Page 60 of Whiskers and Wiles

“That blasted cat tried to kill me,” Headland shouted from where he sat in the grass, having his scratches and his eye tended to by one of the footmen. “And all because I was attempting to save Lady Katherine.”

Waldorf opened his mouth to reveal to all that Headland had, in fact, been trying to kill him, but he closed it again and chose to observe whatever happened next closely instead. Instinct told him Headland had been given enough rope, and now he was about to use it against himself.

“But Anthony, dear,” Lady Walsingham said, stepping away from her husband to crouch by her brother’s side, “why would you need to rescue Lady Katherine when her beloved had already rescued her? We all witnessed that he had pulled her from the water and was swimming for their boat.”

“She is not his beloved!” Headland shouted. “She is nobody’s beloved. She is a conniving, deceptive harlot who has only come here, with her accomplice, to pour poison into your and Lord Walsingham’s ears!”

Waldorf’s entire body went stiff, and his blood pounded with alarm so fiercely that it caused a pulse of pain to radiate through him.

“What do you mean?” Lady Walsingham asked, clearly confused.

“Yes,” Walsingham echoed his wife, staring from Headland to Kat to Waldorf. “Whatdoyou mean?”

“They are spies, you stupid man,” Headland spat. “They are spies sent by Queen Matilda of Mercia to turn you against sense and reason and to make you support the Mercian Plan. They want you to introduce it for debate in Joint Parliament, and they would have stopped at nothing until they had convinced you of that unnatural path to unity.”

Waldorf’s insides ran hot and cold. It was the second time in less than a week that he had been exposed as a spy. Kat as well. He could deny it, but it was as likely as not that Walsingham would hear the rumors the moment he set foot in London again. He might have dismissed them as mere gossip before, but tohave them corroborated, and by his wife’s brother, would be damning indeed.

Again, he was on the verge of speaking to defend himself and Kat when Lady Walsingham pipped him at the post by saying, “There is nothing unnatural or insensible about the Mercian Plan at all,” as she stood and stepped back from her brother. “James and I are quite in favor of the idea of equality between men and women, aren’t we, James.” She stepped all the way back to her husband’s side.

“Maryella, hush,” Walsingham murmured to her, gazing adoringly at her as he did. “I am the First Minister. I cannot be known to have political affiliations of any sort. It is my duty to remain completely impartial in all things.”

Waldorf was floored. This entire time, he and Kat had been exposing themselves to every manner of ridiculousness, pretending to be engaged, and making fools of themselves, and Walsingham was already in favor of the Mercian Plan?

But Waldorf’s astonishment did not match Kat’s. Kat burst into laughter that was completely at odds with the high spirits of the moment. More than that, her outburst, coupled with what was likely a great deal of exhaustion and overwhelm from her near drowning, sent her crumpling to the grass.

“Kat,” Waldorf gasped, leaping to her. He crouched beside her, gathering her into his arms.

But Kat was not injured, and she had not swooned. She was merely laughing so hard that she could barely draw a breath. “They already support the Mercian Plan,” she laughed, leaning heavily into Waldorf and burying her face against his shoulder. “All this…we needn’t have…they already….” She was too overcome with laughter to say more.

Waldorf’s mouth twitched, and within moments, he found himself chuckling along with her. He was a bit too conscious oftheir flabbergasted audience to let himself go entirely, but he most definitely saw the irony of the situation.

“If you will excuse us,” he said, gathering Kat entirely into his arms and standing with her, “I believe my beloved and I are in desperate need of returning to the house and putting ourselves to rights.”

“Yes, indeed,” Walsingham said. “I am terribly sorry any of this happened. I saw the whole thing.”

The last bit was said pointedly, with a side look to Headland. Walsingham had likely seen his brother-in-law’s attempted murder. Nothing more was said about it, but Waldorf had the distinct impression from Walsingham’s expression that Headland would be dealt with.

“Maurice,” Lady Walsingham called out to one of the footmen waiting nearby, “run ahead and see to it that a bath is prepared in Lord Waldorf and Lady Katherine’s chamber.”

The footman nodded, then jogged ahead of him.

“Thank you, my lady,” Kat said from Waldorf’s arms.

Waldorf noted that Lady Walsingham had made no secret of the fact that he and Kat were, essentially, sharing a room. None of the other guests looked the least bit surprised either.

As Waldorf carried Kat away, Lady Walsingham turned to her guests, clapped her hands together, and said, “Well. That was a most interesting turn of events. But now, let us discuss the Trial of Affection and discern how we might help each other overcome the unfortunate wounds of the past.”

Waldorf rolled his eyes as he walked on. “I wonder how the two of us would ever have gotten through that ordeal,” he said.

Kat laughed. “Is that ordeal not precisely what the two of us have been enduring for the past week?”

She tapped his shoulder, signaling for Waldorf to let her down so she could walk on her own.

Waldorf did not have a chance to answer her question. One of the maids approached to ask if they needed assistance, and Kat sent the young woman on a chase after Napoleon, charging her to take the creature for a bath himself once it was caught.

From there, there was too much fuss and nonsense as they were let into the house carefully, so that their sodden clothing did not stain the carpets or ruin the floors. Once they made it up to their rooms, there was the confusion of removing their wet, clinging clothing, with the help of servants, and changing into robes to preserve their modesty while a rather large and cozy tub was brought into Waldorf’s room.

Filling the tub with adequately warm water took another eternity. It felt as though the day were half done by the time Waldorf and Kat were actually able to submerse themselves in the clean, rose-scented water, and to set to work scrubbing the muck of the lake out of each other’s hair and crevasses. By then, Napoleon had been caught and returned as well, and as far as Waldorf knew, he was curled safely under Kat’s bed, sleeping off his trauma.

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