Page 20 of Snowy and the Seven Doves
“Were you satisfied with the stir you made last night, Mr. White?” she asked.
“I was,” he confirmed. He was even more satisfied with this morning’s work. He and his friends had been moving around town, seeding the news that the delay in confirming Snowden in the title of viscount was because of the existence of a rival claimant. One in the direct line.
If that and his public appearances didn’t draw Snowden into a confrontation, he’d start using his true legal name.
“Lord Snowden visited me this morning,” Lady Charmain said, in a conversational tone. “He ordered me not to go out with you any more, Mr. White.”
She nudged her horse into a narrow gap between a parked carriage and a slow-moving dray, and Snowy had to drop back to follow her.
When he caught up, he noted, “And yet, here you are.”
“Lord Snowden has no authority over me. From what he said, he will next visit my maternal uncle, to demand I am reined in. For my own good, of course. Apparently, you are a dangerous man, Mr. White.”
Snowy was disconcerted. “I apologize, my lady. I did not want to bring trouble on you.”
“You have not,” she assured him. “My uncle has no authority over me and is far too lazy to exert himself if he had. He will undoubtedly listen politely to Lord Snowden and have his butler show the man out, then go back to sleep in his favorite chair.”
Snowy had found out a little about the lady before he decided to follow Lily’s stratagem for putting himself in Snowden’s way. She was an orphan and the last of the Charmain direct line. Her mother, father, and two brothers had all died in the past six years. Due to the wording of the Writ of Summons that endowed an ancestor with the title, she had inherited the title. She was rich, and wealth and title made her a marital prize. Her great aunt was a crabbed old stick and now he found that her maternal uncle was careless of her wellbeing.
“Have you other family?” he asked.
She looked straight ahead through her horse’s ears, her eyes growing suspiciously wet. “My uncle never married, and my father was an only child,” she replied.
So, whom did she have to defend her from Snowden and his machinations? Snowy pulled up his horse. “This was a bad idea. Lady Charmain, let me escort you home.”
She stared at him. “Why?”
“I did not intend to put you in a predicament. Snowden is a dangerous man, my lady. I thought your position in Society would protect you, but I did not realize that you and your great aunt are, to all intents and purposes, alone. I release you from your promise, Lady Charmain. Let me escort you home.”
Lady Charmain snorted. “You are being ridiculous. What do you imagine that Lord Snowden can do to me? As I said to him, he has no authority over me. I am of age. I am in control of my own estate and all of my holdings. I am continuing on to the Park. You may accompany me or not, as you wish.” She shifted her weight on the horse and loosened the reins. “Move on, Bess.”
Snowy was left gaping at the lady’s back and her horse’s rear end.
He set his own horse hurrying to catch up. “I meant no offense, Lady Charmain.”
She glanced at him and away again. “If it will ease your conscience, Mr. White, I have powerful friends. You have met some of them.” Another glance. “I will not go on any errands in the middle of the night with complete strangers. Will that make you feel better?”
A reference to the incident last year, when Snowden’s son abducted the lady who was now Mrs. Ashby by purporting to bring a message from her injured son. It was a trap—a plot to force the lady into marriage with a rejected suitor. The lady had been rescued, and the suitor, a man called Deffew, had died with his brother trying to kill her and her betrothed.
The Ashbys were, he assumed, among the friends she mentioned. Elijah Ashby was a formidable man, as was the Earl of Stancroft, who had also been at last night’s ball. He was a former military officer and a force to be reckoned with.
“It will help,” he told her.But barely.“Please be cautious. You do not know what Snowden is capable of.”
They turned through a gate into Hyde Park, and there were both Ashby and Stancroft, waiting just inside the gate.
“I see,” Snowy commented. “You have already arranged your protection.”
Lady Charmain rolled her eyes as the two riders raised their hats to acknowledge her, then fell in behind her and Snowy. “I had no idea they would be here, Mr. White, but at a guess, I expect they feel they need to protect me from you!”
Snowy sent a wry grin to the men following. He couldn’t blame them for their suspicions, and he appreciated their concern for the lovely lady he had come to like far too much.
“Oh look,” Lady Charmain said, indicating with an inclination of her head. “Lord and Lady Deerhaven, Lady Stancroft, and Mrs. Ashby are in that carriage over there.”
Her mare bounded in that direction, and a moment later Snowy followed, their two escorts behind.
Soon, Lady Charmain was leaning over the side of the carriage in conversation with her friends. Mr. Ashby came up on one side of Snowy, and Lord Stancroft on the other.
“Gentlemen,” Snowy greeted them.
