Chapter 24
Frederica knelt beside Lady Catherine's unconscious form as an army of liveried footmen poured through the doors to the terrace. Time for the second act of her personal drama.
“What happened?” the tall man in the lead asked. “We heard a scream.”
She turned deliberately widened eyes on him. “Get a doctor! Something is wrong with Lady Catherine!” She wafted her hand in front of Lady Catherine's face, as if this were an ordinary swoon. “And fetch a vinaigrette!”
The footman gestured to one of the others. “Do it. Inform His Royal Highness that her ladyship is unwell.” He paused. “Should we bring her inside?”
“I would not move her yet. But perhaps a pillow for her head, and a blanket for her comfort.” Why were they asking her?
Perhaps they simply wanted someone to give orders.
Frederica turned her fixed attention back to Lady Catherine, hoping to distract the servants from the falcon perched on the balustrade.
How long would it take Quickthorn to finish the bindings? She dared not interrupt her to ask.
The vinaigrette arrived, and Frederica waved it under Lady Catherine's nose with no results. Exactly as she had expected, but it was important to go through the motions.
“What is that?” One of the footmen pointed at Quickthorn.
“A peregrine falcon, I believe,” Frederica said helpfully. “How odd to see one in London, but it is supposed to be good luck.” She had no idea if that was true, but it might keep them from trying to shoo Quickthorn away.
Then Prinny himself burst out, clad in a shockingly scarlet silk dressing gown embroidered with oriental dragons. How oddly apropos! “What is wrong with her? Call a doctor, this instant! Lady Frederica, is that you?” His eyes were darting from side to side, as if he were frantic.
“Yes, I happened to be calling on Lady Catherine when this occurred. It is likely just a swoon, but we cannot be too careful.”
“You must take every care of her! I cannot lose her again.” His jowly face sagged even more than usual. “Pray make her well again!”
Did he think mages were miracle workers? No matter; her only task was to play her part. “Perhaps we should send for her sister. Lady Anne's healing abilities surpass my own.”
“Is she in London? Yes, fetch her instantly!” He waved his hands in the air, as if that would hurry things along. “Is she warm enough?”
Frederica told the footman nearest to her, “Lady Anne is at Darcy House on Upper Brook Street.”
He nodded and scurried off.
Finally Quickthorn took flight, winging away over the trees. Frederica's shoulders went limp with relief. At the same moment, Lady Catherine gave a quiet moan. What would she be like when she awoke? Quickthorn had not been able to predict that.
“Perhaps we should bring her inside now.” Frederica could not even come up with a justification for why she had suddenly changed her mind.
“Yes, yes,” muttered Prinny, his hand to his forehead, no doubt trying to relieve the headache that followed excessive drinking. Prinny was nothing if not excessive.
Darcy was bursting with impatience when they finally reached the anonymous inn room he shared with Roderick.
They had not dared discuss anything where the driver might have heard it, so they had kept silent on the journey back from Carlton House.
Then he had paused to tip the innkeeper well to keep his mouth closed about his guests suddenly transforming into a fine lady and her liveried servants.
Frederica announced, “Your dragon is even more stubborn than you are.”
“Coquelicot?” Darcy asked disbelievingly. “She is the most agreeable dragon I know.”
“Not today,” she said. “I assume you have already heard the news?”
Roderick nodded. “Rowan told me that they bound Lady Catherine against using her Talent.”
“That part went smoothly,” Frederica said grumpily.
“So did sending for Lady Anne. Coquelicot arrived in her hawk form just as planned.
Getting Prinny out of the room was a challenge - my, but that man can be trouble!
- and then the fun started. Coquelicot was perfectly happy to remove Lady Catherine's stolen dragon powers, but she absolutely refused to take away the Talent she was born with.”
“What? Is she at least still bound?” Darcy exclaimed.
“Coquelicot did not like it, but she agreed to leave Quickthorn’s bindings in place. She said there is something wrong with Lady Catherine, something broken in her.” Frederica frowned. “Any of us could have told her that, but she was upset about it.”
Trust Coquelicot to have sympathy with one of the worst villains of their generation! But it was not surprising in a way. She wanted so badly to heal people, not to break them.
“Then Lady Anne asked her to take Prinny's bindings off, which seemed like an excellent idea given how utterly frantic he was over Lady Catherine's condition. And Coquelicot refused.”
“Why?” Roderick asked. “She was happy to remove bindings before, for Lady Anne and the king and queen.”
“They wanted their bindings removed. Prinny does not believe he has them, and is certain his beloved Lady Catherine would never harm him in any way. Coquelicot would not do it unless he agreed to it.” She threw her arms up in despair. “Then she convinced the other dragons they should not, either.”
Roderick said thoughtfully, “Perhaps not ideal, but you did succeed at your goal. Lady Catherine is defanged. I look forward to hearing how you did it, since no doubt you ignored all of our advice.”
Frederica grinned. “Of course I did. It was much more amusing my way. Where is Jack? I thought he would be here, too.”
“He is resting.” Which was a polite way of saying Jack was utterly miserable and wanted to be left alone. “The London air disagrees with him. Apparently the same thing happened the only other time he was here, when he took up his commission, but it is worse this time.”
“Do you suppose it could be repulsion? But he should not feel that, now that he is a dragon companion. Unless it is different with French dragons, though I do not know why that would be.”
“I wondered about that, too, but Gentiane says it is not. Perhaps it is the crowding and the chaos of London. The only city he visited when we were growing up was Paris, and that just once, because our parents insisted he had to remain at Pemberley.”
Frederica shook her head. “I never understood why they were so much more protective of him than of you. After all, you were the heir.”
Darcy shrugged. “He was the baby for many years, and their favorite. I never thought much about it, since I preferred to stay at Pemberley.” He had hated that time his mother had taken the two of them to France. Jack had loved it, though, the adventure and the discoveries.
And once again, Darcy was more than ready to go back to Pemberley now - and to his beloved Elizabeth. How he ached to be back with her! “Now that Lady Catherine is under control again, perhaps we should return to Derbyshire.”
“Not quite yet, I think,” Frederica said. “Lady Anne said something about the king wishing to speak to us before we go, which I suspect means that he wants to see you and Coquelicot. And perhaps Jack; he seems to like Jack's company.”
Darcy groaned. Not more royalty! How could he sneak in to see the king at Windsor Castle when he was in disguise? And King George would not find Jack good company now.
“It will not be so bad,” Frederica said. “He has called the Prime Minister to meet with him tomorrow to prove his sanity is back, and once that is done, we should be able to leave quickly. I do not need another fight with my father about marriage.”
Roderick winced, as if the subject of Frederica’s potential marriage was a painful one. “And I will enjoy seeing the sights while the rest of you deal with King George. Sometimes it is pleasant to be no one of importance.”