Match For Melissa (12 page)

As she hurried down the street, Melissa remembered Regina’s description of Lady Ashford’s musicale and she smiled. The music room had been dreadfully overheated and Regina had claimed that the stuffy air and the escalating temperatures had saved her from grave embarrassment. When their hostess had begun to sing an Italian aria, Regina had been able to hide her amusement behind her fan. It appeared that Lady Ashford’s voice was much as Lady Beckworth’s maid had described, though Regina had compared it to the screeching of an owl, rather than a crow.

One by one, Melissa accomplished the remaining errands and she was emerging from the last shop with her arms heavily laden with packages when she spied a small puppy running into the street. At that instant, a coach careened around the corner, heading straight for the hapless little dog. Melissa did not stop to consider her own safety or the fate of the packages she carried. She let her bundles fall where they might and dashed out into the street. With nary a second to spare, she snatched the puppy from beneath the horses’ hooves before he could be trampled and jumped back to a place of safety.

It was only then, as Melissa stood there holding the badly frightened puppy in her arms, that she realized the penalty her humane action had cost her. The expensive bottle of brandy had broken and she had no more money with which to replace it.

For one who had been in the habit of entertaining late and sleeping until the sun was midway in the sky, Robert was out uncharacteristically early. He had been to the flower stall to buy a bouquet to present to Regina, and he had also purchased token gifts for Dorothea and Lady Harrington. He had chosen a trinket for Dorothea, a small wooden carving of a squirrel since she had mentioned how the creatures scampered through the trees at Harrington Manor. For Lady Harrington, his offering was less whimsical. He had found a small silk bag, embroidered with flowers, which was filled with a delightful blend of potpourri.

As Robert wheeled his team around the corner, he came upon a sad sight. A young girl was standing by the side of the street, staring down at a pile of packages that she had dropped. She held a small puppy in her arms and Robert pulled up on the reins as he caught sight of her face. She was Lissa. And from the woebegone expression that flooded across her countenance, she was in no small distress.

Melissa looked up as a familiar voice hailed her. It was the duke! As she watched, he wheeled his curricle to the side, leaving his horses to the care of his man, and hopped out.

“Oh, dear!” Melissa held the puppy a bit tighter and buried her face in his soft fur. “We are indeed in a tangle, if he sees fit to tell Jane what I have done!”

“What happened, Lissa?” The duke arrived at her side and gestured toward the jumble of packages that were strewn about. “Did someone knock you down?”

Tears gathered in Melissa’s eyes and she blinked them. back. “No, your grace. I…I dropped them! And now Jane…I mean, Lady Harrington, will never trust me with her errands again. And I was so enjoying the morning air and being out of the house.”

Robert reached out to scratch the little puppy under the chin. “You may leave Lady Harrington to me, Lissa. I will devise a way to tame her ire. But tell me, how did you come by this fine fellow?”

“He was about to be trampled by a speeding carriage. That’s why I dropped the packages, your grace. I had to save him. I simply could not stand by and do nothing!”

“Of course you could not.” The duke began to retrieve her packages but he ceased quickly when he came to one with a brown stain that was spreading over the paper. “What
is
this, Lissa?”

“I fear it’s your brandy. The bottle broke when I dropped it. The other packages are intact. I examined them before you arrived.”

Robert lifted a flap of the paper and winced at the label inside. “Perhaps that is all to the good. I shall replace this brandy with a bottle from my own cellars. It will be our secret, Lissa, and Lady Harrington will be none the wiser.”

“Oh, thank you, your grace! You have no concept of how much this will mean to me!”

“Nor to me. Because of your timely mishap, I shall be allowed to sip my favorite brandy in Lady Harrington’s Drawing
Room.” The duke laughed as he picked up the remainder of Melissa’s packages and rose to his feet. “Come along, Lissa. I will provide you with a bottle of brandy and then I will carry you home.”

When Melissa reached the duke’s curricle, she stared down at the puppy in her arms. He was curled up, fast asleep, and she could not bear the thought of leaving him here, on the dangerous streets. “But, your grace…what will I do with Perseus?”

“Perseus?” The duke raised his brows in surprise. “Then you’ve named him already?”

