After several reassurances that the next courses would be up to Haldon’s usual standards, the guests returned to their seats and the remainder of the meal. It wasn’t overlong before conversation returned to normal—Victor Jarles wasn’t the first naughty thirteen-year-old to play a joke during dinner, after all—but Whit kept his eyes on Mirabelle and wondered if Victor had truly been naughty at all.
He had his first chance to ask after dinner when the gentlemen joined the ladies in the parlor. He found her standing in the corner with Kate and Sophie, the three of them conversing in rapid whispers that ceased abruptly as he approached.
Might as well have put guilty signs around their necks, he thought grimly.
“I’d like a word in private with the imp, please.”
Mirabelle didn’t resist when he tucked her hand around his elbow and escorted her across the room. Of course, she had very little to worry about, as privacy was relative in a crowded parlor, but he managed to secure them a spot by the windows where they wouldn’t be overheard.
“Was to night’s debacle your doing?” he asked, letting go of her arm.
She gave him a bland look. “I thought we’d settled this at the table.”
“I haven’t settled anything as of yet. And until I know for certain who is responsible for embarrassing my mother, I’ll not—”
“What ever else you may think of me, Whit,” she interrupted. “You should know I’d rather cut off my own arm than cause Lady Thurston one moment’s pain or embarrassment.”
He nodded in acknowledgement. “It’s only that…these parties mean a great deal to her, and for a guest to take advantage of her hospitality by enacting a joke at her own table—”
“Is that what’s bothering you so? That’s tremendously sweet, Whit.” She smiled at him and then,—to his utter shock and horror—gently patted his cheek. “But she was in on it from the very start.”
He shot a quick glance about the room to be certain no one else had seen her little pat. It probably shouldn’t have been his first priority given what she’d just said, but a man had a reputation to consider. Reassured no one else had been witness to his embarrassment, he turned to her.
“I beg your pardon?”
She smiled sweetly and leaned against the window sill. “How else could two dozen toads and lizards make their way into dishes straight from the kitchen? Your mother has a wicked sense of humor, you know. And a keen sense of justice.”
“Justice? In accusing a boy of a crime he didn’t commit?”
“It’s not a crime to put reptiles in soup,” she pointed out. “And it is justice for his earlier antics.”
“You’re—”
“Also, I was told just this morning that little Isabelle’s doll had all its hair shorn off sometime during the night. I’ll not feel bad for him, Whit.”
“What if his mother punishes him unfairly?”
She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Define unfairly.”
He sent her a scathing look. “You know very well what it means.”
“Yes, I do, and if I thought for even a second that Victor would suffer anything more than a little forced humility—”
“Also known as humiliation.”
“Very well, humiliation,” she conceded, “then I never would have done the thing. Your mother assured me that Mr. and Mrs. Jarles dote on the boy and won’t lay a hand on him under any circumstances. Really, what do you take us for?”
“Clever women with a vengeful streak a mile wide,” he responded dryly.
She shrugged at the backhanded compliment. “Something had to be done. If his mother would discipline him appropriately, one of us would have approached her. But your mother dismissed the idea. The Jarleses won’t hear a word against Victor. They’ll likely believe his denial of involvement in this as well.” She furrowed her brow, contemplating the notion. “Is that irony?”
“Close enough,” he murmured. A corner of his mouth twitched. “Dare I ask how you obtained two dozen toads and lizards?”
“The usual way. We caught them.”
“My mother—”
“Of course not,” she laughed. “Evie, Kate, Sophie, Lizzy, and I made a trip to the lake. Took us near to four hours. It was only to be lizards at first, but it was easier to grab what was available.” She grimaced suddenly. “I feel rather bad.”
“For framing a thirteen-year-old boy?”
“Heavens, no. I feel childish and immensely gratified for having done that. But I feel sorry for the toads and lizards.” She winced. “They must have been scared half to death.”
“Insomuch as it’s possible for a small reptile to feel afraid, yes. I imagine they were.”
“Well, they’re back at the lake by now,” she said. “I was going to return them myself, but Evie wanted one of her strolls anyway.”
“Yes, I know.”
She tilted her head at him, curious. “I’m surprised you let her wander about alone after dark.”
“She’s safe enough if she stays on Haldon grounds and away from the road.”
“Yes, but still, it’s an unusual freedom—”
“I have my reasons.”
Whit’s reason was even now nearing the edge of the woods.