“If no one likes her, why do so many visit?”
“Because she is the highestton. Only person in society who makes Mrs. Drummond-Burrell quake in her shoes.”
Felicity shook her head, her equanimity leaking away like milk through a sieve.“She is your aunt? On whose side?”
“My mother's.” It seemed he had to think about that. “More of a cousin, actually. But only she and Mother seem to be able to work out the connection.”
“Was she your grandmother's companion?”
He gave a short bark of laughter. “Gad, no. The two of them were like lionesses marking territory. I'm not sure if they had been friends or she just blackmailed Gran into letting her stay.”
They reached the first floor and turned for the next set of steps, all of them lined with dark portraits of people in ruffs.
“A poor relation?”
“Rich as Croesus.”
So,Felicity thought,a nasty old woman with money living off her relatives. We ought to get along famously.She almost sighed out loud. It was becoming clear that she should have taken that stage.
The hallway they progressed down was one Felicity hadn't had a chance to investigate, just beyond the family hall where Flint’s room lay. Probably for the better. She couldn't imagine how difficult her stay would have been if she'd shoved open a door to find the old lady at her bath.
Flint rapped sharply on a door towards the end of the hall. “My room is at the other end of the corridor,” he said, then grinned. “If you feel compelled to visit.”
“I know.” She refused to let him see what his casual flirtation did to her breathing. “And no. I’ve done my visiting.”
The door before them was opened by a tall, elegant, middle-aged blond lady in sensible gray serge. Seeing Flint, she smiled and curtsied. “My lord.”
“Does he have his tart with him?” a warbling voice demanded from farther inside the apartment.
“No!” Felicity called back before anyone had a chance to stop her. “I am the decent one!”
Astonishingly, she earned a rusty laugh. “Then get in here and let me have a look at you!”
This was evidently not Aunt Winnie's customary greeting, if judged by the astonished look on not only Flint's face, but the lovely blond lady.
“Miss Mary Fare,” Flint said, ignoring his cousin as he dropped a bow to the woman who had met them. “May I present my fiancée, Miss Chambers?”
“Not his fiancée,” Felicity corrected, dropping her own curtsy.
Miss Fare matched it perfectly and shred a genuine smile.
“Felicity,” Flint said. “Miss Fare is my aunt's companion. She is all that keeps us from mayhem.”
Miss Fare answered with a gentle smile. “This is the most excitement we've had here since the hunting party.”
Flint grimaced. “If you love me, do not bring up the hunting party.”
Felicity lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, no, I think Miss Fare must tell me all about it.”
“What are you all waiting on,” Aunt Winnie demanded with athudFelicity recognized as a cane hitting the ground, “a master of ceremonies?”
Laying a hand against the small of Felicity's back, Flint ushered her in. Felicity would have been far happier if she hadn't felt that odd sparking again. It distracted her at a moment when she thought she needed all her wits about her.
She stepped into the parlor and knew she was right. The room was over-warm and stuffed with an astonishing amount of furniture, as if the old woman had decided to empty out an entire house into these two rooms. Two tall, carved wooden chairs bracketed the roaring fireplace. Seated on one, her feet resting on a tapestried ottoman, was the tiniest woman Felicity had ever seen. It was rare that Felicity actually felt tall. She did now as she approached the wrinkled, beringed doyen.
But it wasn't height or embellishment or the morning dress that looked as if it had been constructed from red brocade bed curtains that really caught Felicity's attention. It was the lady's hair. It was purple. Not a soft lavender, or lilac, although even those would have been noteworthy. This hair was bright, curling purple.
Felicity caught herself just shy of bursting into laughter. If this was to be her reputation, she was doomed. Who could take this little elf seriously?
