“Do you have a plan?” Michaels asked.
“I do,” Tiffany replied. “See that clothesline over there?” She pointed to the neatly hung laundry just at the edge of the orchard, near the house that went with it. Several sets of laborers clothing hung on it. “I think a pair of those trousers will do nicely to help me get rid of these skirts.”
“Miss Tiffany!” Michaels protested. “Girlie, surely you don’t mean. . .”
“I do mean. We need to pick up the pace, and I do not intend to get caught. Now, here is what we are going to do…”
Chapter 50
Percival adopted a conciliatory tone. “Uncle, we have been at loggerheads these last several weeks. I am not sure why you have taken these extreme measures to be able to speak with me alone, but perhaps we should begin this conversation again. Come, sit down, and tell me what it is that you want.”
“I believe I would rather stand,” Lord Ronald said. “Your withdrawing room seems a to be short on chairs at the moment, and I do not think your friends are in any condition to move.”
“Why did you feel the need to do this, Uncle Ronald?” Percival let the edge of a whine enter his voice. If his uncle thought him to be a child in need of guidance, he would be likely to accept the dissemblance.
“My dear boy,” his uncle said, “you have been showing clear signs of dissolution and indulgence. As for your friends, it took only a suggestion to persuade them to try a new sort of tea. In just a little while, I will share a little of it with you.”
“I am not at all sure I understand,” Percival said. “You expect me to simply drink the tea and not question it?”
“If you were a good lad, then yes, you would take your medicine without protest. I do hope you will not protest this measure. My friend, Dr. Abslom, has prepared a room for you at Bedlam. He and his assistants will be here shortly.”
“Bedlam, is it? On what grounds, Uncle?”
“Unsound judgement, Nephew. Giving your fortune away with both hands, hiring criminals, associating with individuals of low birth. It is quite clear that you are not sufficiently sound of mind to manage your own affairs.”
“Who is this Dr. Abslom? Have I met him?”
“Of course you have. He was the physician who first attended you when you were injured. He is attached to the Watch, and frequently weighs in upon decisions about the criminally insane.”
“Is that how you see me, Uncle? Criminally insane?”
“Madder than six hatters, Nephew. Clearly deranged. Truly, I understand how you might enjoy seeing yourself as a philanthropist, but if you are allowed to continue your career in this manner, you will soon be a pauper.”
“So you plan to bring me to heel with a bride already with child and a room in Bedlam? Really, Uncle, it won’t fash. I have friends in many places who can vouch for my sanity.”
“Oh, my dear boy. It really is a pity that you cannot see yourself as you are. You have left yourself vulnerable with all your goings on. You dismissed the cook I recommended, you are educating a guttersnipe, and you are consorting with men below your station.”
“Below my station!” Percival’s voice began to rise.
Again, there was that subtle pressure on the side of his foot.
“Who, precisely, are these friends who are below my station?”
“Why, you see them passed out before you. Instead of tending their post, they accepted tea that was spiked with strong liquor, and now they are asleep. Such a pity, really, two young men who cannot manage their drinking habits.”
One of Kenault’s hands twitched, then lay still.
Not quite so defenseless or helpless as you think, Uncle. I just need to keep your attention engaged for a little while longer. I knew you disliked my ways, but I had no idea you would resort to having me committed to Bedlam. With a false physician writing the orders, I could be locked away beyond help before my allies can arrive.
“Uncle Ronald, I cannot think my ways so bad as all of that. My accounts are in the black, your allowance, whether you wish to look at it askance or not, is regularly paid. My servants are attentive and well behaved. Surely, a little charity cannot be a bad thing when I am doing so well?”
“A little charity! Nephew, you have undertaken the building of an orphanage. No, a village for the indigent. How can this but encourage idleness and dissipation?”
“Surely not dissipation, Uncle. For when the workers are well-trained, they can more easily perform their tasks. When they are happy and satisfied with their surroundings, then they act as a mirror, reflecting the light of their pleasure upward to those they serve.”
Lord Ronald gave a snort. “Is that what you think? Then how is it that someone inside your own household has attacked you? You can scarcely believe that they are all happy in this case.”
“I am grieved that anyone should think so ill of me,” Percival admitted.
