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.“No, Sir Wil—I mean, Captain Summers, and should I say, ‘Aye, aye’?”“No, you should not,” said the captain severely.He turned away from Wapping, and in a moment the butler sidled from the hall, whatever pretension he possessed now dangling around his ankles.“Oh, that was neatly done,” said Jeannie.“I know a strategical diversion when I hear one.He has completely forgotten to ask you about the fool’s errand.”Captain Summers was the picture of innocence, except that his lips quivered.“Oh, G—goodness, how I enjoy butlers,” he said.“Who would have imagined them to be such sport?”“You are entirely unkind,” Jeannie said, belying her words with a twinkle in her eyes.“And before you remonstrate with me, sir, let me tell you that we did encounter an elephant in the Tower and Edward found himself on its back.”“Jeannie McVinnie, are you telling me that under your totally composed demeanor there is a bit of a scamp?” he asked.“I protest! Through no fault of ours—”The captain held up his hand.“And do you know that when you protest, there is such fire in your eyes?” His own eyes were kind.“But I will not ask any more questions, although G—gracious me, I am sure I should.”“It was, for the most part, an improving afternoon,” she assured him as they went up the stairs together.“We contemplated executioner’s axes, jewelry too gaudy by half, and heard any number of fanciful stories about Englishmen that I think cannot be true.”“Madam, are there no Englishmen that measure up to your expectations?”She thought about the dandies in the menagerie and shook her head.“So far, Captain Summers, I have been sadly disappointed.”He bowed and left her at the door to her room.Jeannie went in her room and admitted to a moment of disappointment that Captain Summers had not risen to the bait at her last comment.She knew nothing of him, but after only one day in the house of Wendover Square, she knew that he possessed a ready wit.Could it be, she thought as she removed her cloak, could it be that I have been missing a quick tongue?It was only a thought, and she resolved to consider it some other time when she did not have to dress so quickly for dinner.Mary Bow came out of the dressing room, practically jumping up and down in her excitement.“Mrs.McVinnie! You cannot imagine what arrived only twenty minutes ago.”“Unless it was the Second Coming, you are correct,” Jeannie said, and then she saw the dress on the bed.“Oh, my dear, are we dreaming?”She had never seen a more beautiful dress.It was a high-waisted, long-sleeved dress of sarcenet of that peculiar blue and gray color of the sky over Solway Firth after a squall.Jeannie touched the dress, hardly daring to breathe.“Mary, it is so fine.Like cobwebs.”She took an overdue breath and held up the dress.It hung in soft folds to the tops of her shoes, each little pleat precise and neatly sewn in.Jeannie smoothed the material over her breast.“You don’t think it will be too low?” she asked.Mary shook her head.“For some as don’t have anything to hold it up, Mrs.McV, it might be.But you’ll do fine.”“Oh, and I even have a pearl necklace to wear with it.Oh, Mary, this dress is worth more than my entire wardrobe.Where on earth did it come from?”Mary darted into the dressing room.“As to that, I cannot say, but see here, there is a note.” She held it out to Jeannie.“I never was learned to read.”“Then I shall read it out loud,” Jeannie said with a smile, “and the two of us can puzzle over it.”“ ‘My dear Jeannie McVinnie,’ ” she read, “ ‘we dare not give Larinda the satisfaction of telling her friends we are perfect dowds.This dress ought to eliminate any possibility of a set-down.My consequence could not tolerate it, and your kindness does not deserve Turkish treatment.’ ”“Captain Summers,” they said together.Jeannie sat down on the bed and read the note again, turning over the little scrap as if to find out more.“Mary, how on earth did he come by this dress?”Mary shrugged.Jeannie stood up and draped the dress carefully over the bed again.“It will kill me if I do not find out,” she said, more to herself than to the maid.After another touch of the dress and a deep breath, she went into the hall and to the captain’s door.Pringle was just going in, bearing a handful of freshly ironed neckcloths.His expression held all the tension of a man facing real peril.“Pringle, surely you are not headed for Boney’s guillotine,” she teased, eyeing the neckcloths.He shuddered.“You see, lassie, I hired on years ago as a gunner.We are neither of us trained to the task before us.”She smiled.“If he is not busy yet, please tell him I would like a word.”“Very well, Mrs.McV.”She had only a moment to wait.Captain Summers came into the hall, wearing a dressing gown of the most incredible tapestry design.She could only stare.The captain raised his eyebrows.“I am not the Grand Turk, but when in Constantinople, we have been known to frequent the same tailor.Yes? I hope you have not come to scold me for extravagance.”“No, I am not so rag-mannered,” she replied.“I merely wish to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.” She regarded him.“And my Scots curiosity compels me to ask: how on earth did you procure a dress like that in such a short time? I would not have thought it possible.”He shut the door and leaned against it.“My dear, when a captain requests, even a modiste jumps.”She rolled her eyes.“Did you bully a poor seamstress? How wicked!”The affronted look on his face was severely undermined by the little glint in his eyes that she was coming to appreciate.‘‘She seemed only too eager to do my bidding.I cannot fathom it either, but there it is.”“And how did you get the size so accurately?” Jeannie asked.“It was a simple matter of telling her in plain round tones that you were only as tall as the first rim on a frigate’s wheel, and not much bigger around than my two hands.Pringle was there to interpret.” He reached out suddenly and encircled her waist with his hands.“Ha,” he declared in triumph.“So I was right!”“Sir!”He removed his hands quickly, but there was nothing penitent in his expression [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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