Melissa nodded. “Yes, your grace. I thought it appropriate for if I attempt to keep him, he will have to borrow the helmet of Hades to make himself invisible to Lady Harrington.”

“And winged sandals so that he can fly out of her path.” The duke laughed heartily. “Perseus it is then. What think you of your name, little fellow?”

Perseus opened one eye, sighed in contentment, and went straight back to sleep. This elicited a rumble of laughter from the duke, but Melissa was still too anxious about the puppy’s reception to do more than smile as he helped her into his curricle.

The duke picked up the reins and turned to Melissa. “From your comments, I presume that Lady Harrington will not welcome Perseus with welcome arms?”

“No, your grace.” Melissa sighed deeply. “Lady Harrington is a staunch proponent of the theory that any animal, kept in the house, is a hazard to the health of all who reside there. I daresay that if she lays eyes on Perseus, she will toss him out like yesterday’s refuse.”

The duke nodded. “I would have guessed as much. Does the rest of the family share in this sentiment?”

“Oh, no, your grace! Miss Regina loves animals and would gladly keep my secret, as would Miss Dorothea. This is the very reason I will not ask them to do so. Lady Harrington would
would chastise them if she suspected that they were aiding me in a deception.”

“I see.” The duke looked thoughtful. “What would you say, Lissa, if I told you that I knew of a home for Perseus? It is a place where he would have all the love and care he could wish for.”

“I would change his name to Lucky and wish him Godspeed.”

The duke laughed as he nodded. “It is settled then. Lucky Perseus will make his home with me.”

“Oh, thank you, your grace!” Melissa didn’t think, she simply leaned over and bestowed a kiss upon the duke’s cheek. Then, realizing the social blunder that she had committed, she gasped in sudden alarm. “Your grace! I am so terribly sorry! Please say that you will overlook my rash behavior and accept my abject apologies! My only excuse is that I was so…so grateful!”

“Do not concern yourself, Lissa.” When the duke turned toward her, his eyes were twinkling. “Your action was quite spontaneous and entirely appropriate for the circumstances that prompted it.”

“Yes, your grace.” Melissa dipped her head in a nod, but color still stained her cheeks. It would constitute a grave breech of etiquette for the daughter of a nobleman to kiss a duke in broad daylight on a public street. For a mere servant to do so was totally unthinkable!

The duke must have noticed that she was still anxious for he reached over to pat her hand. “Let us go on as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened. You must promise not give it another thought.”

“Yes, your grace.” Melissa agreed readily enough, but she knew that she would not forget the kiss that she had given him. She would think about it again when she was alone. It was as close as she would ever come to the man of her dreams, and she would not forget it so long as she drew breath.

The next few days were a delight for the duke and he found that he did not mind in the slightest when Lissa accompanied Regina on their outings. The ride they had taken through the park had been most enjoyable. Regina had explained that was Lissa’s first view of society on parade and Robert had found himself laughing frequently as Regina had attempted to explain the proper etiquette for such an excursion. When one met a person of a higher ranking, one did not speak unless spoken to. One inclined one’s head, assumed a friendly countenance, and took direction from the manner of the other. If another carriage pulled abreast and a conversation ensued, one was permitted only the briefest of discourses before moving on to let others pass by. And if, heaven forfend, one chanced to spot a gentleman of one’s acquaintance who was accompanied by his mistress, one expressed an abiding interest in the view from the opposite direction and pretended not to notice so as not to embarrass the gentleman.

There were other rules and Robert had listened as Regina had explained them all. A lady did not remove her gloves for any but the most necessary reason and kept her face shielded from the sun by a bonnet. She never pointed at things of interest, laughed too loudly at her escort’s quips, or otherwise made a spectacle of herself. Stopping the carriage to climb out when one desired a closer view of a lovely flower or a tree filled with blossoms was never permitted on the Promenade, and one’s dignity must be maintained at all times.

“What a lot of bother, having to remember all that!” Lissa’s eyes had been wide with amazement. “It removes all the enjoyment from riding through the park!”

Regina had nodded in complete agreement. “I fear that you have the right of it, Lissa. But unless a lady observes these rules, she is not accepted.”

