“We arrived yesterday,” Jeannette replied, “but most of our luggage did not get here until this morning. The wagons are dreadfully slow.”
“Of course, our maids packed light trunks for the carriage,” Melanie said, “since we simply could not be seen in our traveling clothes today.”
“Did Lady Lockford come with you?” Caroline asked. The three women were almost inseparable.
“Oh, goodness. Did you not hear what happened?” Jeannette asked, fluttering her fan.
“Hear?” Caroline repeated and felt a strange quiver in her stomach. Had her Midnight Marauder…No. Nothermarauder.TheMidnight Marauder—accosted Vanessa recently? The countess was one of those petite, fragile-looking types who made Caroline feel too tall and all angles. Even though the woman was married to the Earl of Lockwood, it didn’t keep her from acquiescing to requests from men with roving eyes—or hands. And Caroline knew how much the marauder’s hands roved. She took a deep breath. “Did that highwayman assail her?”
For a moment, Jeannette looked puzzled. Then Melanie giggled.
“Nothing like that,” she said.
Caroline felt almost giddy with relief and caught herself. She was acting as idiotically as that gaggle of simpering debutantes. The bandit had aroused…feelings…in her. That was all. For the few brief minutes of their kiss, desire and passion had sprung out of the shadows where she’d carefully sequestered them. It had been a pleasant interlude. Nothing more. “What happened then?”
Jeannette fanned herself, drawing out the suspense to her tale. She took several deep breaths for more effect. “Vanessa is about to be saddled with some poor relation fromAmerica. She will not be able to join us until the ship docks sometime next week.”
Caroline tried not to grimace. Much of thetonfelt Americans were rebellious children who should never have revolted and certainly needed to be brought to task for such boldness. That Britain had agreed to the Treaty of Ghent just last year held only minor significance to many. Others still viewed the States as barbaric with tales of half-naked men wielding tomahawks and invading English settlements to remove scalps from men, women, and children alike. “I am sure whomever it is will be civilized.”
Melanie giggled again, and Jeannette frowned at her. Caroline looked from one to the other. “Is something funny?”
Jeannette sniffed. “Hardly. The girl is an orphan.”
Caroline blinked. “A child?”
“No,” Melanie answered, “she is of age. Twenty, I think, or thereabouts.”
“Practically on the shelf,” Jeannette said. “Whatever is Vanessa to do with her?”
Caroline decided not to remind them that she was past twenty as well. Pointing that out would only lead to questions about Lord Tisdale, and she definitely did not want to have that conversation. “Do you know if the girl is educated?”
Melanie tried to stifle another giggle. “She has been raised in a convent. Bynuns.”
Jeannette waved a hand dismissively. “Can you imagine someone raised bynunsfitting into our society? Poor Vanessa. How is she ever going to cope?”
Caroline smiled benignly, knowing Jeannette did not really need an answer, since she was already going on about what trials and tribulations Vanessa would have to endure. A better question might be how the American girl was going to cope.
“Of course, there is always the possibility the girl will not arrive,” Melanie said.
Jeannette gave her a sharp glance. “What do you mean by that?”
“Maybe the girl will get attacked by pirates,” she said. “Would that not be ironic? A convent girl being abducted by a swashbuckler?”
“You do have a lively imagination,” Caroline said drily, “but the Channel is hardly teeming with Barbary Coast corsairs lying in wait to abscond with fair damsels meant for Sultan markets.”
Melanie looked annoyed. “Who knows where those pirates were from that raided the French merchant ship a week ago?”
“My husband Joshua said those pirates made off with a good supply of cognac and spice and silk,” Jeannette said. “I do not think they were after women.”
“Maybe because there were none on board,” Melanie countered.
Caroline held up a hand. “For the sake of argument, if pirates—from anywhere—wanted to abduct women, would they not attack a ship leaving England rather than one arriving?”
“Not necessarily,” Melanie said stubbornly. “From whatmyhusband Harry says, young girls bring a very good price.”
“So does cognac,” Jeannette replied, “and I understand the shipment on board was meant for this house party.Myhusband said the prince regent is furious and has offered a reward—five hundred pounds, I think—for the capture of those pirates.”
Caroline was startled. “That is a small fortune. Surely, the cognac was not worth that much. Besides, smuggling has been going on for years, so why offer that that kind of reward suddenly?”
