“Now that your curiosity is assuaged,” he murmured, “can we get on with our task?”
And with that he pushed away from the wall, away from her, and, presenting her with his back, crouched to pick up the forgotten shard. He had it up and quickly in his pocket before Victoria had quite caught her breath or thought to demand the splinter back.
Her fingers trembled and her knees were wobbly, but she propelled herself away from the wall before he stood—or turned to see the dazed look on her face.
But she needn’t have worried; he barely glanced at her before making that sharp Max gesture that told her to follow him. “We’ve wasted enough time. It’s getting close to sunset,” he tossed over his shoulder as he started off again along the stone wall.
The same stone wall of which there were now little bits of mortar wedged beneath her fingernails.
Sixteen
In Which Lady Melly’s Courtship Takes on a New Twist
The Conte Regalado, or Alberto, as he’d insisted she call him, was the most charming man Lady Melisande Grantworth had had the pleasure to meet. Or be courted by.
And she was indeed being courted by the bald but dapper Italian count. The first time she’d met him, when he had found her and Winnie and Nilly in the depths of that spooky old villa, he’d been gallant and gracious—and even though he hadn’t actually taken them to find the treasure and had disappeared most inexplicably, he’d still been intriguing and kind.
And well turned. Indeed, perfectly groomed, with his small, trimmed black mustache and the briefest of beards. His clothing was expensive and fashionable, he wasn’t too tall, and best of all, he had a lovely accent.
Then, of course, there was the day following the treasure hunt at the Villa Palombara, when, instead of calling on her, he’d only sent flowers…that had had her sniffing in disdain. The men in London had done the same; even Jellington had thought to woo her interests by plying her with flowers and jewels and the like.
But Lady Melly desired much more than cold fripperies and greenery that would die after a day or two in a vase. She wanted companionship, and wit, and above all, a man who worshiped her.
“He should be here any moment. ” Nilly squealed, her pale face flushed with excitement. She was peering out the window of Melly’s dressing room from between lacy curtains, watching the street below for a sign of the conte’s barouche as her friend was putting the final touches on her toilette.
“I cannot imagine where he is going to take you on such a horrific afternoon. Why, there isn’t a sunbeam to be seen, and the air is positively gray with rain,” Winnie said disdainfully from her chair in the corner. “Your hair will be droopy, and those bonnet feathers! They’ll be plastered to your head before you climb into his carriage. ”
“The Conte Regalado offered to drive me to see the Colosseum, and perhaps to Janiculum Hill. I am certain, though we might be a bit chilly, that we shan’t be wet at all. ”
“The conte? I thought you were to call him Alberrrrto. ” Winnie sniffed, but a smile hovered about her lips.
“Alberto, then. ” But Melly smiled at the mirror, admiring her dimples as well as the slight pink to her cheeks.
“He’s here!”
Winnie hauled herself to her feet and lumbered to the window. “Indeed, he is, dressed as though he were going to the theater. Well, I hope you shall return before supper tonight so that we can hear all of the details before bedtime. ”
“And I,” said Melly, flouncing toward the door as if she were once again a young debutante, “hope I don’t. ” She paused to look back at them. “After all, I am a widow, we aren’t in London, and he is…very handsome. Perhaps we shall take an extended drive. ”
Nilly squealed again, but this time with disappointment. “Don’t frighten him away, Melly!”
Winnie laughed. “The poor man hasn’t a chance with our Melly on his trail,” she said fondly, watching her oldest and dearest friend sweep down the stairs with more energy than she herself had ever possessed. “I only hope this turns out better than the last matchmaking she did—with Victoria and Rockley. ”
Nilly nodded. “But of course it will. ”
The two ladies were beginning to make their way down the stairs to the parlor when Victoria’s maid—the one with the unfortunate bushy orange hair—appeared.
“Excuse me, madam. Your Grace,” she said, bobbing a curtsy.
Startled that she should have spoken to them, the two women swiveled their heads in unison.
“Yes?” asked Winnie in her duchess voice, pausing on the stairs, one hand clutching the handrail.
“I don’ mean to interrupt,” said the maid with a bit less deference than Winnie would have expected. “But…did ye say that Lady Melly was going with a conte?” Regalado’s title came out sounding like “con-tayy,” but Winnie knew what the bold-faced girl meant.
“Yes. ” Again the imperious duchess tone.
“Oh, dear…the Conte Reg’lado?”