Page 34 of Twelfth Night Sorcery (The Cambion Club #2)

It took less than a day to get from London to Carrington Abbey.

Valance’s initial plan had been to stop at Dreadnaught Hall first. He could deposit Dora at the Hall and walk or ride over to the Abbey to speak to Sir Roderick and Lady Carrington (both Lady Carringtons, in fact) about the unexpected visitor.

But halfway there, it occurred to him that taking Dora to Dreadnaught Hall might be a mistake. The fewer people who knew about his association with her, the better. When they stopped to change horses, therefore, he told the coachman to go straight to Carrington Abbey.

He would not have liked to show up at anyone else’s house with an unexpected guest, particularly one with so complicated a backstory as “Theo Hart.” But Valance felt sure of his welcome at the Abbey.

The front door was opened by the butler who had served the Carringtons for nearly twenty years. His face lit up at the sight of Valance.

“Master Oliver!” Then Morris corrected himself: “I mean, my lord.” He gave Dora a quizzical glance.

“Master Oliver will do,” Valance told him. “Is the family at home, Morris? I have a guest I wish to introduce.”

“Sir Roderick is out, and young Lady Carrington is indisposed, but the dowager lady and Miss Hannah are in the morning room, along with Master Peregrine.”

“Peregrine? I thought he was in London.” Peregrine had not told Valance he was going to Surrey. But Valance did not see him nearly as often since his marriage.

“He arrived yesterday, my lord,” Morris explained. “I believe his visit has something to do with preparing for a spell he will work here in April?”

“Oh, right! I had forgotten about that.”

Peregrine had decided to work his meteorite spell from the safety of an empty field on the Carrington estate.

Valance wholeheartedly supported this change of plan, and he suspected that Abigail did, too.

After the dining room debacle, Abigail was understandably eager to avoid having the spell cast anywhere near her townhouse.

Morris led them to the morning room, though Valance knew the way by heart.

The decor here was all left over from a previous generation, displaying more flourishes and scrolling than was popular now.

The furniture had been arranged not for parties, but for the use of the family, with sofas, armchairs, and a chaise longue grouped closer together than was common, to allow for general conversation.

As a result, the room felt cozy rather than ostentatious.

“Oliver!” The dowager Lady Carrington had been lying down on the chaise longue, but she got to her feet to greet him. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“Good afternoon, ma’am. You are looking very well today.” Valance dutifully kissed her cheek.

She did look well. Her hair, a true golden blonde, was lightly touched with white.

She stood much shorter than Valance—no taller than Honora, he guessed.

Hannah, who had been sitting nearby, got up to greet Valance too.

She was the only sibling to have inherited her mother’s golden hair and her plump figure, though she stood an inch or two taller than Lady Carrington.

Peregrine rose from his chair, too, but he cocked his head to one side and frowned rather than offering to shake hands. “Valance, why is the young lady traveling with you glamoured to look like a young man? This seems to have become a habit with you, and I must say it is a strange habit.”

Valance sent a speaking glance in Peregrine’s direction, but otherwise ignored the question in order to make the necessary formal introduction.

“My lady, Hannah, Peregrine, may I present Theo Hart? Or Cora Hart, whichever the case may be?” He glanced over his shoulder at Dora and arched a single eyebrow, not knowing how she preferred to be addressed.

“I suppose now that I am here, it might as well be Cora. Most of the time I behave like a young lady. In theory, anyway.” Dora took the spell-paper out of her pocket and tossed it into the waste paper basket, breaking the glamour that had disguised her.

Then she curtseyed as gracefully as her trousers allowed.

“I am pleased to meet you. I am one of Lady Valance’s school friends.” She spoke confidently, and, Valance thought, convincingly.

But Peregrine snorted. “That sounds like a pack of lies. Who are you really?” His wide eyes looked both guileless and curious.

Valance glared at Peregrine, then looked to Lady Carrington for help. At least, he hoped his expression conveyed his appeal for assistance.

“Peregrine, Hannah, I would love it if the two of you would go out to the garden and see if there are any flowers blooming for the dinner table,” Lady Carrington announced.

Hannah took the hint at once. “I believe I saw some primroses in the south side of the garden.”

