Page 35 of Betting on a Duke
“I thought the same thing when I woke up and saw the rain. Come, sit down and have some tea. We must make it look like you spent a respectable amount of time visiting with me before we leave.” Clarice picked up the teapot from the tray, which had arrived shortly before Letitia’s arrival, and poured the hot tea into two cups, doctored them with cream and sugar, and handed one to her friend. They sat side by side on the settee.
“Is everything arranged?” Letitia asked as she sipped her tea.
“Yes. Williamson, Mrs. Shelley, Mrs. Jones, and one trusted housemaid know what we have planned. I had the housemaid, Penny, pack her old trunk with my belongings and travel to the Black Pigeon Coaching Station, take two rooms, and wait for us to arrive.”
Letitia set her now-empty teacup down. “I was wondering how you planned to get your things out of the house. What an ingenious idea.”
“I can’t take credit for it. Mrs. Shelley suggested it, and it’s perfect. We’ll stay at the Black Pigeon tonight and be in Newmarket tomorrow.With any luck, we’ll find rooms to rent.” She set her cup down and picked up a sweet roll. “I don’t ever recall my father being interested in horseracing, and let’s hope it stays that way. I would hate to do all this and have him show up out of the blue. It’s one thing if he arrives after he finds out I’ve left London, which, honestly, I expect, given all the newspaper reporters writing about the races and who’s attending from thebeau monde. But for him to be in Newmarket purely by coincidence would make my blood boil.”
“We should probably go,” Letitia said.
Hands wrapped around her stomach, Clarice groaned. “I shouldn’t have drunk or eaten anything. Please excuse me while I go to my chambers. I’ll be right back.” She stood and left the drawing room, hurried up the two flights of stairs, and down the hall to her rooms. Once inside, she ducked behind the privacy screen and took care of her personal needs.
When she moved around the screen, she saw Mrs. Shelley entering the room with an unfamiliar cloak. “This belongs to Lady Rutherford’s maid. Let’s get you ready for your adventure.”
Indeed, she was going on an adventure, but would it have a fairytale ending?
Mrs. Shelley extended the cloak, and Clarice slipped into it. The dampness from the rain immediately chilled her. “Perhaps I could wear one of my cloaks underneath.”
“Oh my dear,” Mrs. Shelly exclaimed. “What am I thinking? You’ll catch your death wearing this damp thing.”
“Will you give Lady Rutherford’s maid one of my cloaks in exchange for hers?”
“Don’t you worry, I will take good care of that girl. After all, she is doing us a big favor by helping you today.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Shelley,” Clarice said. “What would I ever do without you?”
“You would manage just fine. Now let’s get you on your way.”
Clarice met Letitia in the front entry, standing with Williamson, who bowed when she approached and said, “In front of Rutherford House, you will find an unmarked black coach with Kirkland in the driver’s seat. He will see you safely to Newmarket.”
“Thank you, Williamson.”
Mrs. Shelley approached her from behind. “Now, off you go.”
Pulling up her hood to hide her face and block the rain, Clarice followed Letitia to her carriage, pretending to be her maid. Once inside the coach, she sighed with relief and pushed off the hood. “I didn’t notice my father’s man. Did you?” she asked Letitia.
She shook her head as she removed her hood and wiped rain droplets from her face with her gloved hands. “I was too busy trying to hide from the downpour to notice. If he was there, which I’m sure he was, he wouldn’t be able to recognize you. And nothing seemed out of the ordinary. So I would say we are safe.”
Clarice reached out, taking Letitia’s hands in hers. “I can’t thank you enough for doing this. I know it was a lot to ask with you having to leave your son behind.”
“I have to admit, when you first asked, I was a little nervous that it might not work, and I didn’t want to face your father’s anger. Especially after I turned down his theater invitation. Then I thought, why not? You and Stanton deserve to be together and happy.”
“I can’t believe my father called on you. Well, actually, I can. You already have a son, so he knows you can have children. You are wealthy, which is very important to him. I just can’t imagine you and him...” She groaned. “No, I will not think about it.”
Letitia was startled and snorted in a most unladylike way. “Please don’t.”
They both laughed, and Clarice knew it was out of relief rather than genuine humor.
The carriage came to a stop. “We’re here,” Letitia said. “My trunk should already be loaded onto our new conveyance.”
A footman opened the door, lowered the steps, and escorted first Letitia, then Clarice out of one carriage and into the other with Kirkland in the driver’s seat. Once they were inside the well-appointed carriage, sitting side by side, the other bench covered with two blankets and a basket of food, she removed her wet cloak and settled in for the long drive to the Black Pigeon Coaching Station. Letitia did the same.
Feeling drained all of a sudden, Clarice reached for both blankets, handed one to Letitia and wrapped the other around herself. She leaned back against the cushions and closed her eyes. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to close my eyes. I didn’t sleep a wink last night.”
“Rest,” Letitia said as she snuggled into the blanket Clarice gave her. “I’m going to as well. I couldn’t sleep last night either, and we might as well sleep since we will be on the road for hours.”
The sway of the carriage and the warmth from the blanket soon lulled Clarice to sleep.
