Chapter 18 #2
Jasper frowned at him. “What does that mean? I’ve not seen Miss Stark wear this dress. I am quite sure of it.”
“Never you mind,” Mr. Dalby said with a smirk and a lift of his drink.
Jasper slowly shook his head, lip curled in disgust. “Don’t tell me . . .”
“Very well, I shan’t.”
The footman came in again and announced that dinner was ready.
Still no Miss Fitzjohn.
“Let’s go in and take our seats. I am sure she’ll be down directly.” Mr. Dalby rose and ambled toward the dining room. Anne followed suit.
Jasper looked over his shoulder toward the stairs. “Perhaps I should go and see what’s taking Kat so long.”
“Don’t bother her. I’m sure she’ll join us soon. Let’s start.” Mr. Dalby sat down and picked up his table napkin.
“Not without her. It’s her birthday.”
Jude sighed and slouched back in his chair, tossing the napkin aside.
Finally Miss Fitzjohn stepped through the doorway, pausing just over the threshold. “Sorry to be late. I stopped in Mamma’s room to show her my new dress.”
The square-necked coral gown suited her. Katherine truly was pretty with her big brown eyes, fair skin, and dark hair arranged high on her head with dangling curls that flattered her angular face.
“You look beautiful,” Jasper said warmly.
Beautiful and flushed, Anne thought. Lady Celia had already fallen asleep before Anne left. Had she awakened long enough to admire her daughter’s appearance, or was Katherine prevaricating? Had she instead been looking for the letters her mother had confiscated?
Jasper rose to pull back the chair for her and then reclaimed his own.
The meal commenced with white soup and cod in a cream sauce, followed by fricassee chicken and fresh buttered vegetables. Anne had not eaten such delicious, well-prepared food in some time.
Dishes were passed and the wine flowed, but conversation lagged. When the awkward silence stretched, Jasper looked around at his cousins. “What shall we talk about?”
Jude replied, “I know, why don’t you tell us what happened to cause your discharge?”
Jasper grimaced. “Not exactly a cheery topic for a birthday supper.”
“Do tell us,” Katherine said, eyes round with concern. “We want to know.”
“Very well.” Jasper sent Anne an apologetic glance, then began, “You may not realize it, but the army sometimes puts officers in a difficult position. Military law prohibits duels, while military custom sometimes demands it.”
“What do you mean?” Katherine asked.
“The Articles of War make it plain that no officer or soldier should challenge another to fight a duel, upon pain of being cashiered. But custom decrees that an officer should not permit any man to insult him, impeach his courage, and certainly not to strike him. Failure to defend oneself against such slights to his honor will find that officer arraigned before a court martial, or at least before a council of inquiry of his brother officers. Now, a certain captain hated me for some reason, and—”
“What reason?” Jude asked.
Jasper sighed. “He publicly accused his young batman of taking something of his—a silver snuffbox—until I reminded him that he’d lost it in a card game. He’d been drinking and apparently didn’t remember. And he certainly didn’t like me contradicting him in front of all and sundry.
“After that he insulted me on a number of occasions. I shan’t scorch your ears by repeating the particulars, yet I resisted calling him out and demanding satisfaction. As a result, my fellow officers and many soldiers refused to associate or even dine with me.”
“What about the captain?” Anne asked.
Jasper shook his head. “He was not censured for starting a quarrel in violation of the Articles of War, but I was for allowing myself to be insulted. The honor code called for a duel between us, but calling him out would violate military law, and then I would surely find myself in front of a military tribunal.”
“How unfair!” Katherine exclaimed.
Jasper shrugged. “I hoped the captain would give up when I did not take the bait, but he did not. Eventually I was charged with receiving language unbecoming to the character of an officer and a gentleman without taking proper notice of it. My fellow officers testified against me, repeating the insults the captain had heaped on me. I was found guilty of neglect and suspended from pay and duty.”
“Oh no,” Anne said. “That’s awful.”
Jude sipped his wine, then said, “And some people accuse me of being financially desperate.”
“Enough of that,” Jasper insisted. “Let’s talk of something else.”
At that point, Mr. Dalby rose, folding his napkin. “Do excuse me. I forgot something upstairs. Please go on without me.”
“But we’re to have cake,” Jasper reminded him.
“I’ll be back in time. If not, save me a piece.”
Anne watched him leave the room. Heard his tread on the stairs. Where was he going? Had he really forgotten something? What could take him from the table mid-meal—a gift for his cousin, perhaps? Or was he searching Lady Celia’s room as well?
