at his most aristocratic.
“As I have said before, Sir Matthew, Miss Ramsay is not ‘replacing’ me,” Jane insisted.
“No, for I am depending on my cousin Jane to instruct Miss Ramsay in everything she needs to know,” Richard continued. “Surely you must agree there is no one better qualified to do so. Indeed, both Miss Ramsay and I should be quite lost without her.”
“Oh, quite so, quite so!” blustered Sir Matthew, and under different circumstances, Jane might have been amused by his clumsy efforts at covering his error. “Still, my lord, she seems an odd sort of female for you to marry. I should have thought you more fastidious in your tastes.”
“Do not let her current appearance deceive you,” Richard cautioned. “Miss Ramsay’s birth is as respectable as your own, and she is a considerable heiress besides.”
“Indeed, yes!” Jane agreed. “Furthermore, Madame Lavert predicts that once she is properly gowned and coiffed, Miss Ramsay will take Society by storm as an Original.”
“You intend to present her at Court, then?”
“Surely it would be very odd if Lady Ramsay were not presented at Court,” Richard pointed out. “I daresay Society will take her to its collective bosom as an exotic. And so she is. Why, she introduced Antoine to her native cuisine only last night, and the fellow was quite beside himself.”
Jane choked and turned toward the window in order to hide the laughter she could not quite suppress.
“Antoine?” echoed Sir Matthew, clearly impressed. “That Frenchie chef of yours?”
“None other.” Heedless of his cousin’s shaking shoulders, he told her, “Cousin Jane, we must have Sir Matthew join us one evening for dinner, so that we may introduce him to the local cuisine of Kentucky. Sir Matthew, I believe I can say without exaggeration that it will be like nothing you have ever tasted.”
“Wicked man!” she scolded him some quarter of an hour later when Sir Matthew finally took his leave, having failed in his primary object of seizing an opportunity to press his suit. “If we find ourselves being obliged to host Sir Matthew to dinner, you will have no one but yourself to blame!”
“It would be almost worth it, to see Sir Matthew eat squirrel. Should we tell him what it is beforehand, or wait until his mouth is full?”
“Oh, wait, by all means!”
“I do have to wonder, though, how Antoine contrived to acquire squirrels on such short notice when it is not hunting season.”
Jane smiled. “I think it is probably best not to inquire.” Her amusement faded, and she continued in a more serious vein. “I am sorry you missed your opportunity to go riding with Susannah. I am not quite certain why you felt compelled to cancel your plans, but I was grateful for your assistance in fending off Sir Matthew’s impertinent questions.”
Richard made a noncommittal noise, but offered no explanation for his actions. There were, as she had said, some things which it was better not to question too closely.
Chapter 9
Too poor for a bribe, and too proud to importune,
He had not the method of making a fortune.
THOMAS GRAY, On His Own Character
By taking the back stairs, Susannah contrived to reach her room unobserved and, after changing her clothes, soon returned, adequately if inelegantly dressed for riding. They retraced their steps back to the stable, where Peter introduced his cousin to the docile mare named Daffodil.
“Aren’t you a pretty girl,” cooed Susannah, stroking the horse’s nose and proffering the apple she’d pilfered from the breakfast room for that very purpose.
“Hardly a girl,” Peter said. “Old Daffy must be twenty if she is a day.”
Cupping a hand to the side of her mouth, Susannah leaned forward to address the horse in a stage whisper. “Pay him no heed, Daffodil, for he has no manners at all. Even in America, we know better than to make disparaging remarks about a lady’s age.”
Daffodil chose this moment
“As I have said before, Sir Matthew, Miss Ramsay is not ‘replacing’ me,” Jane insisted.
“No, for I am depending on my cousin Jane to instruct Miss Ramsay in everything she needs to know,” Richard continued. “Surely you must agree there is no one better qualified to do so. Indeed, both Miss Ramsay and I should be quite lost without her.”
“Oh, quite so, quite so!” blustered Sir Matthew, and under different circumstances, Jane might have been amused by his clumsy efforts at covering his error. “Still, my lord, she seems an odd sort of female for you to marry. I should have thought you more fastidious in your tastes.”
“Do not let her current appearance deceive you,” Richard cautioned. “Miss Ramsay’s birth is as respectable as your own, and she is a considerable heiress besides.”
“Indeed, yes!” Jane agreed. “Furthermore, Madame Lavert predicts that once she is properly gowned and coiffed, Miss Ramsay will take Society by storm as an Original.”
“You intend to present her at Court, then?”
“Surely it would be very odd if Lady Ramsay were not presented at Court,” Richard pointed out. “I daresay Society will take her to its collective bosom as an exotic. And so she is. Why, she introduced Antoine to her native cuisine only last night, and the fellow was quite beside himself.”
Jane choked and turned toward the window in order to hide the laughter she could not quite suppress.
“Antoine?” echoed Sir Matthew, clearly impressed. “That Frenchie chef of yours?”
“None other.” Heedless of his cousin’s shaking shoulders, he told her, “Cousin Jane, we must have Sir Matthew join us one evening for dinner, so that we may introduce him to the local cuisine of Kentucky. Sir Matthew, I believe I can say without exaggeration that it will be like nothing you have ever tasted.”
“Wicked man!” she scolded him some quarter of an hour later when Sir Matthew finally took his leave, having failed in his primary object of seizing an opportunity to press his suit. “If we find ourselves being obliged to host Sir Matthew to dinner, you will have no one but yourself to blame!”
“It would be almost worth it, to see Sir Matthew eat squirrel. Should we tell him what it is beforehand, or wait until his mouth is full?”
“Oh, wait, by all means!”
“I do have to wonder, though, how Antoine contrived to acquire squirrels on such short notice when it is not hunting season.”
Jane smiled. “I think it is probably best not to inquire.” Her amusement faded, and she continued in a more serious vein. “I am sorry you missed your opportunity to go riding with Susannah. I am not quite certain why you felt compelled to cancel your plans, but I was grateful for your assistance in fending off Sir Matthew’s impertinent questions.”
Richard made a noncommittal noise, but offered no explanation for his actions. There were, as she had said, some things which it was better not to question too closely.
Chapter 9
Too poor for a bribe, and too proud to importune,
He had not the method of making a fortune.
THOMAS GRAY, On His Own Character
By taking the back stairs, Susannah contrived to reach her room unobserved and, after changing her clothes, soon returned, adequately if inelegantly dressed for riding. They retraced their steps back to the stable, where Peter introduced his cousin to the docile mare named Daffodil.
“Aren’t you a pretty girl,” cooed Susannah, stroking the horse’s nose and proffering the apple she’d pilfered from the breakfast room for that very purpose.
“Hardly a girl,” Peter said. “Old Daffy must be twenty if she is a day.”
Cupping a hand to the side of her mouth, Susannah leaned forward to address the horse in a stage whisper. “Pay him no heed, Daffodil, for he has no manners at all. Even in America, we know better than to make disparaging remarks about a lady’s age.”
Daffodil chose this moment
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