Lord Ravenswood made as if to protest, but found he could not. It was true. He loved Daphne Kendall. Good God. He raised a hand and rubbed it across his forehead. “You have figured out a lot in a short period of time, Tinky.”
Mrs. Tinkham seized the advantage. “Well, I’ve known you all your life, haven’t I? And even though I don’t know Miss Kendall very well, I know a girl in love when I see one.”
Lord Ravenswood snapped to attention at these words. He remembered how Daphne had responded to his kiss at the Pelhams’ ball. She was not the type to respond to his passion unless her affections were engaged. Why, now that he thought about it, the sort of grasping he most feared was as foreign to her nature as caviar to pigs!
He rose to stand firmly on his feet. “Where is Miss Kendall
“Cook says she has gone outdoors. Now, Master Anthony, just because you have finally come to your senses does not mean you should wander the estate looking for her in your condition!”
Lord Ravenswood flashed her a boyish grin, just before closing the door behind him.
* * * *
It was easy enough for Eugene and Miss Shelby to slip away from Raven’s Hall without anyone being the wiser. They hired a vehicle and reached London late that afternoon.
“I shall start the rumors going about Lord Ravenswood and Miss Kendall. The underbutler next door is the neighborhood gossip.” Eugene told Miss Shelby outside of Daphne’s town house in Clarges Street. “Wait for me here, and I shall call on you later and apprise you of any developments.”
Miss Shelby clung to the sleeve of his white tunic. “Oh, Eugene, I do hope we have done right in leaving them in the country alone.”
“They are hardly alone with that dragon, Mrs. Tinkham,” he said dryly. He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it warmly. “Soon, Leonie, soon, we shall be together. Would you like to see Egypt?”
Miss Shelby smiled, then chuckled outright. “Oh, yes, Eugene. You know I long for travel. Remember Mary Tucker told me I would soon be going on a sea journey.”
“She is knowing, but not like you, my wise lady,” Eugene told her, and then took his leave.
Miss Shelby let herself into the back of the house and was promptly greeted by three exuberant dogs. She patted them each in turn, asking, “How would you like to live with Daphne and Lord Ravenswood in the country?”
* * * *
Lord Ravenswood felt tired and hungry. He had spent two hours riding about the estate, looking for Miss Kendall without success. Coming up to the Palladian-style bridge, which spanned a wide stream, he dismounted. After leaving his horse to graze, he stretched out under a leafy tree at the water’s edge and allowed the gentle sound of the stream to lull him to sleep.
That is how Daphne found him an hour later.
Strolling across the bridge, she saw his supine figure and let out a cry of distress. Thinking he had collapsed, she rushed across the bridge and dropped down to his side on the grass. Her heart jumped in her chest. She reached out a hand and felt of his forehead. Thankfully it was cool.
“My lord, can you hear me? Are you all right?” she asked urgently.
For an answer Lord Ravenswood slowly opened his brown eyes and gazed into her anxious face. Then he leaned forward and swiftly caught her in his arms. He lowered his head and kissed her, his mouth moving over hers and devouring its softness.
Caught off guard, Daphne returned his embrace, giving herself freely to the passion of his kiss.
Then, despite the intensity of desire, Daphne suddenly remembered Lord Ravenswood was engaged to Miss Blenkinsop. She wrenched herself away from him and sprang to her feet.
“How dare you, my lord?” she demanded. Fearing she might at any moment burst into tears, she turned and began a swift march across the bridge.
He caught up with her before she made it halfway across. “Daphne! Please! Wait a moment.”
She continued on her way, so he darted in front of her and grasped her by the shoulders. “Daphne, I beg your pardon. You see, I have been out searching for you all day, and I grew so tired that I had to stop and rest. When I woke and saw your dear face above me, well, I could not restrain myself. I admit you had reason to think me perfectly mad.”
Daphne lowered her gaze in confusion. She had to calm her disordered thoughts and could not do so with him looking at her with that gentle, concerned, loving expression. In her confusion, she found refuge in righteous anger. “Mad, my lord? No, I think playing fast and loose with my affections would be a more accurate description.”
