“Stop!Stop this at once!”Mrs.Salisbury demanded.“Do not encourage Philip, Severn!You will make him as bad as yourself.”
“I am not beingencouraged,” Philip said.“I am not a child.Not that anyone around here remembers it.”
“Ido, in fact, remember that,” Mrs.Salisbury said, her tone softer now.“Which is why I have made you a crucial part of every aspect of the next month.”
Philip was not so much of an adult, at two-and-twenty, Malcolm noted, as not to appear pleased by this assurance.
“We have everything set,” Mrs.Salisbury continued.“The house is sparkling.We have all the extra servants from town that we could entice into Somerset.Every room is turned out.We have five very eligible young ladies and their chaperones coming to reside here until halfway through July, and every provision has been made for their entertainment and comfort.”
“The farm has laid by everything you have asked for,” Malcolm interjected.“We should have every country amenity that our guests could expect.They will not get a gloomy view of living here on the account of the table you will present, ma’am.”
His siblings were not, as far as he could see, reassuring Mrs.Salisbury.And she—andhe—had worked hard to show Parkhorne in its best light.And Malcolmdidthink Mrs.Salisbury wise for having the party.Parkhorne was not for every young lady, especially given how remote the location was and how retired George apparently wanted to be once he married.Coming here, and spending a month in its environs with George, would allow each of his brother’s potential brides to see whether they could live here as its mistress.
“Thank you, Malcolm,” she said, smiling.“Youareappreciated, especially amongst this rabble.And I must presume on you further, I’m afraid.”
All eyes swiveled to Mrs.Salisbury.Malcolm’s blood ran cold.
He knew it.Hehadknown it.This horde, the only family he had ever known, would not takenofor an answer.
“Mrs.Salisbury, I cannot—”
“It is Eleanora, Malcolm, for the thousandth time.And I know that you have refused to take part in the house party socially.But I have an emergency.A crisis, if you will, and you are the only one who can solve it.”
“A crisis?”Malcolm said.“Yes, I am sure it was quite spontaneous.”
His siblings met him with blank stares.
“There is no reason to be paranoid, Malcolm,” Beatrice snapped.“We aren’t the enemy.And I am sure no one here knows what Mother means.”
“Really, brother, I haven’t the faintest notion of what she means,” Severn said.
“Nor do I,” Sally said.
He sighed.It didn’t matter, anyway, what they knew.“What is it?”
“I forgot about a guest,” Mrs.Salisbury said crisply.“It is all my fault.Because it is a rather unforgivable oversight.”
“Who is it?”Malcolm repeated.
“And it is especially egregious because she is part of the Perkins party.You know, Miss Matilda Perkins, your brother’s—”
“Yes,” Malcolm said.“I am aware of the significance of Miss Tilly Perkins.”
He restrained himself from saying—yes, I understandtonEnglish, even if I work beside men who speak West Country.
“Well, she has a sister, and I completely forgot her, I am ashamed to say.She attends Tilly everywhere.And it was only when Beatrice asked if the girl—a very nice young lady—was coming, that I realized I had completely left her unaccounted for!”
Malcolm narrowed his eyes.“Why did you forget about her?Is she not one of the five eligible young misses?”
It was very unlike Mrs.Salisbury to make such a mistake.
“Er, no,” Mrs.Salisbury said.“She is—well—a young lady, yes, but notasyoung—”
“What my mother is struggling to say,” Beatrice cut in, “is that Miss Scarlett Perkins has long been on the shelf.She is older than Tilly by six or seven years.She chaperones her sister when Tilly’s mother—who is often poorly—is indisposed.”
“How does any of this affect me?”Malcolm said, dread pooling in his stomach.
“Well, for one,” Beatrice said.“We’ve had to put her in the hunting lodge.”
