Page 48 of Undercover Duke
Mama turned on her heel and marched for the door. She paused to glare back at Vanessa. “And the next time Lord Lisbourne comes calling, you might want to rethink your determination to refuse his advances. You’re not getting any younger,girl.”
That final jab was typical of her mother, but it struck terror in Vanessa’s heart. Foryears, until Grey had married, she and he had avoided being caught together by Mama. Vanessa didn’t know if she could manage that with Lisbourne for even another minute. She wouldnotmarry that ridiculous fellow, no matter what Mama said and no matter how many times she tried to reduce Vanessa to a child by calling her “girl.”
As soon as Mama left the room, Vanessa got out of bed. Last night she’d worried about Mr. Juncker revealing to Sheridan what she’d so unwisely blurted out at the Thorncliff party. But in the bright light of day, she decided he would never tell Sheridan. Mr. Juncker saw the duke as a threat to his own romantic interest, Flora. So surely he would help Vanessa gain Sheridan as her husband, if only to remove the duke from the field.
She plotted her strategy, debating whether to send Sheridan a message asking him to meet her elsewhere or come again tomorrow. But she couldn’t be sure the message would reach him in time today, nor could she be sure Mama wouldn’t take the same tack again tomorrow. So Vanessa discarded those ideas.
What she needed was a different strategy. While her lady’s maid, Bridget, went downstairs to fetch her some breakfast, Vanessa looked through her clothes. She wanted to dress splendidly for her two callers, but if Mama saw her well-dressed, she would guess at once that Vanessa intended to defy her. That meant Vanessa would have to dress the way she would when they weren’t expecting visitors, on an average day at home.
She needed Bridget’s help. Fortunately, the maid would never betray her. Indeed, she’d been Vanessa’s only staunch ally in the Pryde household since Grey had moved out. The other servants feared Mama, but not Bridget, thank goodness. For years, she’d been carrying out Vanessa’s plots to avoid being caught alone with Grey, which was why some of Vanessa’s pin money had always gone to the woman, to supplement what Vanessa knew was a pathetically small income. Mama had never exactly been generous to her staff.
Bridget entered the room, and Vanessa sat her down. “So here’s the most recent occurrence in the ridiculous drama that has become my life lately.”
She told Bridget about her mother’s pronouncements. The maid already knew of Vanessa’s attempts to spark Sheridan’s interest by using Mr. Juncker to make Sheridan jealous. Bridget also knew the pitfalls that had opened up once Vanessa had set her scheme into motion.
“I think I have a plan for how to handle today’s visit from the gentlemen.” Vanessa went on. “It just needs your usual brilliant mind to make sure I haven’t overlooked anything.”
Bridget laughed. “Forgive me, miss, but one of these days your plans will land you in deeper trouble than a scolding from your mother.”
“I know,” she said, clearly taking Bridget by surprise. “I swear, if it works, I will never scheme to do anything like it again.” Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to. Because if it didn’t work . . .
No, she wouldn’t consider that possibility. It would be too awful.
“Very well,” Bridget said, though she looked skeptical. “What are you plotting this time?”
“I want to waylay Sheridan and Mr. Juncker before they even reach the house.”
“How do you know they’ll arrive together?”
“Because Sheridan said he’d bring Mr. Juncker with him. And Sheridan is generally a man of his word.”
“I see.”
“They’ll be intending to enter in the front after disembarking from Sheridan’s carriage. So when the arrival time draws near, I’ll tell the butler that if Mama asks, I’ll be in the back garden. Once out there, I will hurry down the alley to the corner to hail Sheridan’s carriage. Then the three of us can head across the street to the Queen Square Garden and take all the time we want to visit. That will work, won’t it?”
Bridget raised her eyes heavenward. “Only if they do indeed arrive together. And it doesn’t rain. And your mother doesn’t anticipate your defiance of her and look out a window. She hates the cold, so she’s unlikely to go outside herself, but looking is another matter entirely.”
Vanessa tapped her chin. “Perhaps I should tell our butler I’m walking in Queen Square Garden in the first place.”
“That will definitely rouse his suspicions . . . and thus your mother’s.” Bridget headed to the window to gaze out. “How about this? You go into the garden wearing that old coat and large bonnet you use when gardening this time of year. I’ll wait for you in the alley, where you’ll hand me your coat and bonnet. Then you can head out to do the rest of your plan and I’ll wander the garden doing . . . things with the plants.”
Vanessa stifled a laugh. Bridget wasn’t one for the outdoors. “Yes, but what if someone actually comes outside to talk to you, thinking that you’re me? I don’t want to get you into any trouble.”
“And I appreciate that, miss.” Bridget paced in front of the window. “If anyone confronts me, I’ll tell them I don’t know where you are, and that you gave me the coat and bonnet. No one will question that part.”
It was customary for ladies to give their old clothes to their lady’s maids, but still . . . “The butler might. I’ll have to be wearing it when I go down; otherwise, he’ll be reluctant to let me go into the back garden at all without Mama’s permission. So if he then sees you in it—”
“He never goes into the garden. He hates the outdoors almost as much as I do.” Bridget halted. “But you could always give up on seeing them. Will you even want Armitage after having to scheme and plot to get him?”
“I don’t know. You do have a point.” Vanessa sighed. “But I’ve come this far. And if I don’t dosomething, Mama is going to marry me off to Lisbourne. So I might as well try one more ploy and hope for the best.”
“That Armitage sees the error of his ways and proposes marriage?”
“Or at least sees the error of his ways and courts me in truth.”
Bridget nodded. “Well, if that’s your aim, then my plan is the best.”
“I agree. With any luck, Mama will never even find out what we did.”
