First Comes Scandal (Rokesbys #4) - Julia Quinn Page 0,62
seemed to be more with pride than embarrassment . “We seem to have garnered a bit of an audience.”
“One can only wonder why.”
“Come in, come in,” she urged. “I must show you my masterpiece.”
Nicholas took a step forward.
“Wait!”
He stopped.
She held up a hand. “One moment.” Then, looking past him, she said, “Could someone hand me the cat?”
There was no question which cat she was referring to. One of the grooms retrieved Cat-Head’s basket and handed it to one of the maids, who handed it up to Georgie.
“I will be ready for you in just a moment,” she said. Then she shut the door.
Nicholas looked at Jameson.
Jameson grinned.
GRAOOOO!
Nicholas frowned. That didn’t sound quite right. Not that anything that cat did sounded right, but this sounded more wrong than usual.
GRAAAAAOOOAAAOOO!
Nicholas looked at Jameson. “If she doesn’t open the door in five seconds, I’m going in.”
Jameson shuddered. “Godspeed, sir.”
There were sounds of a tussle, followed by another howl, slightly muffled. Nicholas took a breath. Time to save his wife.
GRAaaa … Graaaa …
Meow.
Nicholas stopped short. That sounded almost …
Happy?
Meow.
“She did it,” Jameson said, in a statement that could only be described as reverent.
Nicholas looked at him, and then back at the carriage.
Georgie opened the door. “Do come in,” she said, the very model of a gracious hostess.
With equal parts trepidation and curiosity, Nicholas ascended the steps to the carriage, only to be met with the sight of—
“Is that a hammock?”
Georgie nodded excitedly.
“For the cat?”
“It’s my design. But of course I could not have put it together without Sam’s help.”
Nicholas turned and blinked at the heretofore unnoticed groom, who was crouched at the far end of the carriage, looking inordinately proud of himself.
“It was all her idea, sir,” the groom said modestly.
Nicholas could only stare. First at the groom, then at Georgie, then at the orange cat, who was suspended in a loose webbing of rope.
“I think he likes it,” Georgie said.
Nicholas wasn’t so sure about that. It was true that Cat-Head sounded almost content, but he looked ridiculous.
And ridiculously uncomfortable. All four of his legs had been poked through holes in the webbing and hung down like furry twigs. Its face was squished but visible through another gap, a thick piece of rope supporting its chin.
“Is he going to choke?” Nicholas asked, looking over at Georgie with concern.
“No, I think he’s comfortable. Feel him.” She grabbed his hand and placed it under Cat-Head’s belly. “He’s purring.”
Nicholas looked at Sam. Why, he wasn’t certain. But surely someone still possessed a shred of sanity. “Are we certain it’s not just indigestion?”
“No, no,” Georgie said, “that’s definitely a purr. Although you do bring up an important point. He will need to relieve himself at some point.”
“We will all need to relieve ourselves at some point,” Nicholas said, somewhat dazedly.
“Yes, of course. It’s just that it’s a bit, er, complicated to get him into it.”
“And out of it, as well?”
“I haven’t yet made the attempt,” she admitted.
“Let’s hope we figure it out before his needs become urgent.”
Behind him, Sam let out a little snort of amusement.
“But what do you think?” Georgie asked.
He thought she’d gone mad, to be honest, but she was so damned proud of herself he was never going to say that.
“I think it’s ingenious,” he said. Which was also true. It was ingenious and she’d gone mad.
“I wasn’t sure if he would like it,” Georgie said with palpable excitement and pride. “And I still don’t know what will happen once we start moving, but it was worth a try.”
“Indeed.”
“After all, you looked so comfortable in your hammock this morning.”
“Me?”
“I didn’t want to disturb you. Everyone said you worked so hard last night. You’ll have to tell me about it later today.”
“You modeled this on me?”
Cat-Head made an odd noise, but it wasn’t a howl.
“He sounds …” Nicholas searched for the correct descriptor. “Not happy, exactly.”
“But better than yesterday,” Georgie said brightly.
“Absolutely.” Nicholas said this with utter conviction. It couldn’t possibly be worse.
Grrrmphamow.
Nicholas moved his head for a better look. It was possible that the cat’s change in volume may have been due to a simple inability to open its mouth. But as long as it could breathe …
“Shall we be on our way?” Georgie said.
Sam scooted to the door. “Yes, ma’am.”
But no sooner than he had hopped down, Marian appeared in the doorway.
“Are you riding with us today?” Georgie asked.
Nicholas gave the maid a long, hard stare.
“Er, my things are here,” Marian said, nervously motioning to a small satchel on the rear-facing bench.