should be the chaperone."
" But can I abandon Ned to that arrangement?"
Kitty glared at him, but could see he meant to be difficult about it. And really, there was no reason to be nervous. She and Lord Chatterton would be chaperoned by Ned and Pol.
He smiled slightly, as if he could read her mind. "I'm living here with just the one servant. It puzzles you, doesn't it? If you agree to my plan, I promise to explain all."
" I don't indulge in vulgar curiosity," Kitty lied. "But as you say, it is only fair to allow Pol and Ned to become acquainted. How is it to be arranged?"
" I suggest that each evening we four gather, alternating houses. We can talk, play cards, do whatever amuses us for a few hours. After some days of this, surely everyone will be clearer in their minds."
" Everyone?"
" Ned and Pol will know their minds. And we will know whether to approve or not."
Kitty was still unaccountably nervous. "I would think you would have other things to do with your evenings, my lord."
" Not just now, no. Well, Miss Mayhew?"
" How long is this to go on?"
" The servants here will begin to return on January 6th, the day after Twelfth Night."
" Mine will be back on the 7th."
" So, we have ten nights."
" It seems an imposition on you, my lord."
" No more of an imposition than it is for you, Miss Mayhew."
" But I live very quietly, especially now I am in mourning. You..."
" I?" Humor crinkled his eyes. "I need a break from my life of endless dissipation. Have pity, Miss Mayhew. Ten days of healthy suppers with very little wine and early bedtimes -- I'll be fit as a fiddle by Twelfth Night."
He was fit as a fiddle now, no one could deny that. Kitty hadn't really thought of it, but he didn't look like a worn-out libertine.
That was irrelevant anyway. She must do what was best for Pol. She didn't think of her maid as a slave, but she did feel some responsibility. She could no more agree to her wandering about with a man unchaperoned than she could agree to such behavior for a young sister.
If she had a young sister, then chaperoned social activities would be exactly what was called for. She could see no reason to refuse the plan, though a part of her wanted to.
Very badly.
Another part of her, however, was suddenly looking forward to the next ten nights more than she could ever have imagined. She was very curious about this man.
"Very well, my lord. But I reserve the right to put a stop to the plan if necessary."
" And I the same. Perhaps after a few unclandestine meetings, both Ned and Pol will find the magic fading. Familiarity, after all, is said to breed contempt."
" And `Sweets grown common lose their dear delight,' my lord? I think I understand your purpose now."
" And your Shakespeare caps my Aesop. You understand all too little, Miss Mayhew, despite your scholarly upbringing. So, tonight. Your house or mine?"
Kitty rose, pulling on her gloves to hide her fluster at the simple question. "Yours," she said, since she wasn't ready to have him invading her territory. "But what will people think to see me visiting your house every other night?"
" Not to mention my coming to yours. Perhaps," he said, pulling the bell-rope, "through the garden and mews, like a hopeful tom? There's actually a gate, if you care to unlock it."
Kitty wished he would stop making these suggestive remarks. They didn't mean anything, but they unsettled her, and he knew it. She feared he not only intended this courtship to cool Ned and Pol's ardor, but to provide amusement for himself in teasing her.
Before she could put words to any of this, however, Ned was there being informed of their plans. Kitty immediately felt ashamed of her earlier suspicions, for no one could doubt the shining delight that lit his face.
Just as Pol's face had glowed at merely speaking of him.
It was undoubtedly that plague called love.
So be it. As Kitty left the house, she decided to try to make this match work for Pol -- regardless of Lord Chatterton's