“I have been at my wits end with the new guest that my grandmother brought with her,” he confessed.
As Morgan watched the twinkle come into his friend’s eyes, he resigned himself to his interrogation. Arthur was a curious one, even more curious with Morgan who he claimed always refused to part with any information without prodding.
“Oh! Pray tell,” Arthur said as they began a slow trod down the path, riding more leisurely now, their race forgotten. “Tell me everything.”
Morgan sighed once again before he began his tale on how Selina came to be in his house.
“The Brigpool Estate had an accident, resulting in a fire that put my grandmother out of her home. So many of the rooms were damaged, rendering it unlivable for my grandmother, at least until it is repaired, especially not with the smoke causing her discomfort.”
“Goodness! Is she all right? I had not realized that she was with you. How long has she been here?” Arthur asked him, looking concerned.
Arthur had always enjoyed his grandmother’s company as had the older woman. The two of them got up to all sorts of things when they were together, it was a wonder she had not tried to adopt him as her grandson instead of Morgan.
“Yes, she is all right. There is no need to worry on that end. She was pulled from the house before the fire could get to her. She has no injuries to her person. It happened not long ago and she’s only been here three days,” Morgan told his friend, grateful for his concern.
“Due to the damage, she had to leave her estate while construction was underway and she brought someone to live with her, hercompanion.”
Morgan looked up as though the skies held the solution to his problem with Selina. The mention of her was already getting him riled up. It still pained him to think of the embarrassment he had suffered when he had tried to climb up that tree the day before.
He shook the memory away and focused on relaying the story to his friend.
“The lady has been testing me at every turn,” he said, unable to keep the incredulity from his voice. It still baffled him how she was the opposite of all other women he had encountered, save for his family.
Morgan had always wished there would be someone who would not run away in fear of him. He had, however, not known that his wish would come in a way that would have him wanting to take it all back.
“I have never seen anyone who would talk back to me. She does not seem even the slightest bit intimidated or scared of me. Can you imagine that?” he asked Arthur who remained silent, allowing his friend to vent.
“She is very outspoken and does not seem to care to keep her opinions to herself whether it is needed or not. It is quite unusual, especially for a lady,” he finished.
“Oh my. It sounds like you definitely wouldn’t know what to do with someone like her,” Arthur said and Morgan nodded.
They were the exact opposites. Morgan already had such limited interaction with the ladies but at least he had known what to expect from them, save for the random outbursts.
Selina, on the other hand, was quite unlike the others and his strictness did not matter much to her. In fact, she seemed to enjoy challenging it whenever she could.
“You have no idea how true that is. We have not been able to see eye to eye on anything. We spend a lot of time arguing and she is always pushing me as well to do the strangest things.”
Morgan was lost in his explanation of all the ways that she annoyed him or got on his nerves and did not see the raised eyebrows of his friend.
“For example, can you imagine she berated me for not allowing Barbara to climb trees,” Morgan scoffed.
“Oh!” Arthur exclaimed.
“I did not let her do so because I thought it was quite unladylike for Barbara to climb trees.”
“Well…” Arthur drawled. “While I do not agree with her methods of trying to get you to see reason, it is true that Barbara is indeed not a lady just yet. I understand why you would find it to be strange, but I don’t think it is a big deal. She is a child.”
“Don’t you start with me as well, Finch.” Morgan narrowed his eyes at his friend who raised his hands in surrender.
“All right, fine. So, what happened? Did she argue with you over it?” Arthur asked. Morgan barked out a short laugh at that.
“Oh, that was not it. It was even worse. She had rolled around in the mud with Barbara and then she slathered the mud on my face and clothes.”
When Arthur burst out into laughter, Morgan glared at him, not seeing what it was that he found so funny about his situation. This woman clearly needed to be stopped else, heavens knew what she would do.
“Oh, do not glare at me so, that is funny. My God! You cannot be serious.”
“Ah, but I am. I wish I was not but I’m dead serious.” Morgan paused as he wondered whether telling Arthur this last bit was a good idea, especially since it was at his own expense.