“Well, Kat. To you.” Jasper lifted his glass. “You’ve reached your thirty-first year as Jude and I have. It’s not so bad. You’ll see.”
“For a man, perhaps,” Katherine replied. “For a woman, it’s a death knell to her dreams, to the hope of marriage and children.”
“I disagree,” Jasper said. “What do you say, Anne?” The appeal in his eyes was clear.
“I certainly hope it is not,” Anne replied. “For I shall reach that age in only a few years.”
“Better make them count,” Miss Fitzjohn said and finished her wine.
Toby poured coffee while Buxton brought out the cake, covered with creamy white icing.
“Shall we wait for Jude?” Jasper suggested.
“Heavens, no,” Katherine said. “Not when there’s cake involved.” She signaled for the cake to be cut and served.
As the minutes passed, Anne began to grow uneasy. “Perhaps I had better excuse myself as well. The meal was delicious, but—”
“Nonsense. You haven’t eaten your dessert yet,” Katherine said. “Or drunk your coffee.”
What was he doing up there? Anne wondered yet again. Was he in his own room, or Lady Celia’s, or even Rosa’s?
When the footman set a slice of layered cake before her, she took a small bite. It tasted like sawdust in her mouth.
“Good, isn’t it?” Jasper asked.
Anne forced a smile around the cake in her mouth and reached for her water glass.
“After dinner,” Katherine said, “I thought the four of us might play a few rubbers of whist.”
Anne forced down one more bite over a throat that seemed increasingly tight, then rose with a squeal of chair legs. “Pray forgive me, but I cannot stay away too long.”
“Miss Loveday, do sit down and finish your cake,” Katherine said, voice high.
“I could not eat another bite. Thank you for including me, and felicitations on your birthday.”
“Wait! We are not finished!”
But Anne turned, more concerned about what might be happening upstairs than about being thought rude.
From behind her, she heard Katherine hiss, “Jasper, go after her.”
“Why? Let her go.”
Anne hurried up the stairs. Reaching Lady Celia’s room, she saw the goose feather on the floor again and didn’t pause to pick it up.
She pushed her way inside, fearing what she might find.
She stopped and quickly scanned the room.
Lady Celia lay in bed, undisturbed, chest rising and falling in shallow, slow, but regular breaths.
Anne looked around the room. All was quiet.
Then a sound from the adjacent dressing room caught her attention.
“Don’t.”
“You’re the one who came to my house.”
“It’s not your house. I came here to work for Lady Celia.”
“Right. Are you sure that’s all you came for?”
“If I did harbor any lingering romantic notions about you, you have certainly succeeded in destroying them! Now unhand me.”
Sounds of a scuffle. An almost maternal protectiveness surged in Anne. At the realization, she thought of Nancy and her efforts to steer and help her.
Anne rapped hard on the door and opened it without waiting for a reply. She walked in and found Mr. Dalby clasping Rosa about the waist and pulling her against him. At her entrance, he stepped away.
“Rosa, I’m back.” She turned cold eyes on Rosa’s would-be seducer.
“Here you are, Mr. Dalby. We all wondered what was taking you so long. What a shock to find you in your aunt’s dressing room harassing her lady’s maid.
Your cousins are still waiting for you downstairs. May I suggest you go and join them?”
His eyes narrowed. “I’d prefer you to leave.”
“I won’t. But I will wake your aunt if I have to and tell her you are attempting to take advantage of her maid.”
“Good luck rousing her.”
She looked at him sharply. What did he mean by that?
Rosa looked from one to the other, then said, “Lady Celia did not stir while he was in her room, pawing through her desk drawers.”
Jasper came into the room then and demanded, “What is going on? What the devil are you doing in there, Jude?”
“I left something up here.” Mr. Dalby turned cool eyes on Anne. “I told you I’d forgotten something, did I not?”
“Yes, but—”
“There you have it. And as I have not found what I came for, I shall leave.”
Rosa pressed her lips tight, perhaps struggling not to lash out at the man.
Jasper said sternly, “I think that’s a good idea.” He turned back to Rosa. “Please forgive the intrusion, Miss Stark. And do not hesitate to let me know if anyone bothers you again.”
Rosa managed a small, silent nod.
When the two men had gone, Anne looked at Rosa in concern.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, thanks to you. I am so glad you came when you did.”
“I was not sure you would appreciate the interruption, but you sounded distressed.”
“I was,” Rosa replied. “He did not appreciate the interruption, but I certainly did.”
“Tell me what happened.”