A Comfortable Wife by Stephanie Laurens

she was possessed of afull figure, more revealed than concealed by her fine muslin gown.
    Philip glanced at her hand as if mildly surprised to find it hanging before him. He clasped it but fleetingly, his gaze, blank, shifting to Lady Castleton, then Antonia as he half-turned.
    “Haven’t introduced you to my niece.” Henrietta gestured to Antonia, adroitly deflecting attention from Miss Castleton, who promptly pouted. “Miss Mannering.”
    With a calm smile, Antonia held out her hand.
    Lady Castleton’s sharp, black-eyed gaze travelled over her; an arrested expression flitted over her pale face. “Ah,” she said, smiling but not with her eyes. Briefly touching Antonia’s fingers, she looked down at Henrietta. “It’s reassuring to see that you’ve found someone to act as companion at last.”
    “Companion?” Henrietta blinked; Antonia noted her aunt’s straight back but could not fault her guileless expression as she exclaimed, “Oh—I keep forgetting you’re newcomers! ” Henrietta smiled, all confiding condescension. “No, no—Antonia’s often visited here. Been her second home for years. Now her mama’s passed on, she’s naturally come to stay with me.” Turning, Henrietta squeezed Antonia’s arm. “But you’re right in part—it’s a great relief to have someone capable of organising all this sort of thing—exhausting at my age but, as you must know, quite one’s duty.”
    Antonia took her cue, smiling fondly at Henrietta. “Indeed, but I assure you, aunt, I haven’t found it exhausting at all.” Glancing up, still smiling, she met Lady Castleton’s hard gaze. “I’m quite used to organising such affairs—all part of a young lady’s education, as my mama was wont to say.”
    Lady Castleton’s eyes narrowed. “Indeed?”
    “Be that as it may,” Philip said, deftly coming between Antonia and Henrietta, “I believe it’s time we adjourned tothe terrace.” Capturing Antonia’s hand, he tucked it into one elbow, then held his other arm rigid as Henrietta leaned heavily upon it. “Sir Miles?”
    “Indeed, m’lord.” Before Lady Castleton could reclaim the initiative, Sir Miles drew her arm through his, then offered his other arm to his daughter. “Couldn’t agree more. Let’s go, what?”
    Without a backward glance, Sir Miles ushered his ladies up the steps.
    Philip waited until they were out of earshot, then glanced pointedly down at the ladies on his arms. “Might I suggest, my dears, that we get this exhausting, exceedingly well-organised event underway?”
    They saw Henrietta settled in her seat at one end of the long table, then Philip escorted Antonia to her chosen position halfway down the board. “I never thought to say it, but thank heaven for Ladies Archibald and Hammond.”
    As she sat, Antonia glanced at the head of the table where the two ladies in question, imposing matrons both, flanked Philip’s empty chair. Settling her skirts, she cast a questioning glance up at him.
    Philip bent close. “They take precedence over Lady Castleton.” With a glint of a smile and a lifted brow, he straightened and moved away.
    Antonia disguised her grin as a cheery smile; she hunted for Lady Castleton and found her seated on the opposite side, some places away, her exquisite features marred by an expression of disaffected boredom. Her ladyship’s disdain, however, was not evinced by others; as the food, laboured over by Mrs Hobbs, Cook and a small battalion of helpers, appeared on the crisp damask cloth, genial conversation rose on all sides. As Fenton and his minions filled goblets and glasses, the festive atmosphere grew.
    Philip proposed a toast to the company, then bade them enjoy the day. When he sat, the feast began.
    From the corner of her eye, Antonia kept watch over thesteady stream of maids carrying platters to the lower tables. To her mind, Philip’s tenants were, in this instance, as important if not more so than his neighbours. Neighbours would be invited on