“Whatever can you mean?” he asked at once.
“You are betrothed to Elfleta Blenkinsop! And yet you embrace me, kiss me—”
He gripped her shoulders more tightly. “I am not engaged to Miss Blenkinsop. How could you think—Eugene! I shall strangle him,” he pronounced grimly, his arms falling to his sides.
Daphne wondered if she should feel some guilt for the relief she felt. “You are not betrothed?”
The earl ran a hand impatiently through his dark hair. “No. In truth, I was going to offer for the chit Tuesday morning. Then I received a letter from Eugene—maybe I will not strangle him after all—saying that you were in danger. I rode out to find you instead of going to her house.”
One dark red curl lay across the whiteness of her shoulder. He picked up the tempting spiral and idly drew it between his fingers. “I have been a fool, Daphne.”
“How do you mean, Anthony?” she asked him softly. A bright spot of hope began to grow in her.
His brown eyes sought hers. “When Mihos first came to live with me, every time he stretched out his paw to my chin in a gesture of affection, I thought he was going to rip my nose off. I based this assumption on the way Isabella’s cat, Brutus, had behaved. When I met you and saw how attractive and intelligent you were, I did not want to care for you, fearing you would use those qualities against me, the way Isabella did with my father.”
Daphne laid a hand against his cheek. “What made you realize I would not?”
“You are not at all like Isabella.” The earl swallowed hard. “You care more for people than things, and you are never cruel. And, while my father loved Isabella, she did not return his passion. You do love me, do you not, my heart? For I love you madly.”
A smile of pure joy lit Daphne’s face. “Yes, Anthony, I love you.”
Then she was in his arms. His kiss sent swirling bursts of ecstasy coursing through her. She felt as if she could not get close enough to him, and savored every moment his mouth was on hers.
Several minutes later he reluctantly drew away and asked, “Why did you send Mihos back to me? I thought we had agreed you were to keep him for some time longer?”
Her fingers stroked his hair. “I thought you were going to marry Elfleta.”
He pulled her against him and whispered into her hair. “You are the only lady I shall ever marry, my heart. I love you. Will you have me?”
Daphne looked at him and pretended to consider. “I do not know. Do you think Mihos will get along with Holly, Folly, and Jolly?” Her teasing look was unmistakable.
“God help us,” the earl muttered, before he claimed her lips again.
* * * *
Because of Mihos, Elfleta Blenkinsop never received Lord Ravenswood’s note telling her he had been called out of Town on an urgent matter.
Therefore on this, the second day after the earl was to call, Elfleta sat in her drawing room. She was beside herself with fury. How dare he treat her thus?
Also in the room, Mrs. Blenkinsop had alternately questioned and berated her daughter regarding the entire affair, making Elfleta even angrier.
The knocker sounded and a few minutes later, the butler ushered Lord Guy into the room. He was full of the gossip Eugene had spread all about Lord Ravenswood and Miss Kendall being alone together at the earl’s estate. Lord Guy prayed he would be the first to relate it to the Blenkinsops. He got his wish.
“What’s that you say?” Mrs. Blenkinsop shrieke
d upon hearing the account.
Elfleta gasped, shaken by the strongest emotion ever felt in her young life.
Lord Guy was all apologies. “Dear me, I thought you ladies would know. His lordship’s behavior is disgraceful, Miss Blenkinsop. Disgraceful! Your goodness has been sorely used.”
Elfleta called up the few brain cells at her command and thought furiously. Despite the fact that the earl had not formally made her an offer, she had been too puffed up with conceit to keep quiet about her expectations. Several members of the ton were made privy to the knowledge that she was shortly to announce her engagement.
Elfleta needed a fiancé. Fast.
She turned her hazel eyes toward Lord Guy and allowed a few graceful tears to fall.
Happy for the chance to play at being the gallant, Lord Guy whipped a lace handkerchief from the pocket of his celestial blue coat and handed it to her with a flourish. “Were you mine, I would never treat you thus.”
“You would not?” Elfleta asked him tearfully. She gazed up at him adoringly, her hazel eyes huge in her face.
