“There you are quite wrong, sir,” she said archly, tapping him with her fan.
“No, no!” he protested. “He is a great handsome fellow, and casts me quite into the shade. Now, if I were a fashionable fribble, and wore shirt points high enough and sharp enough to put an eye out with an unwary move, and dazzled the room with a dozen fobs at my waist and a diamond pin in my cravat, why then I might attract attention, but for myself, I eschew all such ostentation. I prefer simplicity in all things, Miss Cathcart, that is my watchword.”
“Oh, indeed, and so do I,” she cried, quite oblivious to the frills and flounces and multitude of ornamentation on her dress. “Simplicity is always preferred to… to…”
“Ostentation,” he said, with a twitch of his lips. “Then we are of one mind. How splendid! What a wonderful world it would be if every two people were so admirably in accord. Why, there would be no arguments, no discussions… in fact, one might dispense with conversation altogether. You brighten my life immensely, Miss Cathcart.”
“Why, thank you, sir!” she trilled happily. “Oh look, the earl and his ladies are joining us. That must mean dinner will soon be served. How glad I shall be to sit down and enjoy the meal. You have a very good cook here, Mr Atherton.”
She rested one hand on his arm, quite casually, as if completely unaware of it, but in effect claiming him as her dinner companion. Katherine saw it, but was helpless to intervene. How would he react? Would he feel obliged to lead her into dinner?
He looked down at the offending hand, his face puzzled. “Dear me! Are you unwell, Miss Cathcart?”
“Unwell? Why, no, never better, sir. Why should you think otherwise?”
“You grabbed my arm so suddenly I was concerned that you might be feeling faint. Miss Parish, have you any smelling salts about you? I believe they might aid Miss Cathcart at this moment.”
“Yes, indeed I do,” she said, reaching into her reticule. “They are very efficacious.”
Angrily, Aveline withdrew her hand. “Do not concern yourself, cousin. I am perfectly well and have no need for your smelling salts.”
“What a relief!” Kent said cheerfully. “Ah, there is Simpson now. It is time for dinner. Miss Parish, may I escort you into the dining room?”
Aveline glowered even more. “Why are you takingKatherinein? Would you not prefer to sit with someone you can talk to?”
“An interesting question, Miss Cathcart. Who did you have in mind as a more entertaining dinner companion for me?”
He tipped his head on one side enquiringly. Katherine waited to see if Aveline was brash enough to respond in the obvious way. Surely she had a modicum of restraint that would prevent her from putting herself forward?
With a giggle, she lowered her head with seeming demureness. “I am sure you can think of someone, sir.”
“Indeed, I assure you I cannot.”
“Well… I do not like to… but you know Katherine never talks at all in company, so it is of no consequence who she sits beside. Whereas I… I do not like to boast, but I can converse very readily.”
“What a happy talent to have! And on what subject would you entertain me?” he said, still smiling.
“Oh… anything you like. What would you like to talk about?” The hand made its way onto his arm again, seeing success within sight.
“The Oystermouth Railway,” he said at once.
“What?What on earth do you imagine I know about that?”
“Nothing, I should suppose, and nor do I, but Miss Parish does, and she has promised to tell me all about it this evening.” Gently detaching Aveline’s hand and ignoring her chagrin, he held out his arm to Katherine. “Shall we, Miss Parish? You had better make haste, Miss Cathcart, for most of the ladies have already gone in.”
She scuttled away, scowling, while Kent murmured, “I should not tease her, I suppose. She is a good sort of girl, even if she knows nothing about the Oystermouth Railway.”
Katherine quite agreed that even Aveline, trying as she was, did not deserve to be teased, and recognised that her own satisfaction in this small triumph over her cousin was equally reprehensible. Yet somehow, these thoughts did not cast her down as they might otherwise have done. Later, perhaps, she would consider the matter more fully, but for now all she could think about was that she was to dine beside the man she loved with all her heart. Two hours of his company, perhaps, and not jostled about on horseback, but sitting in comfort beside him, just as if they were true friends… or more than friends. It was a boon too overwhelming for words.
She took his arm, glowing inside to be chosen by him above Aveline… above all other ladies! It was astonishing, but she was not so foolish as to be carried away with unrealistic hopes. His interest was still on machinery, and her greater knowledge of such things. But that did not matter. She would tell him about the Oystermouth Railway, and for an hour or two she would have his undivided attention, and enough memories to warm her through many a dark hour in the future when he was not with her.
They had not taken two steps towards the dining room, and were almost the last to make their way there, when the earl emerged, a frown on his face which lifted when he saw them.
“Well done, Kent. I was just coming to find Miss Parish. Will you honour me with your company at dinner this evening, madam? You have been a part of the neighbourhood for some months now and I should like to become better acquainted with you.”
Katherine hardly knew how to respond to this. One could scarcely refuse an earl, naturally, but she had so looked forward to sitting beside Kent. She threw him a desperate glance, but it was the earl who rescued her.
“Yes, yes, Kent may sit on your other side, you know, and between the two of us, we shall look after you very well, you may be sure.”
