“Yes,” Philip snapped.“And I ask that you let me.”
Maven crossed her arms and then startled when she caught sight of Malcolm.Philip whirled around.
“Malcolm,” he said, schooling his features from their wild frustration of a minute before into something much more like his usual casual indifference.“You sneak up on a fellow.”
“I am not sneaking up on anyone,” Malcolm said, unsure whether to be annoyed or amused by his little brother’s quick change in demeanor.He had no idea what to make of this little scene he had just witnessed.“Shouldn’t you two be in the church?”
“Ah, yes,” Philip said.“We were just going in.”
“I wasn’t,” Maven said, turning her pale face away from Malcolm.“I am going back to the vicarage.”
Malcolm waited for his brother to offer his friend an escort and then realized that such a request was not forthcoming.
“Would you like me to accompany you, Miss Larchman?”Malcolm said into the silence.
From the look of disappointment on Maven’s face, he could see that, in her estimation, the wrong brother had tendered this request.
“No, I prefer to go alone,” she said haughtily, and stormed off.
As he and Philip watched her go, Malcolm said, “I think she would prefer that you accompany her.”
Philip sighed.“Thatisthe problem.”
Malcolm arched his brows.It was unlike Philip to be so forthcoming.Malcolm would be lying if he hadn’t wondered a time or two if there weren’t something more between Maven and Philip than friendship.But now it appeared that Philip had other ideas.
He knew that acknowledging what he had overheard—that Maven objected to Philip having one… or multiple… of George’s heiresses in mind for himself—would only earn his brother’s ire.Last night, Philip had indicated Miss Perpetua Jones would be his preference.But it seemed that he hadn’t ruled out Lady Daisy or Miss Wallington either.Regardless, Maven appeared to disapprove of his plan.And whatever her feelings were for his brother, she wasn’t wrong that he was being mercenary.
Still, after the night Malcolm had had, he felt kinship at this moment with his youngest brother.Female problems appeared to be quite catching at the moment.
“Shall we go inside?”Malcolm asked after the passage of a heavy silence.
“Yes,” Philip replied, directing himself to the door with a rapid jerk of his body and a shake of his head.
Mr.Larchman was typically a lively preacher to whom Malcolm enjoyed listening.Some regarded him as a radical, as he often spoke on political matters—he was particularly fiery on the subject of abolition and the rights of women.But this morning the sermon seemed to drone on, and Malcolm struggled to catch its theme.
No, he was too busy staring at the back of Miss Scarlet Perkins’s bonnet.Ladies’ bonnets these days were rather large, but still, somehow, he knew which one was hers.Among the monstrosities, it seemed somehow more elegant, more refined.
He stared at the back of that bonnet and wondered how he would manage to speak with her.
Most of the guests from Parkhorne rode to church in the carriages dispatched to do just that.But Malcolm needed a private audience with Scarlett, and the easiest, most respectable way to get that was to walk back to Parkhorne together.
Luckily, when Malcolm exited the church, George hailed him.“We have a party that wants to return on foot—will you join us?”
Miss Scarlett, thank God, stood amongst the ladies to whom George gestured.
But Malcolm saw that, without direct action, such a stroke of fortune would be for naught.
No, he needed to request a private audience, and there was only one way to achieve it.
He just needed to wait for a moment when it seemed the others were distracted.
Once more, fortune favored him.
Because it appeared that Miss Gertrude Wallington had made a bid for George’s arm that could not be rebuked, even though he had already been supporting Tilly.Severn stepped in to take Tilly’s arm, while George, looking displeased, was now grasped by Gertrude.Given the very purpose of this house party, this exchange drew every eye.
And so Malcolm took his chance.
He stepped toward Miss Scarlett and said, all in a rush, “May I offer my arm, Miss Perkins?”
