Page 49 of The Dare Before Christmas

Cat pulled a face, but nodded. “Very well, then, but try hard. If you must have it, I dressed up in boy’s clothes and sneaked out to go to the Egyptian Museum in Piccadilly.”

Torie and Emmeline gasped, staring at her in shock, but Aggie waved this away.

“Well, I knew you were going to do that! Don’t fob us off, Cat, that’s not why you’re in such trouble.”

Cat blushed a little, possibly the first time Torie had ever seen an expression of such chagrin on the girl’s face. “I… er… Well, there was a bit of an argument. This stupid boy tried to pick my pocket, and I stopped him, but then he tried to hit me, so I hit him back. Drew his cork, too,” she said, looking pleased with herself, though the expression faded quickly. “But the idiot boy wouldn’t concede I’d won, and he called his friends over and it got really nasty and then, well, someone recognised me.”

“Oh, Cat!” the girls said in unison, gaping at her in horror.

For anyone to have seen her acting in such a way, in public, and dressed as a boy…! The enormity of the trouble she could be in was staggering. So terrible even Torie’s problems faded in comparison.

“Who recognised you, Cat?” Aggie demanded, her face pale with concern.

Cat cleared her throat, looking shifty. “The Marquess of Kilbane.”

An appalled silence fell over them as they gazed at Cat in disbelief.

Without saying a word, Aggie got to her feet, calmly smoothed down her skirts and walked to the door, closing it quietly behind her.

Torie watched her go before turning back to Cat, a question in her eyes.

“She’s gone somewhere private so she can swear and shout without shocking you. Aggie has the most marvellously vulgar vocabulary. You should ask her sometime. It’s fascinating,” Cat said, looking at them nervously. “Though I don’t think she ought to have bothered. From the looks on your faces, nothing she could have said would have shocked you more than I have.”

“Probably not,” Emmeline agreed. “Oh, Cat, whatever happened?”

Cat gave an impish grin and then paused as her best friend marched back into the room. Aggie went directly to Cat and smacked her around the back of the head.

“Ow!” Cat complained, rubbing the spot.

“Well, someone had to. Are you completely insane?” Aggie demanded furiously, her hands on her hips. “You could have been murdered on the street. Kilbane could have abducted you, forced you to marry him, or… or done far worse and not married you! My God, Cat, you’ll give me a nervous collapse before either of us are eighteen if you keep this up!”

“I’m fine!” Cat retorted. “And you didn’t try at all not to scold me, you wretched girl. For your information, Kilbane was a perfect gentleman. Well, apart from telling me I was an outrageous chit, and he ought to throw me in the Thames and save my parents any more trouble. I keep telling you he’s not so awful as everyone makes out, but the gossip about him is so much more entertaining than the truth, so nobody gives him a chance!”

Aggie snorted and folded her arms, looking mutinous but saying nothing.

Cat sighed. “Do you want to know what happened, or don’t you?”

Aggie sat back down on the bed, still glowering. “I suppose so,” she said grudgingly.

With a grin, Cat leaned in towards them. “Well, then….”

“What happened, what did he say?” Barnaby demanded as he followed his aunt, feeling very much like a schoolboy about get his hide tanned by the headmaster.

“That’s a private conversation, Barnaby,” Hester replied reprovingly.

“A private conversation about me!” he retorted. “And I think you might give me an inkling of what was said. Should I run for France, or is he being reasonable?”

Hester paused, turning to face him. “Barnaby, I have spent the past hour calming his grace down. He was not pleased.”

“Oh, Christ,” Barnaby said, running a hand through his hair.

“Stop sweating,” Hester said, shaking her head. She took Barnaby’s arm, walking him inexorably towards Bedwin. “He is still not pleased, by any means, but he is calm and ready to listen to you. It’s not pistols at dawn, my boy. So just tell him the truth and look him in the eye. You’ve not acted well, but your character and your past speak for you. If you love the lady and sincerely wish to marry her, I believe you can bring him around.”

“Right,” Barnaby said, nodding. “Right. Will do.”

He took a deep breath and held still as Hester tweaked his cravat into place and reached up, smoothing his hair back down.

“You’re a good boy, Barnaby, and I’m proud of you, remember that. Now go into that room and make Bedwin see why you are the best man to marry his daughter, because it’s true.”