“That is never good. I do hope she is resting when she can. I shall make a point of visiting her.” Grace grinned. “The children will not be far apart.”
As she predicted, tea was brought, along with a generous selection of biscuits, tarts, and slices of lemon cake. Henrietta took a cup from her ladyship, as well as a lemon curd tart.
Grace leaned slightly back against a large pillow. “Now tell me what is troubling you.”
Henrietta thought about easing into the issue, but there really was no way to do it. “Do you remember when Dotty was abducted by Lord Fotherby?”
“I do.” Although Grace’s eyes had widened, there was no other indication that she was upset.
“Well”—Henrietta fiddled with the fringe on her spencer—“I met him by pure chance when I went to rescue a baby from Whitechapel.”
Grace’s brows drew together. “Were Dotty and Merton not with you?”
“No. They were out. Mrs. Perriman was on another call and the message was urgent.”
“I see.” And Grace did. She was the one who had encouraged Dotty to set up the charity and was still a patron.
“I took a footman who had fighting experience, a groom, and the coachman. But there was a problem. I had to shoot one of the men, causing one of his fellows to toss the infant toward me and run away. Then a strange gentleman caught the babe while the footman knocked out the third man.” She took a sip of tea and a bite of the tart. The events seemed so far away now that it was almost as if it had happened to someone else. “He was dressed as a country gentleman and said he was in Town helping a neighbor fetch his daughter. And, indeed, there was a large traveling coach outside of the workhouse. I thought he was returning to the country, and that I would never see him again.” She looked up and met Grace’s eyes. “I was not happy about that certainty. He went to the coach, and we left.”
A crease marred Grace’s forehead. “Are you certain it was Fotherby? I never met him, but Louisa has, and she said he was a Dandy.”
“Merton said the same thing.” Henrietta finished her tea and held her cup out for more. “Other than me, he was the first to see Lord Fotherby, but he did not recognize him as his former friend. You see, his lordship has changed. At least in the way he looks, and possibly in the way he thinks as well. He has an Irish Wolfhound. Merton said he was afraid of dogs.”
Grace frowned slightly. “How do you know the gentleman you met is Lord Fotherby? I take it that you have not actually been introduced.”
“No, we have not. I did not know who he was. I was riding with Dorie Exeter in the Park early this morning. And I saw him”—she grinned at their behavior—“we got a little closer so I could be sure it was him. Then it started to rain.” There was no point in relating their decision to follow the man. “We dashed home, but Dorie sent her groom to find out where he lived.”
“And now you know it is Lord Fotherby,” Grace stated.
“Yes. I can only assume he is here for the Season. Why else would he remain in Town? Merton does not know the man he saw was Lord Fotherby. He told Dotty he thought at first it was him, but . . . .”
Grace’s brows knitted as if she was thinking. “But there was nothing about him that was familiar?”
“Yes.” Henrietta was glad Grace had seen the problem. “That is when they told me about him abducting Dotty.” Henrietta sipped her tea and waited.
“This is quite a pickle.” Grace poured herself another cup of tea. “Am I correct in assuming that if they do discover he is in Town, you will be forbidden from dancing with him?”
“Yes.” Henrietta heaved a sigh. “At least, I believe that will be the case. Dorie is arranging for her husband to meet him so that he can be introduced to me.”
Suddenly a door at the back of the room opened, and out spilled Eleanor and Alice, the Carpenter twins, Grace’s sisters, and Madeline Vivers, Matt Worthington’s sister.
“I told you you were leaning too much on the door. The latch is not secure,” Alice said to Eleanor.
“Well, if you and Madeline had not been pushing against me, I would not have been ‘leaning heavily.’”
“But we could not hear,” Madeline protested.
The commotion must have awoken Daisy, Grace’s Great Dane, and, recognizing Henrietta as someone she had not seen in a while, came to her. Without even thinking about it, she started stroking the dog.
Grace cast her gaze to the ceiling. “We were having a private discussion that did not include the three of you.” Then she narrowed her eyes at the girls. “And what are you doing out of the schoolroom?”
“We were sent to get our cloaks,” Alice mumbled.
“And we heard Henrietta being brought to you,” Eleanor said.
“So we thought we would discover what was going on. After all, since Augusta left, she has never come without Dotty,” Alice added proudly. “We might be able to help. Mrs. Winters”—last year the governess, Miss Tallerton, had married the tutor, Mr. Winters—“said we are extremely creative.”
Henrietta bit her lip, trying not to laugh. She remembered Worthington telling Merton that when the three of them made their come out it would be all hands on deck for the Season. Which she assumed meant that all their relations were required to assist in chaperoning the girls. Even at sixteen, they made a striking trio. The twins had golden hair and summer-blue eyes, while Madeline had the Vivers dark brown hair and lapis eyes. Henrietta recalled that her sister, Charlotte, and Louisa had been called “the Three Graces.” Henrietta wondered what appellation these three would have.
She thought they would be banished from the room, but Grace surprised her. “How much did you hear?”
The girls glanced at each other, then Alice said, “We know that Henrietta has an interest in Lord Fotherby.”
“He was the one with Merton when he met Dotty who Louisa did not like,” Madeline said. “I remember because none of us liked Merton, and Matt was furious when they became betrothed, and none of us wanted Dotty to marry him, not even Mama.”
Henrietta had known that none of Matt’s family had liked Merton, but she had not understood how vehemently they had been against him and the match. “But he changed, did he not?”
“Yes.” Madeline nodded. “Dotty brought out a side of him no one knew existed.”
“As I recall,” Grace said, “his mother told him some things about which he had been unaware. That helped change his attitude as well.”
Alice tilted her head. “Could that be true of your Lord Fotherby as well?”
“I really cannot call him my Lord Fotherby. We have not even been introduced, but yes. I think you might be right. He appears to be much different from the gentleman Merton knew before.” Henrietta finished the tart. “The question is, if I am not allowed to even meet him, how am I to know if we would suit?”
The girls each took a biscuit and sat on a small sofa facing Grace with intent expressions gracing their countenances. After a few moments Madeline finished the last of her biscuit. “Dotty is expecting a baby. Will she be your only chaperone?”
“No, Merton’s mother is coming to Town. She will accompany me when Dotty cannot.”