Jack Valentine (Haberdashers Tales Book 4) Page 4

  While Kellen complained in his bitter, dry tone, Artie thought through a number of fears. First, that Kellen somehow knew of their indiscretions. Second, that any of the other gentlemen had tried to 'distract' Teddy. Lastly, simply that Teddy had been upset. It was hard to imagine her being a bossy, unreasonable taskmaster.

  "It's hard to know what to do with a girl like Miss Minett," the odious Mr. Kellen was saying. "Too poor to be a wife, and too well-born to be a mistress, yet too pretty to be ignored."

  The snickers from the other two made it clear that Kellen was playing to his audience, most likely only repeating something he had said to them before, doing it now for Arthur's benefit. Artie, however, was far from entertained. He shot to his feet.

  "I say! Never speak of Miss Minett in such a way again!"

  Rather than inspire any fear, his response only led to more snickering plus a grin from Mr. Kellen. "Oh, Mr. Graham, you don't have feelings for the chit, do you?"

  "I'll remind you she is the sister of one of my best friends, and in her own right deserves only your respect."

  "It's sad that the best of your friends is a man now more than ten years dead."

  "As though you have any friends," Artie spat back.

  Kellen's gaze sharpened in the way it did when his temper had been truly struck. "Careful, Graham, or you will see precisely what my friends will do for me."

  "Favors bought on your father's name are no more friendships than those hoping to get to my uncle through me."

  Kellen rose to stand toe to toe with Artie. "Your uncle is all you have or ever will, you inconsequential nothing."

  "Better to be nothing than a drag on humanity like yourself."

  Kellen shoved at Artie's shoulder, then wagged a finger in his face. "You'd best be careful I don't drag you down with me, then!" His eyes hooded and lips twisted into a cruel smile. "Or your little Miss Minett."

  Artie knew he was being baited, but lost all capacity for rational thought. His fist went flying before he could consider the consequences. Kellen reeled backward into Knowles. Before the bloody bastard could return the punch, the room was flooded with footmen. Within seconds Reeves had the room cleared and Artie was standing alone with a throbbing hand and the smell of spilled brandy.

  Shortly, Reeves returned with a poultice wrap. "I hope it's not an inconvenience, but we weren't particularly gentle when escorting them out."

  Could he afford it when establishing his own home, Artie would hire a brilliant, remorseless butler exactly like Reeves.

  Chapter Eleven

  Teddy was surprised to see Mr. Graham at their meeting. It was clear after some minutes that there was a disagreement of some sort afoot. Artie, Mr. Graham, was stone-faced and silent and Mr. Kellen was more quiet than usual, while the misters Knowles and Hargrove looked back and forth between the two of them as though something exciting might happen at any moment. Once Teddy had read through the list of their remaining tasks, the conversation flagged under the tension of the assembled.

  Mr. Kellen took his leave, hardly even speaking to Miss Haste. As he turned, Teddy noticed a shadow along his chin that could very well be a bruise. She had already noted that Mr. Graham seemed to be cradling one of his long-fingered hands in the other. Had there been a fight? If so, why? She turned to Lauren who was frowning at the door Mr. Kellen had left through.

  "What do you think-"

  "I need to go," Lauren interrupted her.

  "Of course," Teddy said immediately.

  The Gage twins followed Lauren, and Miss Wells hurried after them. Hargrove thumped Knowles in the chest and said to the room at large. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." When the two men left, it was just she and Mr. Graham. Alone. Again.

  "Are you all right, Miss Minett?"

  She didn't know if she wanted to laugh hysterically or throw something at him, or simply leave. Apparently she needn't respond at all because he spoke again.

  "The gentlemen called on me last night and they made me worry that one of them may have been untoward with you."

  Hysterical laughter seemed like it would be the best idea. The only man who had ever been untoward with her had been Artie Graham.

  "Please say something, Miss Minett," he finally pleaded.

  Rather than say anything, she walked over to him and took his hand in hers, the one he seemed to be cradling. It was swollen, with split skin over one knuckle. "Why were you fighting?" she asked quietly.

