“Mr. Stillworth!” Cassie heard Lakehurst say loudly in surprise. She ran toward the door.
“Forgive the late hour; I pressed ahead of the others to warn you,” he said.
“Come in, come in,” Lakehurst said.
“Mr. Stillworth!” Cassie said. “What’s this about a warning?”
Walking in the door of Baydon, he looked so much like Richard, her late husband, it nearly took her breath away. They could be twins if it weren’t for his darker blond hair. She might have called him Richard if Lakehurst hadn’t said his name first. The thought unnerved her, putting her on edge.
With Mr. Liddle safely gone, Gwinnie followed her out into the hall.
Mr. Stillworth quickly removed his high-crowned beaver hat and came into the hall. “Beg your pardon. Uncle Edmund thinks I decided not to come and have returned to London; however, I thought I should tell you he is in a temper. I have never seen him as angry as he was when he discovered you’d gone on ahead to Baydon.”
“I’m certain he is not as angry as I have been to discover how poorly he has managed Alex’s patrimony,” she said, placing her hands on her hips, her breathing faster. “You shall hear me ring a peal over his head, I can tell you that!” The shock of first perceiving him as Richard lingered.
Gwinnie placed a light hand on her shoulder. Cassie let out her breath on a sigh at her friend’s gentle touch.
“I’ll bet you have forgone dinner to ride to us,” Gwinnie said. “Let’s get Mr. Stillworth some dinner, and we can sit back at the table to hear what he has to say.”
Cassie relaxed. “Yes, an excellent idea, Gwinnie,” Cassie said, recovering. “Thank you. I have been suppressing my anger at Edmund, and like a covered boiling water pot, it has been waiting to boil over! My apologies for you getting the effects of the boil over. Please, join us in the dining room.”
“I would like that, but my horse—”
“I’ll see your horse is taken to the stable. Either Henry or Carlyle will see he is fed and cared for,” Lakehurst said.
“Thank you,” he said, bowing. He followed Cassie and Gwinnie into the dining room.
Cassie was relieved to see no sign of Mr. Liddle’s presence remained. Gwinnie winked at her. She smiled conspiratorially back at her.
“I’ll tell Rose and Agnes we have another for dinner,” Gwinnie said, heading toward the butler’s pantry.
“Would you like the local ale or wine?” Cassie asked.
“Ale, I think, thank you. But you shouldn’t be serving me!” he exclaimed.
She laughed. “Under the circumstances, until we have servants here, we all do what needs to be done. Even Lord Lakehurst and Lady Guinevere. Or I should say, especially them, for you know my upbringing was not one of privilege.”
“Uncle Edmund and Aunt Vanessa are concerned about your being here with Lord Lakehurst.”
“Why?” she asked, pouring ale from a pitcher on the sideboard into a mug.
“It is not seemly. It could ruin you.”
“Piffle, first, I am a widow. Second, Lady Guinevere and our ladies' maids are here.” She handed him the mug. “They provide chaperonage enough—if I were worried about such things. Which, I tell you plainly, I am not.”
“They do not understand why they are inserting themselves in your business. Aunt Vanessa has wondered if they are secretly impoverished and thinking of recovering their funds by a marriage to you.”
Gwinnie laughed. Mr. Stillworth glanced at her but turned back quickly to Cassie.
Cassie sat down across from him. “Vanessa wants to think the worst of everyone with a higher societal position than her. A few days ago, she tried to spread the rumor that Lord Lakehurst and Lady Guinevere were not the Duke of Malmsby’s children. She decided this was the case based on their size. She was certain their father was some Highlander or some such thing. Then she tried to make a to-do about Gwinnie taking money for the concerts she provides, that it was unseemly, and that made her an unseemly person. If there is no scandal that Vanessa knows of about a person, she will make one up.”
He winced. “I’ll own I have seen that a time or two.”
“Precisely. Then you should know how we disabuse her of those notions.”
He frowned and nodded.
“But that doesn’t seem like enough to have Edmund furious at me, as you say he is.”
