“Good heavens, no!” Ashley shuddered. “He put something in my drink while we were at a ball. My memory is fuzzy after that, but I remember being in the dark garden with him, in the gazebo. He attempted to… take liberties.”
Georgia’s eyes grew round. Miss Kenyon gasped.
“Did he… Were you able to fend him off?” Georgia sounded appalled.
“I tried, without much success. He’d given me too much laudanum. Fortunately, another man—a true gentleman—intervened and sent Sir Rupert away before he could … could do what he planned.” Ashley smoothed her skirt, wishing her hands would stop shaking. She had tried not to think about that night. The uncertainty of being in a dark carriage with a strange man, in an intimate position with her mysterious rescuer while she was so vulnerable. Waking in the home of a kind but unknown lady. And she was still so horrified by what Sir Rupert had intended to do to her, she shied away from thinking about that part of the night altogether. Her stomach knotted again at reliving the memory.
“But how did the Bogeyman find out? Do you think your gentleman rescuer told him?” Georgia said.
“Perhaps they are friends.”
Both Georgia and Ashley gaped at Miss Kenyon.
“Well, we don’treallythink the Bogeyman is a demon from hell, do we? So it stands to reason that he is human. Perhaps even a member of London society.”
Georgia spoke slowly. “Perhaps he’s a gentleman himself.”
“With fangs?” Ashley shook her head. “That would be hard to disguise.”
Miss Kenyon snapped her fingers. “That’s it! The fangs are simply part of his disguise!”
The three pondered that idea while a maid entered with the tea tray. Several minutes passed before they sat back again with cups of tea and little plates of delicate pastries.
“Who could he be?” Miss Kenyon popped a tea cake in her mouth.
“Someone who knew about Sir Peyton’s plan to elope with Amber,” Georgia said. “And Sir Rupert’s plan to, ah, compromise Ashley.”
Ashley suppressed a shudder. Her appetite gone, she put the pastry back on her plate. “Gentlemen discuss things at their clubs,” she said slowly, remembering some of the conversations Uncle Edward had mentioned. “Perhaps he overheard one or both men bragging to a friend about their plans.”
“Father says men gossip as much or more than women.” Georgia took a sip. “He’s overheard all sorts of things at his club, including which music Lord Fairfax’s group is planning to perform at the next Catch Club competition. But what I don’t understand is, what would make a gentleman respond to hearing about such abhorrent plans by dressing up and impersonating a demon?”
“Why didn’t he simply call them out? Fight a duel?” Miss Kenyon ate another pastry.
“The fact that dueling is illegal may have deterred him.” The raspberry filling and lemon icing looked delicious. Ashley decided to try a tea cake after all.
“And,” Georgia gestured with a biscuit, “generally a man throwing down the gauntlet is defending a lady’s honor. He would need to have some connection to Amber and Ashley in order to fight duels on their behalf.”
Miss Kenyon refilled her cup. “Do you share anything in common with Amber?”
“She was a student at the ladies’ academy where I worked.” Ashley selected another pastry and popped it in her mouth. Ah, yes, lovely. “But she left to be presented at court last year at the start of the Season, and the academy closed in February this year.”
Miss Kenyon’s mother rose from her chair, collected her daughter, and they departed. Ashley was startled to realize she had stayed well past the twenty minutes that was polite for a morning call. When she made to rise as well, Georgia tugged on Ashley’s hand. “Please say you’ll come for dinner tonight,” she said quietly.
Aunt Eunice rose also and joined Ashley by the sofa. “We’re leaving now, my dear, but coming back for dinner,” she said with a smile.
Georgia let out a quiet squeal of delight. Ashley squeezed her hand in farewell, and she left to continue paying morning calls with Aunt Eunice.
They were removing their wraps in the entry hall at home when Aunt Eunice checked the silver salver for the day’s mail. She set all but one aside and immediately broke the wax seal.
Ashley was preparing to go upstairs when Aunt Eunice gave out a small sound of distress. “Is something wrong?”
Aunt Eunice’s brow furrowed as she scanned the letter again. “It’s from my old music teacher, Mrs. O’Keefe. We’ve been corresponding these thirty years or more. She writes that she’s had an accident and is confined to bed. I have been meaning to visit her while I’m living only two hours away.”
“This seems like an excellent time to go, while you’re in England.”
“It’s rather late in the day to set out on a visit.” Aunt Eunice glanced down the hall toward her husband’s study, then back at Ashley. She patted Ashley on the shoulder and marched into the study, calling her husband’s name.
Ashley went up to her room, freshened up, and was debating whether to have a lie-down or request a light meal, when Aunt Eunice knocked on her door.
