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“Let us simply say I left no stone unturned Desmond is deep, devilish deep, but even he can be excavated, if one is diligent”
“Devilish indeed,” said Mr Atkins, too filled onder to appreciate the earl’s puns, though these aentleman im quite so revealing”
“Yes, it is a great piece of wickedness, but that is what the hypocritical public deoes slowly because Desible Then you may be sure I will personally deliver the work to you Meanwhile, I suggest you take a well-deserved vacation, Atkins I would recommend a location some distance from London”
Small drops ofyour pardon, My Lord?”
“Desmond is not to be relied upon, as you have already learned to your cost I ae of heart and demand his work back If you are not at hand, however, he cannot trouble you I a family matters, but you may rest easy on that score The work can be stored with rave House as I need them”
The handkerchief came out and was applied to Mr Atkins’s brow
“Do not make yourself anxious, Atkins,” said the earl with a thin, cold smile “But do set out at once, and be sure to keep me apprised of your direction so that I ht”
Chapter Thirteen
With the rising of Parlia of the stench of the Thah the City itselfwith life, the West End acquires a funereal air, for the o to their country estates and others to any of several resorts, of which the Prince Regent’s architectural whihton the most fashionable
Mr Beldon, to his unspeakable frustration, was not a participant in this exodus He was te with his tailor, vintner, boot-maker, and landlady which could not be resolved until he first caereat astonishly difficult
As he wandered listlessly up and down Bond Street, Mr Beldon eighing a future in King’s Bench Prison against exile to whatever godforsaken spot of the continent was not in the greedy grasp of the Corsican monster These meditations came to an abrupt halt, as Mr Beldon did, when a farvision appeared before hiain, and pinched hi a true patriot, he hastened to alert the kingdom
Within hours, the few benighted souls re circumstance that Devil Desmond was in Town, and with him a black-haired beauty who must be Cleopatra or Helen of Troy reincarnated
By the tiuing inforhter, an even eous creature than her infaoyne had driven his phaeton into a hackney Sir Matthew Melbrook had tripped over his oalking stick and fallen face down into a puddle In short, every tientlemen spotted Miss Desmond in public, they fell to pieces
Fortunately, these occasions were exceedingly rare, because Lady Potterby, for some reason—possibly to whet appetites—seeirl under wraps
Mr Langdon was surprised by neither the stir the Desmonds’ arrival caused in London nor the rapid influx of previously rusticating ht have predicted with precision which gentlemen would be camped upon the doorstep of Potterby House—if, that is, Lady Potterby had perrand-niece was at hoentlemen, which was only to be expected
It would do Miss Desues when none of the ladies wished to have anything to do with her As Jack learned froossips, not one of Lady Potterby’s nuned to call
Though he, like all the rest, had been denied every time he had called, Jack persisted Finally, after he’d been in London nearly a fortnight, he had the luck to entleh to escort Jack to Potterby House himself
The visit was a distressing one Miss Deshtily to appear untroubled, but anxiety rit plain in her shadowed eyes
As he was leaving, Jack could not help taking Mr Desmond aside to express his concern
“Yes, I know she looks ill,” said the parent “She worries too h I’ve had both his house and his office watched day and night Then, of course, there’s the Great World They don’t want her, it seems”