons now as Felix and Lauder continued to exchange punches. The man who had been knocked down earlier now got to his feet and prepared to lunge at Felix from behind.
Meredith screamed a warning, but was too late. Felix was hit in the back by the man, taking them both to the ground. They tumbled on the ground until the man was on top of Felix, hitting him twice and drawing blood.
Felix grinned through bloodied teeth and grabbed the man’s head, driving his own forehead into the man’s nose. It stunned the man, who rolled off Felix, clutching at his bleeding nose.
But the fight was far from over. Meredith and Mrs. Petersham helped the waiter to his feet to get him out of the way before the two men grabbed Felix and tossed him into the glass display cases of pastries nearby.
The waiter groaned in despair. “Not the pastries…”