Rake's Progress by MC Beaton

‘I’ve fallen in love with a stern goddess who was witness to the party here, who claims I entered her house when drunk and tried to assault her, and wishes to have nothing to do with me.’
    Mr Roger heaved a sentimental sigh. Like quite a number of army officers, he was an incurable romantic.
    â€˜It must be a hopeless passion, Guy,’ he said. ‘When you go back to the wars, her face will be before your eyes on the battlefield.’
    â€˜Demne, I want her face before my eyes in bed!’
    â€˜No, no, no,’ said Mr Roger lugubriously. ‘Not the thing at all, my dear fellow. You get the strumpets in bed, and if the virtuous and fair won’t look at you, you worship them from afar.’
    â€˜Have you been at the port again?’ said Lord Guy testily. ‘I intend to do something about it. We must turn respectable.’
    â€˜I don’t mind,’ said Mr Roger amiably. ‘Tired already o’ card sharps, Pinks of the ton , and greedy demi-reps.’
    â€˜We must give another party . . . a rout,’ said Lord Guy. ‘It must be all that is elegant.’
    â€˜If you wish. But this Miss Jones is unlikely to come even if you send the Prince of Wales to fetch her.’
    â€˜Then I shall find out where she goes, and then try to get myself invitations to the same functions.’
    â€˜Shouldn’t be too difficult,’ said Mr Roger. ‘We’re both rich.’
    â€˜I don’t think money will do much to wipe out our black reputation caused by that party.’
    â€˜Money and a title wipe out any stain,’ said Mr Roger. ‘Together they form society’s favourite stain remover. How are you going to find out where she goes? Bribe her servants?’
    â€˜I shouldn’t like to risk that. They might prove honest, and tell her.’
    â€˜Send Manuel around to ferret out what he can?’
    Lord Guy frowned. ‘I am not pleased with Manuel. I do not know what has got into the man since we arrived in England. He pulled a knife on the servants downstairs, and today he terrorized Miss Jones’ little brother and sister.’
    â€˜That’s the Spanish for you.’
    â€˜No, that is not the Spanish for you. You must have noticed they are not nearly so cruel to children as the English.’
    â€˜Where did Manuel come from?’
    â€˜He said he was employed in a Portuguese household and that his life was made a misery by the other servants because he was Spanish. We were moving on the next day. He begged me to take him with me as my servant. I agreed. He proved to be quiet and efficient.’
    â€˜Don’t like him. Never have,’ said Mr Roger.
    â€˜Really, Tommy, one does not like or dislike servants. They are good at their jobs, in which case you keep them on, or bad at their jobs, in which case you get rid of them.’
    â€˜Don’t see it that way,’ said Mr Roger. ‘Nasty servants, however good they are, are unpleasant to have around.’
    â€˜Well, I can hardly bring the poor fellow all the way to a foreign country and then shove him out to make shift for himself.’
    â€˜Myself, I would pay his passage back to Spain,’ said Mr Roger. ‘But if you won’t use him, how about asking that odd butler of ours, Rainbird. I rather like the fellow. Clever. Got a knowing eye.’
    â€˜And a disapproving tongue. Very well, make yourself scarce. I can talk to the fellow easier on my own.’
    Joseph was comfortably seated in The Running Footman, the upper servants’ pub, talking to his friend, Luke. Luke worked next door to Number 67 as first footman to Lord Charteris. Luke was tall and handsome and dark-haired in contrast to the tall, blond-haired Joseph. Because of the flour tax, neither footman had powdered his hair.
    Joseph had enjoyed his outing in Kensington Gardens with Lizzie. She had a very flattering wide-eyed way of gravely listening to everything he said, which