The Earl's Inconvenient Wife (Regency Collection Book 1) (20 page)

Chapter Twenty

O
ne day before Nate was supposed to see Lord Hedwrett to settle the debt, Claire was beginning to despair that Mister Robinson wasn’t going to send the clothes.  But around noon, the butler informed her that a gentleman insisted on giving her a package in person.  Relieved, she put aside her graphite pencil and paper and rose from her desk.

“Let him in,” she told the butler.

As she walked over to the settee, the butler brought the young gentleman in, and she noticed the package he held under his arm.  Good.  Mister Robinson came through after all!

She waited until the butler left before she turned her attention to the
gentleman who’d delivered the package.  In a low voice, she said, “I’ll pay you for the delivery.”

Before she could go to her desk, the
gentleman removed his mustache, hat and wig.  “The clothes will only get you so far.”

Her eyes grew wide.  “Mister Robinson!” she hissed.  “What are you doing here?”

“You’ll need to sneak into Lord Hedwrett’s house, and I don’t think you and Miss Lowell are familiar with doing that.”

“Granted, we aren’t
, but couldn’t you have written instructions instead of coming in person?”

Looking amused, he shook his head.  “Lady Roderick, this is something I can’t explain.  I have to show you how to do it.  I’ve been thinking about where we went wrong when you dressed up as a stableboy.”

“I know what went wrong.  My husband showed up.”

“And he saw right away you were his wife.  What you needed was a beard to help hide your face.”

“You could have sent me a beard instead of delivering it in person.”

“Ah, but have you ever snuck into a house as a chambermaid?”

She blinked, wondering what he was getting at.  “Chambermaid?  I thought we were talking about dressing up as men.”

“No.  That’s too obvious.  You and Lilly need to be chambermaids.  I’ve been cleaning out chamber pots for a while now, and I’ve learned a couple of things.  Not only is it the most disgusting job a person can have, but chambermaids are never seen or heard.  It’s the perfect way to hide.  No one pays attention to them, but chambermaids pick up on everything everyone else is doing.  That’s th
e beauty of you and your sister dressing up as chambermaids.”

She wasn’t sure about his plan, but as she thought about it, it had more
appeal than dressing up as a stableboy again.  “So you brought chambermaid clothes?”

“And wigs.  This will work.”

“You’re not dressing up as a chambermaid, are you?”

He gasped and then laughed.  “No.  I will be a stableboy.”

“It seems that you’ve thought of everything.”

“I have.”

“But what about my husband?  You’re supposed to be at Weston.  He won’t be happy to learn you’re in London.”

“I already took care of that.  I wrote to Lord Clement and told him everything.”

Her jaw dropped.  “You didn’t!” she hissed, glancing at the doorway to make sure no one was passing by.  It was only by luck Mister Robinson chose to come by when her husband was at White’s.  If Nate had been there when Mister Robinson showed up…  She’d rather not think of the implications of that one.

“I had to get his permission to leave Weston so Lord Roderick would agree to it.  It worked.  Lord Clement told your husband that he’s not feeling well and needs me to tend to him for a few days.  Then I’ll return back to prison.”

Despite her best intentions, she giggled.  “Mister Robinson, you wouldn’t be confined to a prison if you would behave like a gentleman.  It’s your own doing you’re stuck cleaning chamber pots.”

“Yes.  I suppose you’re right.”

“I don’t know what you were doing to get in trouble, but Lord Clement wouldn’t have sent you to Weston to be under Lord Roderick’s supervision unless he cared enough about you to prevent you from becoming as unsavory as Lord Hedwrett.  Are you aware of his reputation?”

“Yes, but I don’t do the things Lord Hedwrett does.”

“Did Lord Hedwrett start out doing the things he does now?  From what I understand, it was a progression.  He pressed boundaries of acceptable behavior, and the more he got away with, the more boundaries he wanted to push.  That’s the problem with doing the wrong things.  You’re never satisfied.  At some point, the misbehavior loses its thrill, and you need to seek out something that pushes more boundaries.”

