Chapter Twenty-three

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The soft knock at her bedchamber door the next morning didn’t wake Daphne. She was already wide awake and had been all morning. Most of the night, too, if she was honest. Last night, Julian had sent a maid with some concoction a friend of his had invented for people who’d had too much to drink. She’d downed the noxious stuff and then, a sputtering mess, had fallen fitfully to sleep. But she’d been up with the sun, biting at the tip of her thumbnail and replaying the whole awful sordid night in her head.

“Who is it?” she called toward the door.

“It’s Cass, dear. May I come in?”

Daphne sighed. No doubt her sister-in-law had heard all about her foibles last night. “Of course,” she called back.

Cass came sweeping into the room wearing a pretty peach day dress and a wide smile on her lovely face. She made her way over to the bed, pulled the chair from the writing desk next to it, and took a seat. “How are you feeling, Daphne?”

Daphne groaned and rubbed a hand to her forehead. “Like I was run over by the mail coach.”

Cass winced. “I’m so sorry.” She reached out and patted Daphne’s hand.

Daphne pressed a knuckle to her forehead. “Ooh, I knew alcohol was evil. I knew it. I cannot imagine why I thought it was a good idea to have any.”

Cass’s cornflower-blue eyes were filled with sympathy. “In moderation, it isn’t so bad. But I hear that moderation was not with you last night.”

Daphne heaved a sigh. “It wasn’t. Not a bit. Oh, Cass, I completely ruined my life last night.”

Cass gave her a slight smile. “Don’t you think it’s a bit of an exaggeration to say you ruined your entire life?”

Daphne put the back of her hand to her forehead. “Very well. Perhaps not my entire life, but a good portion of it. Certainly my plans for the future.”

Cass smoothed the bedsheets with one hand. “You mean your engagement to Lord Fitzwell?”

“Yes. Not to mention my reputation. If Lord Fitzwell tells anyone what he saw, I’ll be a disgraced spinster the rest of my life.” Daphne bit her thumbnail again.

Cass patted her knee above the blanket. “Don’t worry about that, dear. Julian had a nice long chat with Lord Fitzwell before he left.”

Daphne blinked. “Lord Fitzwell left?”

“Yes.”

“And Julian had a chat with him?” Daphne gulped.

“Julian made it quite clear that he’d better not hear a word against your character or he’d take it up with Fitzwell privately.”

Daphne breathed a sigh of relief. Julian was a crack shot. No one in his sound mind would want to face him in a duel. “I’m glad to hear that, but if I hadn’t acted so recklessly Julian wouldn’t have had to threaten poor Lord Fitzwell.”

“Don’t worry about Fitzwell. I think he was extremely—how did you say it?—judgmental last night.”

Daphne whimpered. “Were you there, too?”

Cass shook her head. “No. I heard about it afterward from Julian.”

“Was Julian there?” Daphne groaned.

“No. He heard about it from Captain Cavendish.”

“Well, Captain Cavendish certainly was there. That much I remember. I blame him for this.”

Cass shook her head. “Why?”

“Because he’s… he’s just so…”

“Kissable?”

Daphne let her head fall into her hands. She groaned again. “Lucy told you?”

“Yes, but she swore me to secrecy, I promise.”

Daphne pulled the pillow over her head and buried her face in it. “I’m ruined.”

“You’re hardly ruined, dear. You drank a bit too much and ended up in a seemingly compromising position with a handsome gentleman, your husband, I might add, in the garden under the moonlight. Many a girl has done much worse. But I’m afraid you cannot blame Captain Cavendish for your behavior last night.”

Daphne rubbed her forehead. “I know. It was all me. I’m the one who drank five glasses of champagne. I’m the one who jumped up on a bench. I’m the one who— Oh, I just wish Rafe had left when I asked him to. He refused, you know. If he hadn’t been there last night, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to fall on him and tumble about in the grass in front of Lord Fitzwell.”

Cass laughed aloud at that. “It was an unfortunate incident, to be certain, dear, but I’ve never known you to be much for rules. If I remember correctly, aren’t you the same young lady who once tried to sneak out the window at the Hillboroughs’ ball?”

Daphne lifted her eyes and blinked at her sister-in-law. “You remember that?”

“I most certainly do. You never told me. Why were you trying to sneak out that night?”

Daphne hung her head. “It’s too humiliating to tell.”

“A midnight assignation?” Cass’s eyes sparkled.

“Something like that.” Daphne sighed. “Actually, the truth is that I was sneaking out to see Rafe.”

Cass’s blond eyebrow arched at that. “Is that so?”

“Yes. That’s when word had just come about how hurt he was and I desperately wanted to see him and I—I intended to hire a hack and visit him. Oh, Cass, I’m so ashamed of myself.”

Cass patted her hand again. “You’ve little to be ashamed of, Daphne. It seems to me you’re quite in love with Captain Cavendish and you happen to be conveniently married to him. I don’t see the problem.”

“I am not in love with him!” The words were a bit too vehement even to her own ears.

Cass gave her an understanding smile. “Aren’t you?”