“Never!” Lord Guy cried, throwing himself into his role for all he was worth. “Only give me a chance to prove myself.”
“Yes, oh, yes, I shall marry you,” Elfleta breathed.
Lord Guy’s eyes popped in his head. Before he could absorb what had happened, Mrs. Blenkinsop was wishing the couple happy and calling her reluctant husband into the room to join in the congratulations.
When Mr. Blenkinsop hinted at the size of his Elf’s dowry, Lord Guy began to relax. The happy thought of all that money soon had him envisioning a new wardrobe full of coats in every shade imaginable. Tailors from Hyde Park to Charing Cross would be begging for his custom.
Lord Guy would not have been so sanguine had he known his future mama-in-law was even now casting a stern eye over his dress. She determined on the spot to educate him as to the proper way a gentleman should present himself to the world.
* * * *
Wedding plans were the last thing on one lady’s mind. Miss Shelby sat in the drawing room of Daphne’s town house and worried about Eugene’s safety. Something told her Mr. Phillips might easily have learned where Eugene lived and would break into Lord Ravenswood’s house. What might happen if he did not find the Bastet statue? Would he lie in wait for Eugene?
As the minutes ticked by, Miss Shelby’s premonition of danger grew stronger. Coming to a decision not to wait for Eugene, she placed a shawl about her shoulders and hurried downstairs. With a footman, Charles, to accompany her, and Folly for extra protection, she ventured out into the dark streets.
Halfway to Upper Brook Street, she encountered Eugene headed in the same direction. Folly barked a greeting.
“Leonie, what are you doing out? It is not safe,” Eugene said.
Miss Shelby wrapped her shawl tighter about her shoulders. “I had a bad feeling.”
Eugene touched a finger to his eye-pin. Then he looked at her. “You must go home. I shall take care of this—”
“No, Eugene! Charles and Folly and I will come with you. I insist!”
Seeing she could not be swayed, Eugene reluctantly agreed.
They hurried through the dark streets. When the earl’s town house came into view, Folly broke away from them and ran toward the back of the house. Miss Shelby and Eugene looked at each other, then followed him. After they rounded the corner, a startling sight, and still more startling sounds, brought them to a standstill.
Vincent Phillips clung to the ledge of an open window on the second floor, his beaver-trimmed greatcoat ballooning out around him. Mihos perched in the window frame, roaring at the intruder.
While they watched, Vincent held on with one hand and tried to push the cat out of the way with the other. In a lightning-fast motion, sharp claws ripped through the flesh of the hand clutching the ledge.
Giving a loud cry, Vincent fell to the ground heavily, clutching his injured foot. Folly raced to the spot and commenced a furious barking and showing of teeth.
Miss Shelby found her voice. “Run for the watch, Charles.”
“You!” Vincent shouted at Eugene. “I’ll get the Bastet statue from you yet!”
Miss Shelby quieted Folly, who continued to hover menacingly over the thief.
“No you will not,” Eugene said calmly, moving to stand guard over Vincent’s supine body. “Bastet represents the beneficent powers of the sun and is the goddess of joy. She will not be used for evil.”
Two enforcers of the law came at a run around the corner. “What have we got here?” one man asked.
“A common housebreaker,” Eugene replied.
At that moment Folly’s fondness for beaver apparently overcame his scruples and Miss Shelby’s training. The dog lunged for the pocket of Vincent’s greatcoat, which was trimmed in his favorite fur.
The material ripped, and out fell the ivory cat figurine Vincent had stashed there, planning to foist it off on a sailor for cash on his way to Philadelphia.
Miss Shelby gasped in recognition. “That belongs to the Duchess of Welbourne!”
“Caught with stolen property, eh?” one of the watchmen said.
“Yes,” Miss Shelby promptly replied. “And this is the Earl of Ravenswood’s town house the man was trying to break into.”
“Off to the roundhouse he goes, then.” The two men carried a protesting Vincent away, saying they would call on the earl tomorrow for a statement.
Miss Shelby patted Folly’s head. “What a good dog. You have redeemed yourself.” Folly favored her with a wide doggie grin and wagged his tail.
