Gillian snorted in a very unladylike manner. “As I said, they were protecting me by removing me from what they thought was a threat to my safety.”
“I like this one with the honeysuckle border. It’s quite classical.”
“I beg your pardon again, my lady, but I don’t believe the hounds were attempting to remove you from a threatening person as much as they were attempting to remove themselves from a threatening person.”
Nick pointed to a busy pattern of leaves and flowers.
Charlotte looked thoughtfully at it. “Hmmm. Hedgerow. Nice, Nick, but I don’t think it would suit for the drawing room. A sitting room, perhaps, don’t you think?”
“Are you calling my dogs cowards, Tremayne?”
“What do you think of this one — Kingston Market? I like the blues and reds in it.” Charlotte held up a swatch.
Nick shook his head.
“Mayhap coward is too harsh a word, madam. Careful, perhaps? Cautious? Judicious in placing their trust in the kindness of strangers?”
Gillian glared at the servant even as Charlotte tossed aside another swatch, saying as she did so,“I don’t like this Swakely one at all, though. Much too busy, and it has yellow as a background. It wouldn’t do at all.”
“Cowards, Tremayne?” Gillian demanded.
“This leaf foil is pretty though. It has some nice shades of green in it.”
Tremayne sighed. “Cowards, madam. If I might be so bold as to offer your ladyship a suggestion, his lordship did mention in passing that he had instructed Crouch to attend your ladyship on all your outings. I would be happy to inform Crouch that you desire his presence.”
Gillian had hoped to escape without Crouch, who had voiced considerable opinions the day before about the wisdom of her paying a call on Lord Carlisle. She had finally extracted a promise from him that he would not tattle on her to Noble by agreeing that she wouldn’t visit Carlisle unaccompanied. That was what Charlotte was for.
“What am I for?” Her cousin looked up questioningly.
“Nothing, it matters not. Fine, Tremayne, tell Crouch we’ll be going out.”
“Well, that was fun,” Charlotte said, pushing the samples off her lap. “I think you’ll like our choices. Nick has a good eye for colors. Are we ready to leave? I made a list of things for you to ask Lord Carlisle, Gilly.”
“What sorts of things?”
“Here’s the list.” She handed Gillian a folded-up sheet of paper, then peered over her shoulder at it. “You’ll note the first item on the list is learning the names of Lord Weston’s mistresses.”
“Ladybuds,” Gillian said with a quick look at Nick.
“Ladybirds. Honestly, Gillian! The way you manacle the language is just disgraceful! Now, I’m not certain Lord Carlisle will know all their names, but you know how gentlemen are — they’re worse gossips than we women.”
“Exactly. Um…you have Lady Weston written down here next.”
“Yes, you said he made vague threats about Elizabeth, so he must have known her. Two birds with one bush.”
Gillian blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
“You’re killing two birds with one bush. It’s an expression. Haven’t you ever heard it? It means that you are taking care of two things at the same time. I would have thought that even in the Colonies such a common expression was used.”
Gillian opened her mouth to correct her cousin, then decided against it. “Mmmm…Income.” She looked up. “Why am I asking him about Noble’s income?”
“Not Lord Weston’s income, his income.”
“Why am I asking Lord Carlisle about his income?”
“Because he’s an earl, silly, and as everyone knows, an earl in the hand is worth…well, something. The point is that Mama would never forgive me if I was to let a perfectly good earl slip through my fingers because you were too obstinate to ask him what he’s worth.”
“Charlotte, the man may well be the one who is behind the attack on Noble! Would you want to marry someone with such a malformed and ill-natured character?”
“Oh, pooh, it’s nothing that I couldn’t take care of.”
Gillian rolled her eyes and looked back at the list again.
“Does this mean what I think it means?”
Charlotte looked over her shoulder again. “Padded? Well, of course it does! You wouldn’t want me marrying a man who pads his shoulders and calves, would you?”
“Well, of course not, whatever was I thinking?”
“Selfish, that’s what you’ve become since you’ve been married — very, very selfish, thinking only of yourself. Now then, is there anything else you think we should ask this Lord Carlisle?”
Gillian chewed on her lower lip as she thought. “I would like to know the nature of his argument with Noble, but I’m not sure how forthcoming he would be about that.”
Charlotte smiled a wicked smile, then suddenly the expression was gone, replaced by one of innocence so pure and sweet it would make an angel weep.
“Oh, you’re good,” Gillian said with a rueful smile. “You should really be on the stage, Char. Do you think it would work on him?”
Charlotte maintained the dewy-eyed, sweet expression for a few more seconds, then dimpled at her cousin. “Practice, my dear, it’s all practice. I will be happy to show you how to do it on the way to Lord Carlisle’s. It’s just a matter of projecting innocence, if you will…”
“Some other time, perhaps.” Gillian waved her cousin toward the door and turned to hurry Nick along. She was rewarded by the sight of a nine-year-old boy frozen in a pose of humble meekness and submission. He gazed at her with an expression so pure of heart it positively radiated ingenuity and artlessness. He batted his long dark lashes slowly over his silver-gray eyes, then peeked out from beneath them to see her reaction. Gillian laughed and kissed his rosy, cherub’s cheek. “Yes, yes, I can see you too should be on the stage. Come along, Mr. Kean. Your audience is impatiently awaiting your next performance.”
“Is it absolutely necessary,” Charlotte asked some minutes later, squirming in the seat and managing to poke her elbow into Gillian’s ribs, “that we bring those hounds? And your pirate? And three footmen? I feel as if I’m in the Lord Mayor’s parade.”
Gillian tried to expand her lungs enough to breathe a sigh, but was crammed in too tightly and had to make do with a tsk instead.
“Tsk, Charlotte! I tried to tell Crouch that it wasn’t necessary to bring three footmen with us, but he muttered something about Noble leaving orders that Nick and I not go out without ample protection, and this is Crouch’s idea of ample protection. I sincerely hope the carriage doesn’t collapse under our combined weight. It seems a little frail.”
Nick squirmed alongside her, flailed his arms and legs for a moment, then shot forward, gasping for air.
“Oh, dear, Nick, I’m so sorry. Could you not breathe? Are you all right now? It’s this tiny old carriage — the landau would have to take this day to have a faulty wheel.”
Charlotte pulled her head in from the window. “What?”
“Nothing. I was just explaining to Nick about the carriage, and why we have so much protection, although honestly, I would have thought that Piddle and Erp would be enough.”
“They are outside of enough,” her cousin replied, glaring at the seat opposite, where the two hounds were stuffed together, and with a sniff pushed the window open even wider. “This is ridiculous. I would have kept Papa’s carriage if I had known you were going to squish me into this minuscule little box with those two beasts. What will Lord Carlisle think when he sees how wrinkled my gown is?”
“I believe he will have more important things to notice, Char.”