She heard footsteps approaching, so she motioned for him to put his wig, hat, and beard back on.  He did and set the package down on her desk.

The butler carried the tea into the room and set the tray on the table.  “Is there anything else you need, my lady?”

“No, thank you.” She waited until he left before motioning for Mister Robinson to sit down.  “While you’re here, tell me how we can sneak into Lord Hedwrett
’s home tomorrow evening.”

With a nod, he sat across from her in a chair and told her his plan.

***

“Claire, this is the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever done, and what’s worse is that you’re dragging me into it,” Lilly said.

Claire adjusted her blond wig before putting on her maid hat.  “I’m doing this because I love you, and after tonight, you’ll be thanking me.”

“If you say so.” She adjusted her heavy skirt and sighed.  “I can’t believe chambermaids wear these clothes all the time.  How do they manage?”

“They’re probably used to it.”

“Probably.” She tucked some red strands of her wig under her hat and glanced at Claire.  “How do I look?”

“Almost perfect.” Claire walked over to her and added a fake beauty mark to her cheek.  “There.  Now it’s perfect.”

Though she sighed, there was a hint of amusement on her lips.  “If I had known you had this sneaky side to you sooner, we could have done many fun things together.”

“I thought we had fun while we were growing up.”

“We did, but I had no idea you could be mischievous.”

Claire decided she didn’t want to know the type of mischievous activities her sister might do without her knowledge.  What she was doing tonight was for a good cause.  She motioned for Lilly to follow her to the door of her bedchamber.  Thankfully, Marion hadn’t checked on them.  So far, they had gone undetected.  All they needed to do was slip out the back and meet Mister Robinson down the street.

Claire took a deep breath to steady her nerves.  This was her second time dressing up in a disguise, but this wasn’t any easier than the first time.  There was no doubt about it.  Lilly had her pegged as someone who didn’t want to act inappropriately, and she was right.  This was making Claire break into a sweat.  Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened the door and peered into the hallway.  It was empty.  Good.

She motioned to Lilly to follow her down the hall and noted that Lilly stood on her tiptoes and hurried after her, pretending to be anxious as she did so.  Claire resisted the urge to roll her eyes.  Leave it to Lilly to make fun of her.

Once they reached the servants’ staircase, they snuck down the steps.  Claire’s heart pounded furiously in her chest, and she stopped at every sound.  At what was her tenth time pausing to determine if someone was coming up the stairs, Lilly let out a loud sigh and pushed past her.

“We’ll grow old and grey by the time we reach the bottom of the stairs at the rate you’re going,” Lilly whispered.

“I’m sorry.  It’s just that my husband would be upset if he found out I dressed up as a chambermaid and snuck into Lord Hedwrett’s home.”

She rolled her eyes.  “This was your idea.”

“I know that.” And it would be worth it, even if Nate did find out.

Lilly lifted her skirts and bounced down the steps, not seeming to notice the noise she made.  It was on the tip of Claire’s tongue to warn her to be quiet, but she realized Lilly was too far ahead of her so she ran after her.  Once they reached the bottom of the steps, they glanced at the kitchen where the kitchen maid was putting dishes away on the shelves.  Since she had her back turned to them, they hurried to the back door and slipped outside.

Claire closed the door softly behind them and collapsed against it.  They made it out of the house.  Meeting Mister Robinson would be the easy part.  Feeling much better, Claire joined Lilly and headed down the street.

“I don’t know how you can be so calm,” Claire softly said, not wishing for anyone to overhear.

As far as she could tell, the few people they passed didn’t pay them any mind.  Even so, she lowered her head whenever they walked by someone, but Lilly refused to bow her head.  Was it possible Lilly was daring someone to discover who she was?  It wasn’t like it was dark out.  The sun wouldn’t set for another hour.

“No one cares who we are because we’re supposed to be chambermaids,” Lilly whispered.  “You have nothing to worry about.  Mister Robinson had a good idea.”