Eugene looked up to the open window, where Mihos had all the while been watching the proceedings. “Good work, little tiger.” Mihos turned to the delicate business of washing his paws and paid no further attention.
Eugene placed an arm about Miss Shelby’s shoulder. “Come, it is time I walk you home.”
* * * *
Hours later Eugene stood alone in a darkened room. At the far end of the chamber, a light began to glow. Soon the ebony body of a woman with a cat’s head came into view. She sat upon an intricately carved golden throne with many live cats sitting at her feet.
“You have done your duty, Eugene,” she said. Her voice seemed to come to him from a great distance. “I am pleased.”
Eugene dropped down to his knees in front of her. “My goddess, I am ever grateful for your benevolence.”
Bastet raised a hand. Cupped inside her palm was an eye-pin similar to the one Eugene wore in his turban. The pin seemed to catch the light and reflect it toward Eugene’s pin until a single beam formed between them. Eugene remained motionless.
Bastet spoke again. “You are free now, Eugene. Free.”
“Grraow!”
Eugene sat bolt upright in bed, his heart pounding in his chest. Mihos stood on the bed next to him.
It had been a dream, Eugene thought. Only a dream.
Or had it?
Eugene threw off the bedclothes and rushed to the armoire. Before going to bed, he had made sure the Bastet statue was safe in its hiding place. His hands brushed aside the clothes inside, and he looked down.
The folds of burgundy velvet lay empty on the bottom of the armoire. Eugene slowly reached for them and held the soft material in his hands.
Having served her purpose, Bastet was gone.
Eugene sank to his knees, tears of happiness running down his cheeks.
Epilogue
A month after their wedding, The Earl of Ravenswood and his countess, Daphne, reclined on their bed at Raven’s Hall. The sounds of Holly, Folly, and Jolly barking and cavorting outside reached their ears through the open window.
Anthony had, and not an hour before, used his body in many talented ways to show his blissful bride how much he loved her. Daphne thought it scandalous that her husband had taken her to bed in the middle of the day. But, she decided smiling lazily, she would soon grow accustomed.
While her husband went to pour her a glass of iced l
emonade, kept cool in the bucket he had thoughtfully brought to their room earlier, she reached over to the bedside table and picked up a late wedding gift. Seeing her busy at her task, he perused his mail.
“Well,” he said, opening a letter, “here is another note from William Bullock.”
“Have they cleared up the mystery yet?” Daphne asked, pulling at the wrappings of the gift.
“No. As far as anyone knows, the missing Bastet statue simply reappeared in the museum in Baluk.”
“Maybe someone had a guilty conscience,” Daphne offered.
The earl put the letter aside and brushed his lips across his wife’s naked shoulder. “’Twill always be a wonder. Like the softness of your skin.”
Daphne nudged him away. “Darling, please, I am trying to open this present.”
Lord Ravenswood sighed and picked up another letter. “Here is one from Eugene and Leonie.”
Daphne looked up eagerly. “Oh, how are they? I confess I cannot wait for them to visit, although I am happy they were able to travel after their wedding. Your gift to them was most generous, Anthony.”
“Eugene deserved a reward for ail his years of faithful service. It seems they are now on their way from Egypt to Turkey. They have not stopped traveling since they wed,” Anthony remarked. “I, on the other hand, prefer to stay right where I am.” He reached for his wife again, but she evaded him.
Daphne finally succeeded in unwrapping the gift, whose giver had not been identified. She pushed the paper aside and lifted a small, golden lamp from the box. It was an odd-shaped creation, like a short and long teapot with an extended spout. Look at this,” she said to Anthony, a perplexed frown on her face.
The earl pulled back the sheet covering his wife. “Hmm, yes, I should be delighted.”
“Oh!” Daphne giggled, and wrapped her arms around her husband, welcoming his kiss. The lamp fell from her fingers to roll unheeded off the bed.
The soft thud woke Mihos, who reclined on a chaise across the room. The striped cat jumped down and swaggered over to where the lamp lay on its side.
He sniffed it with a great show of feline disdain. Then, with his tail held high, he turned and strolled out of the room.
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