Was it something he’d said?
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Wells was doing his damnedest to avoid Miss Mowry, yet his mother thrust the lady upon him at every conceivable turn. She was the type of ubiquitous brunette theTonwholeheartedly approved, and whom his mother had clearly dressed to impress, accentuating the girl’s petite figure. Mowry couldn’t hold a candle to Charles, though he was presently mad at his mistress for having ruined the shell room by virtue of serving his guests tea here in his favorite space.
“Why, Lord Wells, it is the most extraordinary room I have ever seen,” Miss Mowry gushed.
“Yes, I daresay it is unique.” He was barely polite.
She touched his arm with her gloved hand. “Would you be so kind as to tell me its story, sir?” Her eyes fluttered up at him.
Wells despised coyness.
“I am sure my mother will do it greater justice, miss.” He threwMamana look.
“Oh no, you tell its history as well as I, Roland.” The Duchess wickedly smiled back. “Though I must say your housekeeper outdid herself; the room positively sparkles once more. I am glad she thought to serve us tea in here today, as your parlor’s four walls grow old.” Her rebuke was as always, pointed.
“Well, when one leaves a residence in utter disrepair for nigh on two decades, Mother, one learns to live with a few minor inconveniences.”
The Duchess leveled her gaze at her son but directed her words elsewhere. “The Duke and I used to spend our summers here, Miss Mowry, when Roland was a boy. The shell room was his favorite place to play in the Abbey, wasn’t it, dear?”
“Itwas,” he emphasized.
“And is it true you captained a ship yourself, Lord Wellesley?” The lady feigned interest; ladies always did. “I can only imagine what exotic treasures you must have brought back from your far-flung travels. How exciting to sail the seas!”
“I brought my men home alive, miss.” He watched her face fall. “That was treasure enough.”
“Roland is being modest, my dear,” his mother interjected, repairing the conversation. “He certainly did have his share of adventure though. Why don’t you regale Miss Mowry with your tales of daring, darling?” Her smile by now looked brittle.
“Hmm, let’s see . . .” Wells pretended to make nice. “Shall I tell her about the week we spent in the doldrums, eating rats and drinking our own piss till the winds finally lifted? Or would she rather hear tell of the storm that nearly sank us and sent two men overboard clinging to life for three days in shark-infested waters? Till they were burnt black from the sun?” He ruthlessly met his mother’s gaze.
Miss Mowry looked faint.
“Roland,” the Duchess snapped, “those are hardly appropriate tales for a lady of Miss Mowry’s delicate?—”
“Doforgive me, miss.” He rose to take her hand. “My memories tend towards the morose, I’m afraid, for to be so long at sea does things to a man’s mind.”
The lady looked fainter still, making Wells secretly, inside, grin.
“Excuse me.” His lips barely brushed her fingertips in exit. “I’m afraid I must see my steward on an urgent matter yet this morning.”
And out he fled, nearly colliding in the hallway with his housekeeper, en route to deliver the ladies their tea.
***
“What were youthinkingputting them in there?”
Charles was insulted by his lordship’s tone, not to mention the fact he’d nearly knocked over her precariously balanced tray. “There aren’t enough ready rooms, my lord,” she hissed back at him, adding, “I am doing the best I can.”
“Well dobetter,” he snarled, stomping off with a scowl.
Charles was more than a little peeved at Lord Wells but delivered the tea with aplomb, carefully pouring each lady a cup.
Her grace received Charles warmly. “This, Miss Mowry, is Mrs. Merrinan, my son’s housekeeper.”
Charles was momentarily confused by the use of Mrs. before she remembered it wasde rigueurfor all housekeepers, married or not. She made to leave, but the Duchess stopped her.
“No, stay a moment if you would, Mrs. Merrinan. I fear my son just abandoned us and there are so few amusements at the Abbey.” She sighed rather obviously. “Pray sit with us a while and tell Miss Mowry something of local life here in Cumberland.”