Feeling better, Claire lifted her head.  “You’re right.”

When they turned down the street where Lord Hedwrett lived, Claire spotted Mister Robinson wearing the same disguise he’d had on the previous day.  Thankfully, he’d thought of how they would get into Lord Hedwrett’s residence.

When they reached the youth, Claire asked, “Is my husband here?”

“He just got here.  We’ll go in through the back,” he replied and turned to lead them around to the back of the residence.

“Aren’t you afraid someone’s going to see us?” Claire wondered, glancing behind them.  So far, it looked like they remained undetected.  With any luck, it would stay that way.

“I know the brother of Lord Hedwrett’s butler’s cousin.  He assured me that the staff wouldn’t notice me.”

“What about us?”

“Oh, I gave you wigs and clothes so you’d look just like the chambermaids who work for Lord Hedwrett.  You both don’t look exactly like them, but as long as you don’t make eye contact with anyone, they’ll assume you’re them.”

“You thought through everything, didn’t you?” Lilly commented, sounding impressed.

“You have to if you’re going to get past Lord Roderick,” he muttered.  They reached the back door, and he glanced at Claire.  “It’s a good thing chambermaids aren’t seen or heard.”

Deciding not to comment, Claire waited for him to open the door and led Lilly into the house before she followed behind them.  She shut the door behind her and hastened after them as they made their way to the servants’ stairs.  She noticed the butler collect a decanter and a couple of glasses to put on a tray.  The butler looked in their direction but turned his attention swiftly back to the tray as if he hadn’t seen them.  She shook her head.  Just how many connections did Mister Robinson have?  There was no doubt about it.  He had to be one of the most resourceful people she’d ever met.

They went up the stairs and down a hall, back down another flight of stairs and then back up.  On their way through another hallway, she stopped him.

“Where are we going?” she whispered, though there was no one from the household in sight.

“We’re going to the drawing room,” he replied.

“But isn’t it close to the entrance of this house?”

“Of course.”

She forced back her exasperation.  “Then why are we going up and down stairs as if we were going through a maze?”

“There’s no point in sneaking into a house if you take the direct route.”

At that, Lilly giggled.

Claire groaned.  Leave it to her sister and Mister Robinson to think the unnecessary steps was funny.  “Mister Robinson, the future of my sister’s happiness is at stake.”

He shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  “Lord Hedwrett’s brother told me he never starts with business.  He likes to play a couple of games first.  Right now your husband is probably trying to avoid playing for money.  Lord Hedwrett has a tendency to cheat, too, so
gentlemen have to be careful.”

“I doubt Lord Roderick will be taken in by Lord Hedwrett’s ploy.”

“I have no doubt you’re right, but that won’t stop Lord Hedwrett from trying.”

Claire glanced at Lilly, wondering what she thought of that, but Lilly was peering into one of the bedrooms.  She went over to her and took her by the arm.  “Come on, Lilly.  We aren’t here to see the house.”

“But it’s a beautiful one!” Lilly whispered.  “The curtains are such a lovely shade of purple.”

“Let’s go,” she muttered, dragging Lilly with her as Mister Robinson turned down the hallway so they could go down another flight of steps.

This time, he led them straight to the drawing room which was next to the saloon.  To her surprise, he moved aside a portrait from the wall and motioned to a peephole in the wall.  Her jaw dropped.  What was the peephole doing there?  Did Lord Hedwrett know it existed?  Were there similar holes in her townhouse or at Weston?  She’d have to inspect the rooms of her homes at her earliest convenience.  In the meantime, she had more important things to think about.

She peered through the hole and saw Lord Hedwrett and her husband playing cards at a small round table.  She backed away from the wall and gestured for her sister to look through it.  As much as she wanted to watch what happened, it was more important Lilly got to see it instead.  While Lilly looked through the peephole, Claire brought her ear to the wall.  Though the words were mostly muffled, she was able to make out some of what they said.  She furrowed her eyebrows and focused on what they were saying.