“Why do you need two people to pick primroses?” Peregrine asked, evidently not taking the hint. “If you want me to leave the room, you could just say so.” He looked reproachfully at Lady Carrington.

His mother sighed. “I am sorry, Peregrine. You are not a child to be fobbed off with excuses. Yes, I do want a chance to speak privately with Oliver and Miss Hart.”

Peregrine nodded to his mother, bowed to Dora, and left the room.

Lady Carrington turned towards Dora. “Now, why don’t you have a seat, my dear, and tell me what this is all about.”

Dora did as requested, beginning with her real name and her relation to Honora. Then she explained the reason for her flight from home. When her story became convoluted, Valance stepped in and clarified matters as best he could, but for the most part, he let Dora do the talking.

As Dora spoke, the lines on Lady Carrington’s forehead grew deeper. By the time Dora finished, the dowager’s usually cheerful face looked distinctly unsettled.

“You are welcome to stay here as long as necessary,” she assured Dora. “And we will call you whatever name you wish. We have plenty of extra bedrooms. I believe we will put you in Abigail’s old room, in fact, as no one is using it. Er, are you a magician?”

“Oh, yes, I am a sorceress,” Dora chirped. “But only a moderately powerful one, I am afraid.”

“Excellent. We have a laboratory on the third floor if you need it, and half of the library is devoted to works of magic. You are welcome to make use of either. But for now, I wonder if you would like to refresh yourself? I can have one of the maids take you up to your room.” Lady Carrington tugged the bell pull to summon a servant.

“Are you trying to get rid of me so you can talk to Lord Valance alone?” Dora asked bluntly.

Lady Carrington smiled ruefully. “Yes,” she admitted. “Please give me a moment alone with your brother-in-law, Miss Hart?”

“As you wish.” Dora left, though the longing glance she cast over her shoulder suggested she did so reluctantly.

Lady Carrington waited to speak until Dora was out of earshot. Then her smile faded. “Oliver, what is really going on here? Why would Belmont mistreat your sister-in-law? Surely he doesn’t blame her for Honora’s elopement?”

“I doubt he blames Dora,” Valance agreed. “But I know he was angry about Honora getting away from him. I suspect he is used to getting his own way.”

Lady Carrington nodded. Though she rarely visited London, she undoubtedly knew the duke by reputation.

“I am not sure what Belmont intended to do with Miss, er, Hart, but I think whatever it is had better be avoided.” Valance ran a hand through his hair, feeling suddenly tired. He wished he had thought to nap on the journey.

“You are probably right about that. Such a man may not give up the hunt easily,” Lady Carrington warned.

“I know.” Valance sighed. “Believe me, I know.” He considered telling Lady Carrington about Belmont’s visit to Russell Square but decided against it.

He had told no one about that conversation or the threats that had been exchanged.

“I may very well have to confront him in order to resolve this.” If it could be resolved.

Lady Carrington’s somber expression deepened into a frown. “I hope you do not do anything foolish, Oliver.” She fidgeted with her rings for a moment. “Really, this whole business of eloping and marrying so hastily seems most unlike you.”

“Yes, I know.” None of Valance’s behavior on Twelfth Night had been in character. “So far it has turned out well, though.” A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

Last night, Honora’s plan to escape their guests had worked perfectly. Valance had pled exhaustion and retired early, Honora had come up to check on him a short time later, and he had loved her so thoroughly, she shouted his name at the height of her passion. He still felt proud of that.

“I am glad to hear that,” Lady Carrington said.

Her entirely too-knowing expression made him wonder if she could guess why he smiled. Embarrassing, but what could he do? Hiding anything from someone who had known him all his life was well-nigh impossible. In some ways, Lady Carrington understood Valance better than his own mother did.

Lady Carrington’s frown subtly shifted shape. “But why didn’t you bring your wife with you, Oliver? I want to meet Lady Valance.”

Valance recognized that look. He was in trouble. He automatically sat up straighter. “For strategic reasons, ma’am.”

He explained their concerns about people identifying Dora.

There was enough similarity between the two sisters that someone who saw them together might guess their relationship.

“I expect we will come down to Dreadnaught Hall this summer, when the Season is over. Hopefully, you will meet Lady Valance then.”

“You had better do so,” Lady Carrington said.

