Page 75 of Better Than a Duke
His heart jumping, Edmund turned around and walked back down the trio of stairs he’d just climbed. “Did Becks tell you the plan?” he asked, lifting his eyebrows. “Are you going to help?”
The footman squatted in front of him. “I can’t say I’ll spill something on Masquerade,” he muttered, glancing over his shoulder, “but if there should be a ruckus, I’ll do what I can to not resolve it too quickly.”
Nodding, unable to help his smile, Edmund headed upstairs again. They had more people helping than he’d expected; after what had happened with Uncle Lord Bellamy, he’d assumed he and his mother would always be on their own. And since all he and Becks had been able to manage were some outings and meals together and both his mother and her father were still talking about marrying the wrong people, they needed all the assistance they could get.
He knocked on Becks’s shut door. “It’s me,” he said.
“Come in, Eddie,” she said, her voice sounding weak and tired.
When he walked inside, she lay in her bed, propped up by a hundred pillows and the covers pulled up to her chin. Practically all he could see of her was her eyes and her nose. Mrs. Brubbins sat in a chair by the window, some sewing in her lap, but she didn’t look like she’d been working on it.
“You look terrible, Becks,” he commented.
“I’m quite ill,” she whispered, and gave a little cough. “Do shut the door, please.”
He complied. The moment the latch clicked, she sat up, the sheets sliding down to reveal her wearing one of her walking dresses. “Did you think of something disruptive?” she asked, leaning forward. “What’s in the box?”
“The disruptive thing I thought of.”
“Oh, good! May I see it?”
“No. Not yet.”
“Are you certain about this, my dears?” Mrs. Brubbins set her sewing aside and stood up. “I am responsible for you, and while Ihave no objection to you finding a way to encourage a certain horrid person to leave, I will not claim ignorance about this scheme if Lord Hentrose asks me about it. I can’t lie to someone who hired me for a position of trust.”
Becks’s smile dropped. “Papa would never sack you, Brubbie. But I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“Maybe Becks should ask you to bring her some soup, and the disruption can happen while you’re gone,” Edmund suggested, hefting the box under his arm. It was getting heavy, but he didn’t want to set it down yet. Not until they had all the details worked out.
“But thenyoucould get in trouble, and we wouldn’t be allowed to play together any longer. Oh dear.” Becks slumped, falling back onto her mountain of pillows. She shut her eyes. “We need to make certain everyone knows it’s my fault,” she said, opening them again. “Papa will be mad, but if the plan turns out the way we want, we’ll be able to tell him why we did all this and he’ll forgive me.”
“I still maintain that I could speak with Lord Hentrose and tell him why you choked, that day,” Mrs. Brubbins said. “That would be enough to have him send Lady Pauline away.”
“No, Brubbie. He still needs to get married. We need him to fall in love with Mrs. Silbern. If he doesn’t have anyone, he’ll be sad, and it’ll be my fault.” Clenching her fists, Becks scowled. “I want him to be happy.”
“Lady Becks, you—”
A knock rattled her door. With a squeak Becks yanked the sheets up to her neck again. Mrs. Brubbins picked up her sewing again, then went and opened the door. She curtsied.
“My lord.”
Lord Hentrose walked into the room. “Not feeling any better, Rebecca?” he asked, nodding at Edmund as he went over to sit on the edge of Becks’s bed.
“It’s just an aching head,” she said weakly. “I’ll have some tea, and I’ll be fine in time to go see the menagerie.”
“We could make that another day, Cricket.”
“Oh no! I want to go. So does Eddie, and Mrs. Silbern.”
Her father eyed her. “And you’re not doing this to avoid Lady Pauline this morning?”
“No, of course not. But I don’t want to eat something and then cast up my accounts all over her, either.”
“Ah. That’s logical thinking there, Rebecca.” Leaning down, he kissed her on the forehead and then stood again. “Very well. If you should feel up to joining us, please do so. She’ll be here any moment.”
“Very well, Papa. I’ll try.”
The marquis left again, and Edmund set the box on the dressing table. Even if this worked and made Masquerade look silly in front of the Major, someone was going to be in trouble. And whatever Becks thought, that person should be him, and it meant he wouldn’t be allowed to go to the Tower to see the menagerie. Well, he’d gone ten years without seeing lions, so he supposed he could wait a little longer. This was more important, because while he could tolerate being teased and bullied by Old Moldy’s family, Masquerade wanted Becks to leave her home and her papa. That couldn’t happen, no matter how many fun things he didn’t get to do.