  "Mr. Kellen doesn't appreciate that you are making him work. He is a singularly unpleasant man when upset."

  She frowned. "If he doesn't want to work, then he needn't volunteer."

  "He needs to marry Miss Haste. This committee gives him access to her that he wouldn't have otherwise."

  "Oh please! She would never marry him."

  "I beg to differ. She told me herself that she will, once she exacts the pound of flesh she feels he owes her for making her wait so long."

  "That's horrible."

  He shrugged. "I agree. But he wants her money and she wants his title."

  "That's even more horrible."

  "And there's the small fact that she's always loved him, which I doubt she wanted me to tell anyone."

  ***

  When he mentioned Lauren's admission of love, Teddy raised her gaze to his, a sad and uncertain look in her eyes that he couldn't quite define.

  "He will never be worthy of her love," she said in a quiet but fierce tone.

  "I've known Grant Kellen his whole life, and I can assure you that is true. But no one ever said love is wise, I suppose."

  She nodded sadly and returned her regard to his hands, looking at both of them. "You've nicked yourself some more."

  "I've been working a lot. There will be more toys than I originally estimated."

  She finally released his hands and he immediately missed her touch. "The children will be pleased."

  Looking at her bowed head, he thought he would stop making toys and carve her a garden of flowers instead. His fingers itched to get started. Lilies, gardenias. Dozens of peonies. It was hard not to draw her close enough to smell her sweet scent.

  She was speaking again in that soft tone. "We needn't have another meeting. I'll send notes around."

  Then she was gone.

  Chapter Twelve

  Her revised plan was for the women to assemble all the gifts the afternoon before, and the men to pick them up that evening for distribution early the next morning, and that seemed to work well. Mr. Kellen had seemed downright jovial while loading his carriage. Not that Teddy was particularly worried about pleasing Mr. Kellen, but she did prefer a convivial group.

  After they packed up the gifts she had been a bit too excited to sleep, but finally drifted off. Bernice knew she wanted to go into town early in the morning to listen to the children singing songs and opening presents, so Teddy wasn't surprised that it was still dark out when she heard someone in her room.

  "Father Valentine left you something, love," the old maid said cheerfully. Only Father Valentine himself could make Bernice sound cheerful at this time of the morning. The maid lit some candles and set to stoking up the fire as Teddy sat up and scratched the ears of a very annoyed Pellinore. As the room brightened Teddy saw the present sitting on the end of her bed. A box so large one could hardly put one's arms around it, with silver and red ribbons. She smiled. Had Lauren put it together to tease her? That was the sort of thing friends did, wasn't it? She untied the ribbons and pulled off the paper, then dug through the cloud of thin paper inside. At first she thought there wasn't anything inside, a clever joke of its own, really. She still wouldn't know what was inside! Then her fingers encountered some thick paper at the bottom and she pulled it out.

  Roses are red

  Violets are blue

  Why visit my whore

  When I have you?

  ~ A.G.

  A cold spear pierced her heart. For one short minute she considered if it could be Artie Graham. She couldn't believe tha
t it was. But Grant Kellen? Yes, she could very much believe it was him. Had she somehow infuriated the man this much? Or was he simply redirecting his irritation with Lauren onto Teddy? She crumpled the paper in her fist and jumped out of bed.

  "What's in it, lovey?"

  "Just a joke from a friend," Teddy said flatly. She threw the paper into the fire and watched with satisfaction as it curled up, blackened, and blew up the flue.

  She surveyed her wardrobe and considered what she could wear today that would make her feel strong. She was surprised when the answer was her blue walking dress. She had Bernice bind her into a corset because when one wasn't sure if they could keep their own spine stiff and proud, a corset could do wonders.

  ***

  The previous evening Artie had delivered over a hundred toys for the women to parcel into baskets, then returned to gather the baskets and other gifts he was assigned to deliver. Now it was well after dawn and he had changed from his incognito Jack Valentine garb, which really just meant taking off his hat and mask and changing his jacket. The children had stopped singing for hot buns with the sunrise and now ran and laughed in the streets, showing off their presents. Artie was enjoying listening to their laughter as he made his way to the town square. Teddy's original checklist had included meeting for a celebratory morning meal. Artie wasn't sure he thought the group should spend any more time together, but he didn't want to be seen as not supporting the event either. And it would be another chance to see Teddy.

