The Accidental Countess (Accidental #2)(29)

CHAPTER TWELVE


“What would Patience Bunbury do?” Cass murmured to herself as she paced in front of the windows in the blue drawing room. How had the entire charade gone from tenuous to catastrophic in a matter of mere hours? She should have known this plan would never stand up to scrutiny … and the inclusion of several other people. The old Cass would have wrung her hands and asked Lucy what to do next. The new Cass, ahem, Patience, was determined to figure out a way to handle this.

“About what?” Lucy asked. As usual, she was doing several things at once. At present she was busily going over the evening’s dinner menu while picking out swaths of fabric for the new table linens the housekeeper planned to order.

Cass turned to face Lucy with wide eyes. “What do you think? Garrett and Owen!”

“Garrett won’t be an issue.” Lucy went back to perusing the menu. “I don’t think pickled beets sound good at all. Do you, Jane?”

Jane sat on the sofa in the center of the room wearing a light blue day dress. She pushed her spectacles up her nose and glanced up from her book. “Not at all.” She shuddered.

“Apparently, Mother adores them. Why am I not surprised?” Lucy rolled her eyes and drew a line through the pickled beets.

“Forget the pickled beets!” Cass tossed her hands in the air. “I must think. Garrett will be an issue. Lord Berkeley says Garrett knows we’re over here. He’s not stupid. He must have guessed we’re up to something, especially if Berkeley told him about the false identities. It’s not possible Garrett is going to stay away.”

“I’m afraid she’s right, Luce,” Jane replied. “I’ve little doubt Upton will be over here the minute he can put his horses to.”

Lucy waved her quill in the air as if brushing away the matter. “Garrett doesn’t scare me one bit. We’ll just tell him something to keep him quiet.”

“Something? What something? And what about Owen?” Cass viciously tugged at her gloves.

“Stop it, Cass. You’re going to ruin that perfectly lovely kid leather. And as for Owen, there’s absolutely no reason why he would come here. Lord Berkeley was quite certain he hadn’t mentioned the party to Owen.” She turned back to face Jane. “What do you think about pears?”

“Pickled pears?” Jane asked, wrinkling her nose.

“No. Just pears,” Lucy replied.

Jane shrugged. “As long as they’re not pickled, I’ve no objection.”

Cass stopped pacing and pinched the bridge of her nose, fighting the urge to throttle both of them. “It’s not that simple. I think we need to go to Garrett, find him, tell him what’s going on, and secure his promise to help us.”

This time Jane didn’t look up from her book. “Best of luck with that.” She snorted.

Lucy tapped her quill against her cheek. “Actually, Cass may have a point. It may be a problem if Garrett just barges in here and begins asking questions.”

At her friends’ silence Jane looked up to see them both staring at her. “What are you looking at me for?”

“You have to do it, Janie,” Cass began.

Jane snapped her book closed and let it fall to the cushion beside her. “You must be jesting.”

“No. I’m not. It has to be you.” Cass resumed both her pacing and her glove tugging in front of the fireplace.

“Why me?” Jane asked.

“Because Lucy cannot leave her own house party, and Garrett won’t listen to her in any case.”

“Oh, thank you, Cass,” Lucy said.

“You know it’s true,” Cass replied.

Jane’s eyes were wide. “And you think he’ll listen to me?”

Cass flew over to the sofa and kneeled at her friend’s feet. “Don’t you see? You have the best chance of convincing him, Jane. You’re so good at arguing your point and you’re so clever and wise and—”

Jane smiled at her and patted her cheek. “Don’t think I don’t know that you’re merely attempting to flatter me in order to get me to do your bidding.”

“Yes. I am,” Cass agreed, nodding. “But it’s true.”

Jane tugged Cass by the hand and pulled her up to sit next to her. Then she crossed her arms over her chest. “I truly have no earthly idea what you think I might possibly say to Upton of all people to get him to agree to go along with any of this.”

“You must at least try, Janie. Won’t you try, for me?” Cass asked, batting her eyelashes at Jane innocently.

“It is your turn,” Lucy added, abandoning the menu. “I seem to remember the last time such a mission came up, I was forced to go to Derek’s town house in Bath and tell him that Cass was sick.”

“Yes. And look how that ended,” Jane replied. “With you married to him.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lucy replied. “It’s not as if you’re going to marry Garrett.”

Jane nodded once. “Precisely why I should not be the one to go. Thank you, you’ve proved my point.”

“Janie, don’t listen to her, you may marry Garrett if you wish,” Cass replied with a small laugh.

Jane tossed her hands in the air. “I do not have any intention of marrying Upton. For heaven’s sake, I—”