Daphne sniffed. “Maybe just a little, but I fully intend to rid myself of it. You don’t know what he’s done.”

“Love is not like a cold, Daphne. You cannot wait for it to go away. It seems to me Lord Fitzwell did you a favor last night, leaving here.”

Daphne groaned and flopped back against the pillows. “There I can agree with you. He obviously wasn’t right for me if a bit of champagne and some rule-breaking scared him off. Mother’s sure to be angry with me for making such a mess of things. After all of the work and planning you and she did for the party. I’m so sorry, Cass.”

“On the contrary, I believe your mother was quite relieved to see Lord Fitzwell go. I know Aunt Willie was, and I can’t say I’m particularly displeased.”

Daphne sat up again and searched her sister-in-law’s face. “You’re not?”

“Admittedly, I didn’t know him well, but I don’t believe Lord Fitzwell ever had your heart, Daphne. Believe me when I tell you how important that is.”

Daphne reached out and patted Cass’s hand. “Cass, you’re so sweet. You’ve loved Julian since you were a girl. But for most of us, it doesn’t happen that way. We must be methodical about finding a proper husband.”

“Forgive me for disagreeing, but I don’t think ‘methodical’ and ‘husband’ should be in the same sentence.”

Daphne gave her sister-in-law a resigned smile. “Then we shall agree to disagree. I must consult my list again. I put it up in the cabinet. Do you mind fetching it for me?”

“What list?” Cass asked, her brow furrowed.

“My list of eligible gentlemen.”

Cass’s eyes went wide. “You made a list?”

“Of course I did.”

“See, even that? It’s not like you to be so… planned. So…” Shaking her head, Cass stood and made her way over to the cabinet.

“Methodical?” Daphne offered with a small laugh.

“Yes. You’ve always been so free-spirited and fun, Daphne. Finding the right man, your true love, shouldn’t be the equivalent of a business proposition.”

“It’s just up on the top shelf,” Daphne said, completely ignoring her sister-in-law’s entreaties.

Cass, being several inches taller than Daphne, was able to reach it without a chair. She put a hand on the shelf and felt about. She pulled out the stationery and the box with the ship replica came tumbling down. Cass caught the box but not before the lid flew off.

“What’s this?” she asked, staring at the little ship.

Daphne covered her face with her hands and groaned again. “ That is my engagement present from Captain Cavendish.”

“Your what ?”

“Rafe sent me an engagement present when he heard that I was soon to become engaged to Lord Fitzwell.”

“A tiny ship?” Cass’s brow remained furrowed.

“It’s a replica of the ship we were on for a fortnight together.”

Cass brought the stationery and the ship and came back to sit next to Daphne again. “Daphne, dear. I do believe there is a story or two you haven’t told me. Start from the beginning, if you please.”

Daphne closed her eyes, allowing the memories to come flooding back. “Captain Cavendish and I—Rafe—we spent two weeks on the True Love at the docks last spring.”

“I had heard a rumor that you were missing for two weeks, dear, but I never credited it.”

Daphne sighed. “I wasn’t missing. I knew exactly where I was the entire time. So did Donald. The story Mama and Donald told everyone was that I was visiting Aunt Willie, but obviously rumors spread regardless.”

Cass patted her hand. “Go on.”

“Donald wanted me to help Rafe. He allowed me to go with him, pose as his cabin boy. Interpret Russian.”

“Did anything happen between you, dear? You and Captain Cavendish, I mean?”

Daphne closed her eyes again. “Not for a lack of trying on my part.”

“Oh, dear. You must tell me what that means.”

Daphne shook her head. It was too embarrassing to tell. But she had to tell someone. She had to rid herself of it somehow. Perhaps Cass, kind, sweet, loving Cass, could help her sort all of this out.

“I hired a hack and met Rafe at the docks. Donald knew about it, of course, but I wanted to be independent. We spent nearly two weeks on the ship. Two nights before we were to leave, I—” She covered her face again. She just couldn’t look at Cass while she said it.

“Go, on, dear,” Cass prompted.

“I… I… Oh, Cass, I tried to kiss him.”

Cass’s eyes rounded even further if that were possible. “You did?”

“Yes. I thought we’d been getting closer. I thought he had… developed feelings for me. And, after all, we were married and I… I made a complete fool of myself.”

“Captain Cavendish didn’t kiss you back, I take it?” Cass asked.

“No. He not only didn’t kiss me back, he told me he thought of me as a sister .”

Cass grimaced. “No!”

“Yes!”

Cass shook her head softly. “Well, that is unfortunate.”

“Two days later, I found a blond doxy in his bed at the inn and— Oh, that’s an entirely different story, but suffice it to say that Rafe never once acted inappropriately toward me during that entire fortnight.”

“You can hardly blame the man for being a gentleman, darling. Though the sister comment is disturbing. I think I need to hear the story about this blond woman.”

Daphne told her. The whole awful thing. When she was finished Cass gave her a sympathetic smile. “That doesn’t sound good, does it?”

