Sally understood these complications very well and she would not announce the arrangement of her family to anyone at this party for that reason.They had all agreed—Sally had, in fact, suggested it—that if anyone here asked questions about his only illegitimate sister, they would say that she lived with her husband, Fred, and his brother, Charles.But it still made Malcolm feel guilty that his sweet sister had to hide amongst these outsiders, who would see her as disgraceful, even potentially disqualifying of the match with George, if they knew the truth.
He approached Sally and her family, greeting Charles and Fred and the little children, who let out cheers upon seeing him.He frequently let them lark about on his farm and visit with the animals, so he was, he must admit, something of a favorite amongst his nieces and nephew.
He chucked the girls and boy underneath their chins and said hello to the two puppies they had brought, both of whom seemed extremely rambunctious.
“You must keep the puppies on their leads, my darlings,” Sally said to her children.“We must not disrupt the party.”
“Yes, we couldn’t have such a levelheaded proceeding as this one ruined for anything.”
Sally quirked her brow at him.“I would think you would have stopped such a happening, Malcolm, for the sake of your fields.”
“I tried,” he said with a sigh.“Now I can only hope that no one loses their life to this foolishness.”
“Surely the balloon is not as dangerous as that,” Sally retorted.
“You won’t seemein it,” he grumbled.
“Mama!Mama!I want to see the balloon up close,” his nephew crowed.
“We’ll take them,” Charles said, with that air of easy indulgence that distinguished, in his experience, the contented family man from the bachelor.“And we’ll let your Mama cheer up Uncle Malcolm.”
“Mama is the best at cheering up,” Victoria, his youngest niece, said.
“Yes, she is,” Fred said, a mischievous smile playing about his lips.
Sally playfully swatted his arm.“Go on, all of you.”
Once Charles and Fred were out of earshot, Sally turned to him, “How has it been, Mal?”
Only Sally called him Mal.There were certain things, he felt, that only Sally could understand about him, and his discomfort with the fine people from London was one of them.Sally had been raised in part by her grandparents, too, after the death of her mother, and they had been cottagers, no different from the laborers on his farm.Malcolm and Sally had both worked at Parkhorne—before her marriage, Sally had served as lady’s maid and companion to Beatrice—unlike their younger brothers, who had been raised as something closer to gentlemen.Not to mention that Sally had married a former footman and a man who owned a small freehold, where they all lived now.
“Tolerable,” he said heavily.“Uncomfortable, at first.But I am more used to it now.”
“And how is the fine lady you’ve been asked to attend?”
“She’s—” His mouth went dry, and he found himself unable to speak for a moment, but he didn’t worry about Sally judging him for his lapse.He coughed and swallowed.“She isn’t what I expected.She’s intriguing.”
“Mmm,” Sally said with a smile.“Well, that doesn’t sound bad at all.”
Here was why he loved his sister.Anyone else in the family would tease him or make a remark.But Sally took it easily.She didn’t see the need to pry.
“I am glad to see that Maven Larchman is here,” Sally continued lightly, nodding in the direction of the redheaded girl across the meadow.“I know Eleanora has felt badly about leaving her out of the dinners.”
“Yes, it is good to see her.Although I don’t know how happy it will make Philip.”
Sally looked up in alarm.“Why do you say that?”
Malcolm felt guilty gossiping about his brother—but it was just Sally.“Don’t mention it to him.But I caught them having a row the other day.”
“About what?”
“She objects to his interest in some of the ladies of the party.”
“Ah,” Sally said.“Poor girl.Although she hardly seems the type to moon after Philip.”
“No, indeed,” Malcolm concurred.If anything, in the past, Malcolm would have guessed Philip would be the one to find his affection unrequited.Maven Larchman had never been a young lady with her heart set on matrimony.Everyone knew that.
At their distance, he saw George and Gertrude being led into the basket of the balloon.
