Except John.
He came upon me in the stables seeing to Small Bess two mornings after the ball.
He came on me actually not an hour after Lady Elizabeth Palmer had finally
cornered me and told me about Napoleon.
She had caught me just outside a small back parlor where I’d fled to just after
the marchioness had informed me, in front of at least twenty other ladies, that
I should strive to be taller, since my bosom was too large for my torso. That
really wasn’t at all true, it was just one of those little jabs that
occasionally popped out of a guest’s mouth.
“I can’t bear it any longer,” Lady Elizabeth said, coming to within two inches
of my face.
“What’s wrong? Are you wearing a corset that pinches your ribs? Was your toast
burned at breakfast? Did your maid have the gall to refuse to bring you hot
water?”
“Shut your mouth,” she said, obviously irritated. “You cannot make me laugh, so
stop trying. Someone has to tell you, and I suppose it will have to be me. It’s
about Napoleon.”
“You mean his blasted size?”
“Yes,” she said, staring at me as if I had grown another nose.
“John told me I was to disregard anything anyone said about Napoleon’s size. He
said I was simply to forget it. I was to continue blissful in my ignorance.”
“A man’s size or his endowment simply refers to his manhood,” Lady Elizabeth
said, staying her course. “Surely you know how gentlemen are fashioned?”
I stared at her blank-faced. “Yes, certainly. Do I look like an idiot?”
She managed to roll her eyes and nod her head both at the same time. “Yes.”
Then, of all things, my husband rounded the corner and nearly plowed right into
Lady Elizabeth.
“Goodness, forgive me, my dear. What are you two ladies doing? Talking about the
latest fashions?”
“Exactly,” I said. “I dislike ruffles, and Lady Elizabeth informs me that
ruffles will be the newest thing this spring. It is disappointing.”
And my husband said, “You make me laugh even when you are lying to my face,” and
he went on his way.
And that was the end of our conversation.
And now I was spreading more ointment on Small Bess’s back, and John strolled in.
He grinned like a sinner who had just slipped by St. Peter through the Pearly
Gates. “I just spoke to Lady Elizabeth. She told me of your aborted conversation.”
“I tried to ignore all talk of Napoleon, just as you suggested, but she was
adamant.”
“Then my uncle came along, and you never learned the end to the tale, hmmm?”
“That’s right.” I looked beyond his shoulder. “She did ask me if I knew how men
were fashioned, but nothing more than that.” I sighed. “She is so very beautiful.
I feel like a pathetic dowd. I see her, and I want to smack her because I’m
jealous.”
He threw back his head and laughed. Small Bess whinnied. I heard Tempest trumpet
in his stall.
“Well, she thinks you’re an original,” he said.
“So is she.”
“And an ignorant twit.”
“She would, curse her.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t matter, does it?”
I looked at him then, really looked, and said slowly, “I don’t know. Does it
matter?”
He just ignored that, and began petting Small Bess’s neck. “You are taking care?”
“Yes.”
“No, you aren’t. I followed you here to the stable to make sure no villain would
try to do away with you. Don’t let down your guard, Andy. Whoever wants to make
you pay for it all, whatever that means, is still here. Boynton simply cannot be
your shadow every moment. Take care.”
He was right, and on the final morning after all our guests had taken their
leave, I walked back upstairs to my bedchamber. The truth of things hit me in
the face as I walked down that long corridor. I didn’t see a single servant. The
house was very empty now. Hollow, yet filled with menace I didn’t understand,
like the Black Chamber, with that horrible cold that bespoke, Viscount
Waverleigh had said, of an evil that was here, right now, hidden among all of us.