“Given the choice, I should prefer not to be accepted!” Lissa had sighed deeply. “I, for one, will be glad when I am back at Harrington Manor. There I can stop to pick all the flowers I
wish, and point to my heart’s content. And even more enjoyable, I can run through the grass in my bare feet!”

“Have you truly done that, Lissa?” Regina had appeared surprised at Lissa’s confession.

“Yes, indeed I have! It fills me with a delicious sense of freedom, as if I am part of the wild things that live in the wood. One must be cautious, though, and not choose to indulge this pastime in a field where cattle have recently grazed. There are some objects that are most unpleasant for one’s foot to encounter.”

“Lissa!” Regina had collapsed into laughter, but when her initial burst of merriment had passed, she had turned to Robert with an anxious expression. “Please excuse us, Duke. I fear that Lissa and I have sadly forgotten our manners.”

Robert had smiled with amusement. “Indeed you have, and I find that I am very grateful. I have been bored to tears by previous rides through the park with proper young ladies. Escorting the two of you has been a most enjoyable exception.”

“Then you don’t mind, your grace?” Lissa had appeared remorseful for her lapse.

“Not in the slightest. And if ever you find yourself longing for a run through the grass without the benefit of shoes, I will dismiss the servants, clear the house, and offer my garden for your pleasure.”

The remainder of the ride had passed enjoyably and when they had returned to Lady Harrington’s Drawing Room, Robert had indulged in a snifter of the excellent brandy he had provided to replace the bottle that Lissa had broken. There had also been lemon seed cakes. Lissa had made them that very morning and when Robert had asked, she had promised to copy the recipe for Henri, his French chef. Before taking his leave, Robert had surprised himself by asking Lady Harrington’s permission to escort Regina to the watercolour exhibit the next afternoon.

On the following afternoon, Lissa had again accompanied them as they perused the paintings that covered the huge walls
of the gallery. Regina had stopped to admire a still life of a bowl of fruit.

“What a lovely apple!” she had exclaimed. “It appears to be as delicious as it is perfect, and I should partake of it with the greatest of pleasure.”

Lissa had frowned. “I should not let you eat it, for I fear that this particular apple should present a grave danger.”

“But why?” Regina had turned to Lissa. “The apple is perfection, itself!”

“Exactly so and that is precisely the problem. It is much
too
perfect. A perfect apple must be suspect, as nature itself is imperfect.”

Robert had begun to smile for he surmised that Lissa was enjoying this argument immensely. “Go on, Lissa. Explain your reasoning to us.”

“You must think about the apples you have eaten. I daresay they have all had some quality to keep them from approaching perfection. Perhaps it was a wormhole, or a spot of blight, a color that faded at the top or the bottom, or a shape that was slightly uneven. The apple in this painting is perfection itself, and I cannot help but be reminded of the perfect poisoned apple that the witch presented to Snow White.”

Robert had laughed, but he had been puzzled by Lissa’s knowledge of the story. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm had but recently published their collection of fables, and
Nursery and Household Tales
had been written in German. “You astound me, Lissa. How did you come to know of this tale?”

“It is simple, your grace.” Lissa had exchanged a speaking glance with Regina and then she had given him a disarming smile. “I am certain you have heard mention that Lord Harrington was a scholar of no small repute.”

Robert had nodded. His father had mentioned that aspect of the baron’s character.

“His lordship was used to enjoy the pleasures of Paris and it was there that he made the acquaintance of Mr. Jacob Grimm. They met in the libraries where Mr. Grimm was working with
Savigny. His lordship was pleased to find that they had a common interest in fables and folklore, and they spent many an enjoyable evening exhausting this topic. When Lord Harrington returned to England to take up his duties at Harrington Manor, they deepened their acquaintance through frequent correspondence, and his lordship was among the first to receive a volume of
Fables and Household Tales.
Though it was written in German, Lord Harrington was fluent in that tongue, and he would often translate the stories for us in the schoolroom.”

“You were in the schoolroom, Lissa?” Robert had been surprised. It was highly unusual that a servant be allowed access to that chamber of learning.