there isn’t a breath of scandal has escaped your notice. Oh, how I miss it all!”
For the first time they noticed Felicity, still standing, having enjoyed the whole spectacle hugely. The exquisite paused, his quizzing glass lifted in interested scrutiny.
Jamie ran to drag her forward. “This is Cousin F’licity,” he explained with pride.
Felicity was much intrigued by Sir Peregrine Trent. He was brother to the Earl’s late mother and as different from his nephew as could be. She met his appreciative glance with amusement.
“Vale? Now where have I ... ? Ah, I have it! Sally ... Sally Merton ... He turned to Amaryllis. “Your mamma’s sister, puss ... married some soldier laddie against all advice. Quite a kick-up there was! She was all but promised to Hatherford at the time ... had a bit of an eye to her m self, come to that! Well, well! So you’re Sally Merton’s gel? How is your mother, child? Is she here? Egad—I should be delighted to renew our acquaintance!”
“Both my parents are dead.” Felicity explained briefly and at once the mask of the dandy dropped; the genuineness of Sir Peregrine’s distress was apparent.
“And so you have sought refuge with your little cousin,” he said gruffly. “Very proper, m’dear ... it’s what families are for.”
“Oh, Felicity is much too independent to be living off her relations!” cried Amaryllis. “She was all set to find some horrid post until Stayne prevailed upon her to open a school in the village.”
“That don’t sound like Max,” Sir Peregrine stated unequivocally. “Always treated his tenants fair and square ... not saying otherwise, but a school? Sounds like a hum!”
“Why, so I thought, but sure enough he set it all in motion and now the school is thriving, is it not, Felicity?”
The question brought the angry frustration flooding back, making her account of the day’s setback the more vivid.
Amaryllis shuddered. “I knew that man was up to no good. I met him at the Honeysett’s some weeks back and thought him a nasty, toad-eating little creature. Why should he want Ester Graham’s cottage?”
“Sheer cussedness, I imagine,” said Felicity. “Though, from what Lord Stayne has said, he seems to be acquiring land at a disturbing rate.”
Well, Ester ’ s cottage hasn’t much land. Perhaps he has an inamorata and wishes to establish her nearby.”
“Don’t like the sound of the fellow at all,” said Sir Peregrine bluntly. “Regular havey-cavey character, I shouldn’t wonder.”
He said as much to his nephew later on. The Earl appeared to have recovered from his earlier irritation and after a pleasant family dinner, sat back sipping his port and listening to his uncle rattling on with apparent affability.
“If you’d care for my advice, Max, that one’ll bear watching. Might even be prudent to abandon this school nonsense for the present.”
A faint quizzical smile touched the Earl’s mouth. “Did you suggest as much to Miss Vale?”
His uncle grinned. “Gave me the length of her tongue! Lass of spirit, that one. Tragic—losing both parents at a stroke.”
“Yes.”
“D’ye know, I might have married her mother ... well, that may be stretching it a bit, but still ... what a beauty! You’ll remember, no doubt, what a handsome woman Amaryllis’s ma was ... as girls they took the Town by storm. It was the Gunnings all over again. This child must take after the father.”
Sir Peregrine took out an intricately worked snuffbox. He flicked it open. “Don’t know if you’ ll care for this. It’s a new sort Petersham put up for me.”
His lordship declined the honor and said amiably, “Just how deep in dun territory are you this time, Uncle Perry?”
His uncle pocketed the box and dusted his fingers delicately with a large lace handkerchief, pausing to remove an imaginary speck from the glory of his brocade waistcoat.
“You mustn’t be troubling yourself about me, Max. I may have been plunging a
For the first time they noticed Felicity, still standing, having enjoyed the whole spectacle hugely. The exquisite paused, his quizzing glass lifted in interested scrutiny.
Jamie ran to drag her forward. “This is Cousin F’licity,” he explained with pride.
Felicity was much intrigued by Sir Peregrine Trent. He was brother to the Earl’s late mother and as different from his nephew as could be. She met his appreciative glance with amusement.
“Vale? Now where have I ... ? Ah, I have it! Sally ... Sally Merton ... He turned to Amaryllis. “Your mamma’s sister, puss ... married some soldier laddie against all advice. Quite a kick-up there was! She was all but promised to Hatherford at the time ... had a bit of an eye to her m self, come to that! Well, well! So you’re Sally Merton’s gel? How is your mother, child? Is she here? Egad—I should be delighted to renew our acquaintance!”
“Both my parents are dead.” Felicity explained briefly and at once the mask of the dandy dropped; the genuineness of Sir Peregrine’s distress was apparent.
“And so you have sought refuge with your little cousin,” he said gruffly. “Very proper, m’dear ... it’s what families are for.”
“Oh, Felicity is much too independent to be living off her relations!” cried Amaryllis. “She was all set to find some horrid post until Stayne prevailed upon her to open a school in the village.”
“That don’t sound like Max,” Sir Peregrine stated unequivocally. “Always treated his tenants fair and square ... not saying otherwise, but a school? Sounds like a hum!”
“Why, so I thought, but sure enough he set it all in motion and now the school is thriving, is it not, Felicity?”
The question brought the angry frustration flooding back, making her account of the day’s setback the more vivid.
Amaryllis shuddered. “I knew that man was up to no good. I met him at the Honeysett’s some weeks back and thought him a nasty, toad-eating little creature. Why should he want Ester Graham’s cottage?”
“Sheer cussedness, I imagine,” said Felicity. “Though, from what Lord Stayne has said, he seems to be acquiring land at a disturbing rate.”
Well, Ester ’ s cottage hasn’t much land. Perhaps he has an inamorata and wishes to establish her nearby.”
“Don’t like the sound of the fellow at all,” said Sir Peregrine bluntly. “Regular havey-cavey character, I shouldn’t wonder.”
He said as much to his nephew later on. The Earl appeared to have recovered from his earlier irritation and after a pleasant family dinner, sat back sipping his port and listening to his uncle rattling on with apparent affability.
“If you’d care for my advice, Max, that one’ll bear watching. Might even be prudent to abandon this school nonsense for the present.”
A faint quizzical smile touched the Earl’s mouth. “Did you suggest as much to Miss Vale?”
His uncle grinned. “Gave me the length of her tongue! Lass of spirit, that one. Tragic—losing both parents at a stroke.”
“Yes.”
“D’ye know, I might have married her mother ... well, that may be stretching it a bit, but still ... what a beauty! You’ll remember, no doubt, what a handsome woman Amaryllis’s ma was ... as girls they took the Town by storm. It was the Gunnings all over again. This child must take after the father.”
Sir Peregrine took out an intricately worked snuffbox. He flicked it open. “Don’t know if you’ ll care for this. It’s a new sort Petersham put up for me.”
His lordship declined the honor and said amiably, “Just how deep in dun territory are you this time, Uncle Perry?”
His uncle pocketed the box and dusted his fingers delicately with a large lace handkerchief, pausing to remove an imaginary speck from the glory of his brocade waistcoat.
“You mustn’t be troubling yourself about me, Max. I may have been plunging a
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