toothbrush and the hair oil?â
âNo.â
âAh, well. As the weasel said to the frogâor was it the other way round?âbetter to hopââ
I turned at last to face them, shielding my eyes so as not to be blinded by the reckless optimism shining forth from the doorway. âDuchess, is this some sort of joke?â
âJoke, my dear?â
I pointed to Freddieâs collar, from which the funerary black neckcloth had somehow come askew. âYouâre sending me off to Crete with this
millstone
hanging from my neck? I am not a nursemaid, madam, nor yet a chaperone.â
The duchess wore a beatific smile. âMiss Truelove, may I present Frederick, the Marquess of Silverton, heir to the Duke of Ashland,who is quite thirty, I believe, and in no need whatever of either nursemaid or chaperone.â
âIâm afraid I had the opposite impression.â
âWell, Iâm dashed,â said Lord Silverton.
âNow, Miss Truelove. Freddieâs an experienced traveler and very good company, and whatâs more, he went to university with Max and knows him very well. No one could be more suitable to accompany you.â
âItâs improper,â I said desperately.
âIt is not improper at all. These are modern times, Miss Truelove, and an independent woman of good character may safely have intercourse with a gentlemanâyou
are
a gentleman, arenât you, Freddie?âwithout any sort of impropriety attached to the affair at all. Isnât that right? Freddie?â
Lord Silverton placed his palms together and genuflected. âYou are as a goddess to me, Miss Truelove. Our intercourse shall be of the most sacred kind, I solemnly vow.â
Behind me, Sir John erupted into a fit of coughing.
âYou see?â said Her Grace. âNot even the strictest mind could possibly disapprove.â
âHa!â someone said, over the top of Lord Silvertonâs left shoulder, and my heart dropped like a piece of coal into my belly.
Go away
, I thought.
âI suspect the strictest mind could
well
disapprove, madam,â I said. âIn fact, Iâm certain of it, but given the gravity of the task before me, I see no choice but toââ
âRefuse!â The Queenâs head appeared around the corner of Lord Silvertonâs elbow. Her pale eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. âRefuse!â
âBe quiet!â I hissed.
His lordship blinked. âI beg your pardon?â
âThat is, I see no choice but to do what is required of me, whatever my personal objections to the haste and the unsuitable company.â
âVery good,â said the duchess.
âFool,â said the Queen.
âRight-ho,â said Lord Silverton. âThatâs settled. Letâs push off, shallwe?â
Â
The Lady spared not a glance for the gross and bloated body of her husband the Prince as she rose from their bed, but stepped instead into the antechamber and called for her handmaids to dress her. When she had dressed and broken her fast, she made her way deep into the intricate chambers of the palace, until she came upon the room that belonged to her idiot brother, which was locked and bolted.
But the Lady had the key to this chamber, and she went inside without fear and greeted her brother tenderly, for they had since childhood been all in all to each other. She told him of the shipsâ arrival, and her great distress over the fate of the Athenian youths, and her brother said, âThen why do you not seek to help them, my sister?â
The Lady shook her head. âBut what can I do? Our father will never allow me to deprive him of his greatest sport, nor will my husband the Prince.â
âThen, beloved sister, you must use your clever mind to trick them. Go in disguise to the great halls of the port, and discover among the comely youths one who has the strength and cunning to defeat the King and his depraved ally