Mercy gave a small curtsy as Miss Sharpham had taught her. To her chagrin, Prudence let out a peal of laughter. ‘You don’t have to curtsy to me,’ she chuckled. ‘The truth is, I’m just a vicar’s daughter, so it should be the other way round.’ She spread her skirts and gave an exaggerated dip of the knee, almost to the floor.
The two girls were closeted in the corner of the large drawing room. Prudence had seized Mercy’s hand the moment they were introduced and dragged her away from thetediously boringadults.
‘You don’t behave like a lady,’ Mercy conceded doubtfully.
‘That’s ‘cos I’m not one and never will be,’ Pru answered, plonking herself down on her chair. ‘Mercedes, that’s a very interesting name. I don’t know anyone with it at all. Apart from you that is.’
‘It was my mother’s name,’ Mercy answered shyly.
‘I take it she’s dead,’ Pru said bluntly. Mercy nodded, receiving a shrug in return. ‘I never really knew my mother,’ the older girl confided. ‘There’s only ever been Agnes–she’s my stepmother.’ She pointed over to a stout matron with a large doily covering her head.
‘Is she kind to you?’ Mercy asked, having been read many stories about wicked stepmothers.
Prudence blinked. ‘I’m not sure she even knows my name,’ was her answer at length. ‘The only one of us she’s really interested in is Anthony. He issued from her loins,’ she declared loftily.
‘What’s a loin?’
Pru frowned, opened her mouth, then shrugged. ‘Not important. Wait until you meet Anthony,’ she enthused. ‘He’s a good sport. The only one in the whole family who still knows how to have fun. Apart from me. And now you.’ She cocked her head on one side. ‘You do know how to have fun, don’t you?’
‘I…I think so,’ Mercy responded, frantically sorting through her head for Miss Sharpham’s opinion on fun.
Belatedly, Prudence realised that Mercy’s question about stepmothers might have been prompted by her concern that she was about to inherit one. ‘Oh, you need not worry about Chastity,’ she offered airily, ‘she’s as soft as syllabub and most definitely knows how to have fun. I’m entirely certain you and she will deal famously together.’ She paused and looked over the younger girl’s shoulder.
‘Ah, here’s Anthony now.’ Mercy turned towards the door in time to spy a tall slender youth with a riot of curly hair, the colour of burnished copper. ‘We think Agnes’s hair might once have been that colour,’ whispered Prudence with a grin as she watched her brother being introduced to the Earl, ‘though Lord knows where he got his skinny build from.’ Mercy blinked noting the rotund form of the boy’s parents.
After the introduction, Anthony wasted no time listening to the small talk being conducted on the adult side of the room but headed straight for his sister. To Mercy’s delight, he had Freddy in tow. As the boy got closer, Mercy could see his eyes were a vivid green, the colour of the small newts living in the pond at the bottom of their garden. ‘Hello, Mercy,’ he grinned, ‘I hear you’re to become part of the family. I warn you now, we’re all completely dicked in the nob, though in the spirit of telling the truth from the outset, I should tell you that of everyone, I’m the most normal.’
Prudence snorted. ‘And if you believe that, you’ll believe anything.’
∞∞∞
Laying down her knife and fork, Chastity looked around the table, certain that her eldest sister could count the dinner party a great success. There were eight around the table which was a perfect number to felicitate the light banter the Duke and Duchess were so good at. Though Peter and Jennifer should have been there, they were both suffering from slight colds, so Grace had evidently thought it best they stayed in the nursery.
Chastity eyed her sister. They’d had no further opportunity to discuss whether Grace was enceinte, and clearly she’d said nothing to Nicholas. Chastity pursed her lips. This wouldn’t do. For good or ill, she was now betrothed, and it was time for Grace to consider her own needs.
Betrothed. That had a very formal ring to it. Chastity gave a covert glance to the Earl seated to her left. He looked exceedingly handsome in his evening dress, so much so that the tingling she’d felt earlier had spread. In truth, it was making her
a little uncomfortable. So far they’d not had much opportunity to speak beyond the usual pleasantries, but every time she looked at him, she became distracted by his mouth, wondering how his lips would feel covering hers. There it was again. She squirmed awkwardly.
‘Are you well, Miss Shackleford?’ Damn it, his voice did strange things to her too.
‘I’m just a little hot, that is all,’ she responded, hating the breathlessness in her voice.
Christian opened his mouth to say something more, but to Chastity’s chagrin, he was interrupted by the Duke addressing the table.
‘Given the reason for our gathering, I’d like to suggest we enjoy our port with the ladies. Would that be acceptable?’ Though he spoke to everyone, Nicholas’s suggestion was clearly directed towards Christian, and the Earl bent his head in ready agreement.
A few minutes later, Grace rose from the table and led the way into the large drawing room. Once there, the obvious temptation was to continue discussing the problem of Witherspoon, but mindful of younger ears, they stayed away from the dark subject. Chastity smiled at Mercy, happy to see her playing a game of cards with Prudence and Anthony while surreptitiously feeding Freddy the marzipan coins under the table. At least Pru hadn’t suggested they play for real money - it wouldn’t be the first time.
Indeed, everyone seemed in very high spirits aside from Percy who Chastity noted had been quiet throughout dinner. She observed her father casting the curate more than one concerned glance too, so evidently she wasn’t imagining it.
Inevitably, the conversation turned instead to their betrothal, and Chastity found herself once more casting covert glances towards the Earl. To her disappointment, his face gave nothing away, and she felt a sudden anxious tug in her stomach.
‘Naturally, I’d prefer to conduct the nuptials myself at the church in Blackmore,’ her father was saying.
‘I think mayhap a spring wedding would be lovely,’ Grace enthused. Devonshire is especially lovely in May.’It would also enable her sister to be back at Blackmore before her lying-in, Chastity thought.
‘The announcement is due to go in tomorrow’s Morning Post,’ Nicholas declared, ‘although we were in two minds whether we should make such a public announcement given the situation with our former associate.’ He shook his head. ‘But at the end of the day, both Augustus and I agreed with Christian that hiding from the confrontation will not make it go away, and this way we at least have some control over the situation.’