“No, it doesn’t. It wasn’t and I—” Daphne slapped her palm to her forehead and groaned in pain. “Oh, fiddle! Fiddle! Fiddle!”

“What?” Cass touched a hand to her throat.

Daphne squeezed her eyes shut and scowled. “I just remembered. I tried to kiss him again last night in the garden. He stepped away from me. That’s why I fell on top of him.”

“You fell on top of him?”

“Yes.”

“Because he moved away when you tried to kiss him?”

“Yes. Oh, Cass, Lord Fitzwell was right to leave me. I am a shameless hussy. A harlot. A wanton.”

Cass was obviously fighting a smile.

“Don’t laugh at me, Cass,” Daphne said miserably.

“I’m sorry, dear. Truly I am, but I think you’re far from a wanton for trying to kiss Captain Cavendish in the garden. You must remember, you are married, dear. You keep forgetting. And he may have stepped away from you last night but he kissed you in the library, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“Well, then. He may have had other reasons for stepping away last night.”

“I know Julian threatened to murder him, but—”

“What?”

“Julian told me. He had two conditions for allowing me to go with Rafe tonight. The first is that I remain safe. The second is to not touch me.”

“Well, no wonder. Captain Cavendish is trying to do the honorable thing. He wouldn’t be much of a gentleman if he kissed an intoxicated lady, would he? Not to mention he’d promised her brother to keep his hands to himself.”

“But I don’t want him to keep his hands to himself,” Daphne groaned.

A gasp sounded from the other side of the closed door and Cass turned wide eyes to Daphne.

Daphne simply shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry. I suspect it’s just Delilah. She has her ear pressed to the door.”

“I do not!” came Delilah’s disgruntled voice.

“You might as well come in, Dee,” Daphne called. “And please mind the door slamming. I have the devil of a head.”

The door opened and Delilah, a huge white satin bow in her hair and a fresh white day dress on, came prancing in. She closed the door with extreme care. “Very well, I might have been listening, a little.”

“I never doubted it,” Daphne replied.

Delilah came to stand at the foot of the bed. “What does it feel like to have a devil of a head?”

Daphne groaned again. “It’s dreadful and I hope you never find out.”

“I’d have the devil of a head in an instant if it meant I would end up rolling about in the grass with Captain Cavendish.”

Daphne’s jaw dropped. “Delilah, I swear, if you tell anyone—”

“I know. I know. Don’t worry. I intend to remain entirely silent on the matter.”

Daphne laid her head back against the pillows and rubbed her temples. A memory pushed itself through her hazy mind. “Did you tell Lord Fitzwell where to find me last night, Delilah?”

Delilah had a foxlike smile on her face. “Perhaps.”

“I thought you’d gone up to bed. How did you know?”

“You cannot possibly think I would remain in bed with all of the interesting things happening in this house last night.”

“What interesting things?” Daphne asked, pressing her fingertips to her temples.

“Things like Lord Fitzwell finding you outside in the gardens with Captain Cavendish.”

“But that only happened because you told him where I was. How did you know, by the way?”

“I can’t be held responsible if I happened to help along the interesting things. And I knew because I was the one who pointed you in the direction of the gardens last night. Don’t you remember? You were singing a song I taught you. I knew Captain Cavendish was out there.”

Daphne sat up straight and then groaned and rubbed her skull again. She’d moved far too quickly. “Delilah Montbank, tell me you did not orchestrate that entire set of madness that occurred last night.”

Delilah put her hands on both hips. “Well, I like that. You’re welcome.”

“You did it all on purpose?” Daphne groaned. “Why?”

“Because Lord Fitzwell is not meant to be my cousin.”

Daphne turned a pleading look toward Cass. “What do you think about this?”

Cass shrugged. “I can’t say I blame her. And I’m quite impressed by her ingenuity.”

Delilah beamed and executed a haphazard pirouette before bowing to Cass. “ Merci , my lady.”

“Did Aunt Willie know what you were about?” Daphne asked her cousin.

“Oh, Cousin Daphne.” Delilah rolled her eyes. “Aunt Willie is the one who informed me that Captain Cavendish was in the gardens alone. Now, I had better get downstairs before Mrs. Upton eats all of the teacakes.” And with that, Delilah skipped back to the door and left.

Daphne gave Cass a dejected look. “My entire family is plotting against me.”

“It’s not as bad as all of that. I promise you,” Cass said. “I think you should just take the day and rest, dear. There’s no need to make any hasty decisions.”

Daphne shook her head. “No. No. There’s no time to rest. Read me the list of eligibles, won’t you? I may have made a mess of things with Lord Fitzwell but he’s not the only gentleman in London.”

“I don’t think—”

“Please, Cass. Read them. After I get back from the mission with Rafe, we’ll have another party. There will be another engagement. And by then I’ll have my annulment so all will be well.”

“I swear. I’ve never known you to sit still for so much as a minute,” Cass replied. “Fine. I’ll read them to you. And after you pick your next potential bridegroom, what then?”

“Then, I prepare for tonight. Rafe is coming for me after dinner. I must transform myself into a convincing cabin boy.”