“As it is, I am quite disappointed in your correspondence, Oliver. You have told me absolutely nothing! Do you realize Peregrine has written more about Lady Valance than you have?” She shook her head.

It was a blighting incitement, given that Carrington was notoriously bad at responding to his family’s letters.

“I will strive to do better, ma’am.”

To make up for his supposed neglect, Valance spent the next fifteen minutes describing Honora to Lady Carrington.

It was a pleasant topic of conversation, and he did not mind repeating some of it after dinner, when Sir Roderick and his wife asked about the new Lady Valance, too.

There were few things he’d rather think about than his wife.

He kept an eye on Dora during the after-dinner hours, worried that she might reveal too much about her true identity.

But she seemed not to have exaggerated when she claimed to be skilled at lying.

Any time the topic of conversation veered towards something that might expose her identity, she subtly steered the talk in a different direction.

This seemed like a rather disturbing talent for a girl just out of the schoolroom, but Valance could not deny that it was useful.

Valance intended to tell Sir Roderick the truth about “Miss Hart,” he being the head of the household, but he saw no reason for it to be known among the whole family. This meant evading pointed questions from Peregrine, who had not been fooled by their rather thin cover story.

When Peregrine could get no information from Valance, he crossed the room to sit next to Dora.

Valance ignored their conversation until he overheard Peregrine telling Dora that the blue-green waistcoat she’d been wearing when she arrived brought out the color of her eyes. That sent a chill down Valance’s back.

Valance tuned out Sir Roderick’s story about a recent case he tried as magistrate.

Instead, he stared across the room at Dora and Peregrine, trying to overhear their conversation.

If any other man had made the remark about the waistcoat, Valance would have assumed him to be flirting with Dora.

But Valance had never known Peregrine to flirt.

So far as Valance knew, Peregrine confined his relations to the fairer sex to weekly visits to a high-class brothel.

He treated the women of his own class with either friendship (as in the case of Susan, Honora, or a few of Abigail’s friends) or indifferent courtesy (as in the case of almost everyone else).

He had certainly never engaged in anything like a courtship with a marriageable young lady before.

The idea of Peregrine striking up a flirtation with Dora was both inconceivable and alarming.

Sir Roderick finally noticed that Valance had ceased listening to him.

“Is something wrong?” he asked. “If you are concerned about Miss Hart, you need not be. My sister will be glad of her company. Hannah finds the country rather dull right now, since my wife is indisposed and we are not able to entertain often.”

Valance turned back to his host and forced a smile. “I am glad to hear that. We much appreciate your hospitality.”

In truth, Valance was not at all worried about how Dora would get along with Hannah, who was one of the more sensible members of the family.

In fact, he hoped Hannah would be a good influence on Dora.

But it would not be good for Dora to enter into some kind of flirtation or dalliance with Peregrine.

That could only spell trouble, because Peregrine could not possibly intend to marry her. Could he?

Valance spoke with Roderick for a few minutes, then glanced over at Dora again. She was in the middle of telling Peregrine that the next time she came to London, she planned to don her boy’s clothing so she could go watch a dogfight or cockfight. Valance’s eyes widened.

“I must advise against that. Those events are very cruel to animals,” Peregrine told Dora. Valance relaxed, until his friend added: “If you like, I will take you to a boxing match instead. There is just as much bloodshed, but everyone agrees to be injured, so it is more ethical.”

“Oh, that would be lovely,” Dora replied. “But first I will have to get a hat that fits properly and a pair of men’s boots. I don’t think my outfit looked quite right with half boots. I would like a pair of Hessian boots.”

She wistfully studied her present footwear. She wore plain leather slippers rather than boots. They were perfectly suitable for a casual dinner, but her expression suggested she found them lacking.

“If you like, I can introduce you to my bootmaker when next you are in town.” Peregrine sounded as if he were neither joking nor humoring her, but genuinely trying to help. “You would look smashing in Hessian boots.”

“Wouldn’t I just!” Dora displayed her mischievous dimpled grin, and Peregrine smiled back.

Valance’s heart sank. It was not his imagination.

They were flirting together. Or at least, Dora was flirting with Peregrine.

But he certainly seemed to be flirting back.

Good Lord! To Valance, the two of them seemed like fire and oil: throw them together and a mighty conflagration could occur.

Bringing Dora to the Abbey might have been a terrible mistake.