  After spending better than a week avoiding her, now he found that all he wanted was to see her. Well, that wasn't all he wanted. He wanted the right to touch her as he dreamed. To have the wherewithal to marry her and keep her in the style she deserved. To wake up every morning with the smell of peonies in his bed.

  It would be best not to keep thinking such things.

  As he approached the square he saw Kellen and Hargrove already there, along with Miss Haste and the Misses Gage. They seemed in a fine mood, which boded well. Perhaps the magic of the day would keep the group from being too contentious. Then he saw Teddy. She looked furious and was striding toward the group at a fancy clip. He hastened to intercept her.

  She spit out at Kellen, "I received your 'gift' this morning."

  "Mine?" he asked with far too much false innocence. Teddy was having none of it.

  "Don't try to deny it. You're the only one with the mean streak to do it."

  "What did you do?" Lauren asked, confused and looking back and forth between Teddy and Kellen.

  "It was just a little joke," Kellen said, shrugging a shoulder as though it was nothing of consequence.

  Teddy lunged forward and Artie caught her around the waist, dragging her back before she could scratch at the man's eyes or something else unwise. He had never seen Teddy so upset and once he calmed her would demand satisfaction from Kellen himself.

  "If you thought to break my heart with callousness, then you were far too late," Teddy raged.

  "Too late?" Kellen lapped up her words like a cat at cream, and raised his gaze to Artie's. "Why, Mr. Graham, what did you do?"

  Artie felt Teddy stiffen in his hold and knew that she hadn't quite realized who was holding her back. While his mind whirled with questions about broken hearts and callousness, he heard Miss Haste insistently ask again, "Grant, what did you do?"

  "Oh, I just gave her that present she wanted. With a little note from Artie, of course. Apparently it touched on a nerve."

  "What sort of note?" Lauren insisted.

  "He called me a whore," Teddy said bitterly.

  Kellen raised his hands. "That's not true." After a short pause he added. "Not exactly true."

  Artie pushed Teddy into the arms of the Misses Gage and launched himself on Mr. Kellen. There were no footmen to pull them apart this time and they quickly descended into a schoolyard brawl in the middle of Aylsham. Hargrove demonstrated exactly how much he wasn't Kellen's friend by not interceding in any way. Kellen actually had more in the way of training and experience in a fight, but it was no match for Artie's heftier figure and copious rage. As a gentleman, Artie stopped once Kellen was down. Not that he wanted to, but he had already compromised his own honor enough in the past fortnight.

  Miss Haste, however, landed the last blow. Not with her fists, but from her lips, white with anger. "I can't believe you did this. I will never marry you."

  Chapter Thirteen

  Teddy was still shaking from rage and mortification. She had misled Bernice, convincing the maid to stay at a shop a block away from where she was to meet the committee so that the woman wouldn't take the story back to her parents. Now all Teddy wanted was to go home and she literally couldn't remember which street the shop was on. And Artie Graham was standing over her again, breathing heavily from his exertions.

  "Are you all right, Miss Minett?"

  If the man she thought she loved had defended her honor and asked after her, she would have swooned. But she didn't know who this man was, didn't know why he asked after her. Had Mr. Kellen accidentally written a poem that captured how Mr. Graham thought of her? Or even not accidentally? She certainly didn't know what conversations they had when she wasn't in the room.

  "Teddy, please say something."

  "I want to go home."

  "I'll have my carriage fetched."

  "I need to find my maid."

  "I'll have her found."

  She nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. Now that her rage was ebbing she felt desperately cold. Arthur draped his overcoat over her shoulders before walking a short distance away to bribe boys with pennies to do his bidding. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the weight and heat of the coat.

  "Are you warm enough?"

  He had returned. If she said no would he embrace her here on the street? What if Bernice couldn't be found, would she be safe in a carriage with him?

