views as similar to his own. He had forgotten that she belonged in this other world, where consequence must be evidenced in the quantity and quality of servants, amongst other things. ‘I don’t even have a valet.’ He was suddenly bone-weary. ‘The man I brought with me, I hired him in London. He was offended that I wouldn’t let him shave me. What does that make me, in your world?’
‘Self-sufficient. Crotchety, for some reason.’ Kate sighed. ‘Don’t you see, you carry your consequence with you, Virgil. There is an authority in the way you walk, the way you look, the way you talk. It’s not about how many servants are necessary to run a household—were it mine I would certainly do with considerably less—but it is not mine. My father is dead set upon wresting this woman’s child from her at any cost. Giles doesn’t want to believe her claim, despite the fact that it would relieve him of the burden of this stately pile, because it would mean admitting that Jamie is dead. My aunt—well, I don’t have to tell you what my aunt thinks. This woman, Alicia, she has no one to speak up for her. She has no idea what she’s risking, coming here. She most likely thinks we’re giving her sanctuary, when, in fact—oh, heavens, I don’t know what will happen. Surrounding her with just a little of the pomp due to her position may not be much, but it’s all I can do. Do you see?’
‘I guess.’
Kate wrinkled her brow. ‘What does that mean?’
‘I reckon so. Would you really do things differently if it were your household?’
Kate shrugged. ‘I guess,’ she said, smiling faintly at the way the phrase sounded in her English accent. ‘It’s a moot point, since I’m never likely to have a household of my own.’
‘Can’t you just move out?’
She laughed, but not pleasantly. ‘Apart from the fact that it would give both my father and my aunt an apoplexy, I don’t have any money.’ Seeing the look of disbelief on his face, she laughed, this time with genuine amusement. ‘Don’t let all this fool you.’ Her sweeping gesture encompassed the house, the parklands, the Dower House. ‘It has nothing to do with me, a mere daughter. All I have, save whatever pin money Papa allows me, is my dowry. And if I don’t marry…’
‘I know your father has financial troubles, but he has more than enough to set you up if he wished.’
‘But he doesn’t wish, because it’s not the way things are done here in England.’
‘In America, it is not exactly common, but it’s not frowned upon for a woman of independent means to have her own establishment.’
‘Had I independent means, then America is where I’d go.’
‘You’d like it there.’
‘I don’t doubt it, but I’ll have to take your word for that.’
Kate spoke lightly, but he knew her better now. That was just her way. ‘It’s our loss,’ Virgil said, and realised as he did that he meant it.
* * *
With a date set for the arrival of Jamie’s widow at Castonbury, and Aunt Wilhelmina declining to have any part in the overseeing of the mountain of work required to make the Dower House habitable for a confidence trickster, Kate found herself without any time to call her own. As she suspected he would, Virgil suggested that he cut short his visit and continue north to New Lanark. Utterly frustrated by her family commitments, furious at Aunt Wilhelmina, who, she was certain, had made herself unavailable precisely to achieve this very outcome, Kate was relieved and astonished when her brother Giles came to her rescue.
‘I’d be happy to take Virgil out and about a bit, show him some of the countryside,’ he said. ‘To be honest, I’d be happy for any excuse to get me out of here for a while. I’m sick of this whole damned mess, what with our father carping on about taking sole guardianship of his grandchild as if the boy does not already have a mother, and hiding his head in the sand over the mess he’s got us into with his
‘Self-sufficient. Crotchety, for some reason.’ Kate sighed. ‘Don’t you see, you carry your consequence with you, Virgil. There is an authority in the way you walk, the way you look, the way you talk. It’s not about how many servants are necessary to run a household—were it mine I would certainly do with considerably less—but it is not mine. My father is dead set upon wresting this woman’s child from her at any cost. Giles doesn’t want to believe her claim, despite the fact that it would relieve him of the burden of this stately pile, because it would mean admitting that Jamie is dead. My aunt—well, I don’t have to tell you what my aunt thinks. This woman, Alicia, she has no one to speak up for her. She has no idea what she’s risking, coming here. She most likely thinks we’re giving her sanctuary, when, in fact—oh, heavens, I don’t know what will happen. Surrounding her with just a little of the pomp due to her position may not be much, but it’s all I can do. Do you see?’
‘I guess.’
Kate wrinkled her brow. ‘What does that mean?’
‘I reckon so. Would you really do things differently if it were your household?’
Kate shrugged. ‘I guess,’ she said, smiling faintly at the way the phrase sounded in her English accent. ‘It’s a moot point, since I’m never likely to have a household of my own.’
‘Can’t you just move out?’
She laughed, but not pleasantly. ‘Apart from the fact that it would give both my father and my aunt an apoplexy, I don’t have any money.’ Seeing the look of disbelief on his face, she laughed, this time with genuine amusement. ‘Don’t let all this fool you.’ Her sweeping gesture encompassed the house, the parklands, the Dower House. ‘It has nothing to do with me, a mere daughter. All I have, save whatever pin money Papa allows me, is my dowry. And if I don’t marry…’
‘I know your father has financial troubles, but he has more than enough to set you up if he wished.’
‘But he doesn’t wish, because it’s not the way things are done here in England.’
‘In America, it is not exactly common, but it’s not frowned upon for a woman of independent means to have her own establishment.’
‘Had I independent means, then America is where I’d go.’
‘You’d like it there.’
‘I don’t doubt it, but I’ll have to take your word for that.’
Kate spoke lightly, but he knew her better now. That was just her way. ‘It’s our loss,’ Virgil said, and realised as he did that he meant it.
* * *
With a date set for the arrival of Jamie’s widow at Castonbury, and Aunt Wilhelmina declining to have any part in the overseeing of the mountain of work required to make the Dower House habitable for a confidence trickster, Kate found herself without any time to call her own. As she suspected he would, Virgil suggested that he cut short his visit and continue north to New Lanark. Utterly frustrated by her family commitments, furious at Aunt Wilhelmina, who, she was certain, had made herself unavailable precisely to achieve this very outcome, Kate was relieved and astonished when her brother Giles came to her rescue.
‘I’d be happy to take Virgil out and about a bit, show him some of the countryside,’ he said. ‘To be honest, I’d be happy for any excuse to get me out of here for a while. I’m sick of this whole damned mess, what with our father carping on about taking sole guardianship of his grandchild as if the boy does not already have a mother, and hiding his head in the sand over the mess he’s got us into with his
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