Page 27 of Lyon of Scotland
“I will stand, thank you.” He slipped a hand behind his back, fisting and unfisting.
“My lord,” Dove said, “we have a problem and you can help us solve it.”
“Youhave a problem, Freddie,” the woman clarified. “It is not my dilemma.”
Dove shrugged. “Nonetheless, Lord Lyon will help, and we will all benefit.”
“Dilemma?” Dare asked, locking his knees to maintain his wobbly balance.
“You can solve my dilemma, sir, or watch yours grow far worse,” Dove said.
“You had best explain,” he growled.
“What do you recall from last night, my lord?” Mrs. Dove-Lyon asked.
“Not as much as I would like. Where is this house?”
“Cleveland Row, near St. James Park. It is my home and my establishment.”
Dimly, he remembered a burly man at the door, a younger woman oddly dressed in masculine attire; a raucous crowd of well-to-do men, gambling, drinking, joking, arguing; and Dove refilling a bitter-tasting grain whisky.
“I know we came here after the theatre,” Dare said. “Sir Frederic was with us. I had some whisky, and I think I was dosed with something. Laudanum, I believe.”
The woman drew a sharp breath. “If you had that here—my reputation is everything! Freddie!” Her voice was low and angry. “You said he was foxed and would sleep it off upstairs.” The glare she sent Dove could have stripped away the wallpaper.
“I thought he was,” Dove muttered.
“And the girl, was she dosed too? You and I will talk about that! Go on, Freddie. Explain the rest to Lord Lyon.”
“Aye, do that, Freddie,” Dare snarled. “Tell me about the girl.”
Dove shrugged. “Simply, Hannah Gordon owes me money. It must be repaid, and I want her packed off to Scotland as soon as possible, never to return here.”
“Absurd. Why would she owe you a penny?” His brain was sluggish. Pieces were falling into place but a central part was missing.
“Quite a few pennies, as it happens. Months ago, she signed a promissory note but has not met the agreement.”
At the theatre, Dare had witnessed Dove’s rude manner toward the Gordon girl. Did it have to do with this loan? “Such things are easily resolved,” Dare said.
“Either she satisfies the debt or she will be consigned to debtor’s prison until it is repaid. You will help to resolve it.”
“By right ofcessio bonorum, debtors can be released from such a place after thirty days,” Dare said. The legal facts came quickly to his misty brain, though he struggled to recall everything that had occurred last night. “Do you require a solicitor? Is that why I am here? I am a trained lawyer, but no longer represent clients.”
“A lawyer as well as a viscount and official? Oh my…” Mrs. Dove-Lyon sounded as if she had discovered treasure.
“I am also a solicitor,” Dove said. “I need no advice from a Scottish lawyer.”
“In the north, we practice Scots and English law both. Surely you know that.”
“Then you can follow my thinking. You are here, in part, because I think you care what happens to Miss Gordon.”
“I would care about any young lady bullied in the manner you showed last night. At the moment, I care about a girl upstairswho is ill and needs a doctor.” His head spun, his stomach roiled, and he gripped the chair for balance. Hannah’s name, the very thought of her, reignited a memory of holding her, kissing her. Wanting to protect her.
He had best find a vicar as well as a doctor, he thought.
“She will be seen to.” Dove waved his hand. “Your dilemma is as serious as hers.”
“My only dilemma is in finding out why I was drugged and detained here, and what the devil you want from Miss Gordon and me.”
