can tell you. Of course, Papa had already made inroads on the estate before Charlie took over. It ain’t fair to put the whole of it in Charlie’s dish.”
They finished talking and sat silent for a moment while Anne absorbed all this unknown background. She looked up to see Alex gazing at her. He rose and came toward them. “What has put you two in the hips?” he asked. “You look as though you’re in attendance at a wake. Don’t you know a gentleman is supposed to entertain a lady, Robin?”
“Robin has made himself extremely interesting,” she said.
“It would be his resemblance to his late brother that accounts for it, no doubt.”
“Only a superficial resemblance,” Robin said, displeased with the comparison, and Anne now understood why.
“Sit down,” she said to Alex.
“I was about to, but I had the feeling I might be de trop at this tête-à-tête.”
“No, I am the one who is de trop, “ Robin said. He rose with a smile and a gallant bow and went to tease Loo.
“Now, where did he get that idea?” Alex asked.
“Your sneer might have led him to it, or perhaps it was the way you pulled him out of his chair. Robin is sensitive to hints.”
Alex smiled and took up the vacant seat. “What were you two talking about?’’
“The past,” she said, studying him. It wasn’t only the Peninsula that had etched those lines in his forehead. They must have already begun to invade before he had left. What a horrible time Charles had led the family, and he always so charming and cheerful in public.
“That’s French for Charlie, I assume.”
“You’re worse at the language than I am. Come down to Rosedale with Loo and we’ll all learn the bongjaw together. I believe the French call the past le passé. “
“Then it cannot refer to Charles. Nothing passé about him.”
“Alex, why didn’t you tell me....” She stopped, realizing that a party was not the time or place for a serious discussion.
Alex ignored her half question. He looked across the room, then turned back in a moment with a whole new expression on his face. He was polite and smiling. “How are you and Lady getting along?”
“Famously. Lady and I have reached a better understanding than a certain gentleman and I. How long will it be till you can ride? Does your wound still bother you much?”
“Only when I exert it. It will be a few weeks yet before I can ride. I’m looking forward to riding with you.”
He was willing to discuss the present and the future as agreeably as anyone could wish, but any slight reference to the past, and especially Charlie, closed him up like a clam.
Anne and her mother left before dark settled in. Alex said he would send word over to them when Rosalie arrived. When Anne lay in her bed, she reviewed her conversation with Robin—all those startling revelations about Charles and Alex. She regretted all the unkind things she had said. She no longer wondered that Alex occasionally let fall a gibe against Charles; she only wondered that he didn’t shout from the rooftops what he had had to put up with.
Charles had used her badly, too, leading her on just enough to keep her interest alive, when he had no intention of marrying her. If it weren’t for that, she might have fallen in love with Alex ages ago. But he was home now, and Charles was gone. It wasn’t too late. It was time for them both to let go of old passions, old loves, and old enmities and get on with the future.
Chapter Nine
It was Mollie Prawne and not a footboy who brought news of Rosalie and Exmore’s arrival the next day. She was sent down in a gig from Penholme just after lunch and delivered her precious news while she bobbed a curtsy to her new mistress. The Wickfields were requested to go up to the Hall as soon as it was convenient, but with a new servant to be shown her duties and her way around the house, “convenient” was not very soon.
Once Mollie was settled in, Anne and Mrs. Wickfield made their grandest
They finished talking and sat silent for a moment while Anne absorbed all this unknown background. She looked up to see Alex gazing at her. He rose and came toward them. “What has put you two in the hips?” he asked. “You look as though you’re in attendance at a wake. Don’t you know a gentleman is supposed to entertain a lady, Robin?”
“Robin has made himself extremely interesting,” she said.
“It would be his resemblance to his late brother that accounts for it, no doubt.”
“Only a superficial resemblance,” Robin said, displeased with the comparison, and Anne now understood why.
“Sit down,” she said to Alex.
“I was about to, but I had the feeling I might be de trop at this tête-à-tête.”
“No, I am the one who is de trop, “ Robin said. He rose with a smile and a gallant bow and went to tease Loo.
“Now, where did he get that idea?” Alex asked.
“Your sneer might have led him to it, or perhaps it was the way you pulled him out of his chair. Robin is sensitive to hints.”
Alex smiled and took up the vacant seat. “What were you two talking about?’’
“The past,” she said, studying him. It wasn’t only the Peninsula that had etched those lines in his forehead. They must have already begun to invade before he had left. What a horrible time Charles had led the family, and he always so charming and cheerful in public.
“That’s French for Charlie, I assume.”
“You’re worse at the language than I am. Come down to Rosedale with Loo and we’ll all learn the bongjaw together. I believe the French call the past le passé. “
“Then it cannot refer to Charles. Nothing passé about him.”
“Alex, why didn’t you tell me....” She stopped, realizing that a party was not the time or place for a serious discussion.
Alex ignored her half question. He looked across the room, then turned back in a moment with a whole new expression on his face. He was polite and smiling. “How are you and Lady getting along?”
“Famously. Lady and I have reached a better understanding than a certain gentleman and I. How long will it be till you can ride? Does your wound still bother you much?”
“Only when I exert it. It will be a few weeks yet before I can ride. I’m looking forward to riding with you.”
He was willing to discuss the present and the future as agreeably as anyone could wish, but any slight reference to the past, and especially Charlie, closed him up like a clam.
Anne and her mother left before dark settled in. Alex said he would send word over to them when Rosalie arrived. When Anne lay in her bed, she reviewed her conversation with Robin—all those startling revelations about Charles and Alex. She regretted all the unkind things she had said. She no longer wondered that Alex occasionally let fall a gibe against Charles; she only wondered that he didn’t shout from the rooftops what he had had to put up with.
Charles had used her badly, too, leading her on just enough to keep her interest alive, when he had no intention of marrying her. If it weren’t for that, she might have fallen in love with Alex ages ago. But he was home now, and Charles was gone. It wasn’t too late. It was time for them both to let go of old passions, old loves, and old enmities and get on with the future.
Chapter Nine
It was Mollie Prawne and not a footboy who brought news of Rosalie and Exmore’s arrival the next day. She was sent down in a gig from Penholme just after lunch and delivered her precious news while she bobbed a curtsy to her new mistress. The Wickfields were requested to go up to the Hall as soon as it was convenient, but with a new servant to be shown her duties and her way around the house, “convenient” was not very soon.
Once Mollie was settled in, Anne and Mrs. Wickfield made their grandest
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