  She needn't have worried. Within moments both Bernice and the carriage had arrived. He bundled them inside and didn't even join them on the journey. Once home she realized that she still had his overcoat and wondered how he fared, bruised, cold, and without his transportation.

  "Another package for you, lovey," Bernice said once they were inside.

  Teddy looked at the small simple box with her name scrawled on the paper wrapping and knew this one was from Artie Graham. Her name was in the same handwriting used on the package of wooden roses. She thought for a moment that she might simply be too tired to open it, but tucked it under her arm and took it upstairs with her. Spying the large box with red and silver ribbons on her bed, she considered consigning it all to the fire. Instead, she sat on her bed and opened her latest package.

  First, she encountered folded paper. Pulling it out, she saw carved wood inside. More little flowers, no bigger than could be cupped in her palm. She set the box aside and unfolded the paper.

  Dear Miss Minett,

  I know that nothing can come of my adoration of you, but I've carved a flower for every day that has passed since you most recently visited us here at Graham House. I call them Teddy's Garden. There are of course peonies, as they remind me of your perfume. Had I the talent, I would paint them. Flowers deserve vibrancy, especially if they are to be compared to your beauty. Alas, all I can offer you are these simple wooden tokens of my regard.

  Yours Truly,

  Arthur

  A flower for every day since they had kissed. Did she not understand his intentions at all? Teddy very carefully picked up the little box and set it inside the larger one with red and silver ribbons, tucking Arthur's note in next to it. She selected one of the tiny peonies and gathered up her bottle of perfume and watercolor paints.

  ***

  Arthur walked home from Aylsham. He hadn't thought it worth it to wait for the carriage to return, especially as he hardly had the patience to cool his heels while still puzzling over Teddy's talk of heartbreak. Was there another man in her life that he didn't know about? He tamped down his jealousy because he knew what he wished for
her was a better match than he would be himself. But if that man had broken Teddy's heart? Well, then Artie would have at least one more incident of bruised and bleeding knuckles. What if she had been referring to Arthur himself? He didn't know how that could be. She had barely spoken to him all her life. They had shared one kiss. Granted, a kiss that would remain one of his favorite memories. It warmed his evenings and lingered in his dreams.

  By the time Reeves let him in the house, he was nearly frozen through. After admonishing Teddy, it looked as though he might be the one to catch his death of cold. And she wasn't here to warm him. Not that her tiny body could cover much of his larger one, but he was sure that her nearness alone would cause his own temperature to rise. Cold, exhausted, and aching, he took to his bed early.

  It felt like hardly any time had passed before someone was pulling his drapes open to let the light in. His throat hurt and his nose was stuffed. Pulling the covers over his head he grumbled, "Go away."

  "There is a delivery for you, Master Arthur."

  Reeves only called him Master Arthur on two occasions of rather opposite meaning. One, when he was feeling particularly well-disposed, the other when Artie had infuriated him. Artie couldn't tell by tone alone which this might be. He flipped back the covers. Reeves stood calmly at his bedside with a silver salver bearing a small pink reticule. Not just pink. A salmon silk beaded with glass and trimmed in paler pink ribbons and gauze. A single peony was embroidered on the front, the green of its stem standing bold among all the pink. The fabric gathered in a cinch of ribbons. Arthur plucked it from the salver.

  "Thank you."

  "I'll fetch tea for your cold, sir."

  Once Reeves left, Artie carefully pulled open the ribbons. Even with his stuffed nose he could smell the scent of peonies rise from the bag. He carefully plucked out the one item held within. Teddy had painted one of the peonies he had carved for her, the striations of pink so perfect that it was as though he held a true tiny bloom in his hand. He closed his fingers loosely over the bloom and held the bag to his nose, inhaling her scent. What did it mean? Did she return his regard? Did it matter? He couldn't provide for her, even if he wanted to. But what if she was referring to him as breaking her heart? He couldn't stand the thought. Certainly it wasn't true, but he needed to be sure. After tea and some fussing by both his mother and the staff over his cold, he rode out to Teddy's wearing one of his brother's old overcoats.