The two stopped their journey across the room. “Yes, what of it, Upton?” Miss Lowndes gave him a look that could melt marble.
Garrett cleared his throat. “Isn’t Miss Bunbury the name Cassandra used last autumn when she was pretending to be a nonexistent person?”
Lucy’s eyes shifted back and forth. “Yes, it was.” She turned again.
Garrett blinked at Cassandra. She winced for the second time.
“Would this Mrs. Bunbury be any relation to Miss Bunbury, then?” he asked.
Miss Lowndes sighed heavily and pushed up her chin. “Of course they aren’t related, Upton. Neither one of them exists.” She gave him a look that clearly indicated she thought him an imbecile.
Garrett turned to Cassandra, the only one of the three who could be counted on to explain this nonsense adequately. He arched a brow in her direction.
“Mrs. Bunbury is Jane’s chaperone,” Cassandra said simply, as if that explained it.
“That’s right,” Lucy offered.
“But she doesn’t exist?” Garrett clarified.
“Of course not,” Miss Lowndes replied. “What is the use of a nonexistent chaperone if she existed?”
Garrett put one hand on his hip. “I’m going to regret asking this, but why do you want a nonexistent chaperone?”
Miss Lowndes pushed up her spectacles and gave him a tight smile. “The better question is, of course, why would I want an existent chaperone?”
Lucy seemed completely at ease with that answer and the two ladies continued to chat until Garrett cleared his throat again. “Why do I have the feeling that one of Lucy’s schemes is at work here?”
Cassandra folded her hands and searched the room as if desperately looking for something to do other than meet his eyes.
“Don’t worry about it, Upton,” came Miss Lowndes’s tight reply.
“On the contrary, I cannot help but worry about it if Lucy is doing something she ought not to.”
Lucy turned to face him this time. “Garrett, you may relinquish your role as the sensible one for the remainder of the house party. As my husband, Derek is only too willing to see to it that I don’t get up to too much trouble. He knows all about Mrs. Bunbury.”
Garrett clasped his hands behind his back and allowed the hint of a smile to pop to his lips. “Yes. I know. He told me.”
Lucy’s eyes went wide. “You already knew?”
“A bit,” Garrett replied. “But with all due respect to the duke, I don’t think Claringdon is fully aware of the extent of trouble you can get up to, dear cousin.”
“Isn’t he?” Lucy batted her eyelashes.
“Be that as it may,” Miss Lowndes interjected, “it’s none of your concern, Upton.”
Garrett turned back to Cassandra. There was little hope of getting Lucy or Miss Lowndes to crack, but Cassandra, Cassandra would only take a bit of prodding. “Cassandra?” He drew out her name.
“Don’t look at me!” Cassandra replied. “I told them causing a scandal was a bad idea. A very bad one indeed.”
Garrett slapped his thigh and turned back to face the other two. “A scandal?”
Lucy’s brow was furrowed in a deep frown. “Cass, why did you say that?”
Cass bit her lip and wrung her hands. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t try to change the subject,” Garrett replied. “What type of a scandal are you trying to cause?”
“Nothing too large or awful,” Lucy replied. “And nothing until the wedding is past. We promised Cass.”
Cass nodded. “Yes, thank you for that, but I still think it’s a bad idea.”
“It’s an awful idea.” Garrett tried his damnedest to keep from raising his voice. “I assume this scandal would affect Miss Lowndes’s reputation?”
“Yes,” Miss Lowndes said. “But we plan to—”
“What?”
“Control the size of the scandal.”
“Control the size?” Garrett shot back. “You’ve been around the ton long enough, both of you. Those vultures seize upon any bit of gossip. The smallest incident could quickly grow out of proportion.”
Miss Lowndes’s expression was bored. “Thank you for your interest and concern, Upton. But despite what you may think, a lady doesn’t always need a man to tell her what to do.”
Garrett’s jaw tightened. “By God, it’s not about my being a man. It’s about common sense, and I—”
“Think you have the monopoly on common sense because of your gender,” Jane finished for him.
“No I don’t,” he growled through clenched teeth. No one could make him more angry more quickly than Jane Lowndes and her know-it-all female-equality attitude. Especially since he didn’t have a bloody problem with female equality. He had a severe problem with know-it-alls, however.