Page 26 of The Uncouth Duke of Longford
“I must ask if there is any sort of connection between the Duke of Longford and yourself,” Lady Carmichael asked, her eyebrows knotting together just a little. “You have been often in conversation with him from what I can seeandhe did come to call upon you.”
“He hasn’t come to call on me, Mama,” Rachel replied, quickly. “It was Lord Chiddick who wished to be introduced to Bettina and to yourself and being Lord Chiddick’s cousin, the Duke obliged him. That is all.”
“And the dancing and conversation?”
Rachel shook her head gently and looked away from her mother’s considered gaze. “He is a quiet gentleman, Mama. His dances are unexpected but they are not also solely for me alone. He is also to dance with Miss Renfrew.”
“But he has danced a little more with you andoneof them was the waltz.”
“Do not think anything of it, Mama, I beg you,” Rachel pleaded, seeing the flicker of hope in her mother’s eyes. “Besides, do you not think that the Duke of Longford has a heavy, shadowy demeanour about him? That there is a heaviness to him which is most difficult?”
Lady Carmichael considered this and then let out a light, tinkling laugh and swept her arm through Rachel’s. “I will not pretend it is not just as you have said but all the same, if there was a genuine interest there, if there was something quite wonderful between the two of you then I would not protest for all the world!”
“Well, there is not,” Rachel stated, firmly. “Thank you, Mama, but there is nothing other than a mere acquaintance between the Duke of Longford and I… and that is, I am sure, all that there shall ever be.”
Chapter Twelve
“There is something untoward going on.”
Andrew barely noticed the way his friend jumped out of this chair in evident surprise as he sailed into the room, such was his determination to speak.
“Whatever is the matter?” Lord Wrexham’s eyes were filled with surprise as Andrew began to pace up and down the room. “Has something happened?”
“Yes. No.” Andrew paused and then rubbed one hand over his face. “Almost.”
“Somethingalmosthappened?”
Andrew nodded. “Yes. That is it.”
His friend frowned. “What was it?”
“Miss Grifford.”
Lord Wrexham blinked. “You mean to say that Miss Grifford is the one who came to injure you? That she – ”
“No, no, not in the least,” Andrew interrupted, quickly. “She prevented me from being injured for which I am very grateful.”
“I do not understand.” Lord Wrexham passed one hand over his eyes as Andrew tried his best to explain.
“Miss Grifford spied a footman dripping something from a vial into the whiskey I had ordered. She did not know it was mine, of course, and therefore followed it just to see where it was taken. I believe she had an inkling that something was wrong. When I took it from the footman, she practically knocked it from my hand, though not before I had taken a small sip.”
Lord Wrexham’s eyes rounded. “Goodness. What was in the vial?”
“I do not know.”
“But you believe it was poisoned?”
Andrew nodded slowly. “I believe that there was something in it which ought not to have been. Though I only imbibed a little, my stomach did cramp severely and when I returned home, I was in something of a sweat.”
“Though you danced.”
“Yes, I did, but that was simply because I was determined to dance and not return home. I wanted whoever had done such a thing to see that they had not succeeded in whatever it was they intended for me.”
“That was bold.”
“It was daring, yes, but I did it regardless.” Andrew shrugged. “Thereafter, I stepped back and observed but I could see no-one sending any careful looks in my direction, wondering why I was not lying injured on the floor or some such thing. So I could make no guesses as to who the culprit might be.”
“Mayhap they too were watching the footman and the whiskey,” Lord Wrexham observed. “Mayhap they saw Miss Grifford grasping your arm and throwing it from your hand. Mayhap they saw that you did not drink it.”
