Page 9 of Winterset

Anna heard all about the arrival of Lord Moreland and his party at Winterset, first from her excited maid the next morning and later from the squire’s wife and daughter. Anna carefully refrained from telling either one of her newsbearers that she already knew of Reed’s arrival. She listened patiently as Mrs. Bennett repeated the chemist’s description of Moreland’s entourage as it had moved through the town of Lower Fenley, keeping a pleasant smile fixed on her face.

After the Bennetts left, Kit turned to his sister and said thoughtfully, “I suppose I ought to call on him—to be polite. Or do you think that’s forward?”

Despite her inner turmoil, Anna had to smile at her brother’s somewhat anxious expression. He had brought the same subject up days ago, when they had first learned that Reed Moreland was returning to Winterset, and obviously he had been considering the matter ever since. Kit was, after all, still rather young, only twenty-four years of age, and the prospect of new neighbors was a little exciting to him. There were few people his age or station anywhere around them, and his social life in London had been cut short by having to return to take over his father’s responsibilities. He had accepted his lot with good grace, never complaining, and for the most part he seemed content to live quietly in the country.

But it was only natural that he should want to meet some new people. The social highlight of his life was a weekly game of cards in the village with Dr. Felton and a few of the local men. Indeed, Anna knew that had circumstances been different, she, too, would have looked forward with pleasure to meeting the occupants of Winterset. The last thing she wanted was for Kit to meet Reed, but she could not bring herself to tell him about the disastrous relationship that had formed between her and Moreland. Nor could she ask him not to call on the man.

“No, I don’t think it’s forward at all,” she assured him, fixing a pleasant smile on her face. “I think it is just what is proper.” She hoped that Reed would not be abrupt or unkind to Kit just because he was her brother. “And you will get a better idea of whether or not they intend to stay and if they are friendly or too snobbish to mingle with us country folk.”

“Is that the way Lord Moreland is?” Kit asked. “You knew him. Mrs. Bennett seemed to think—”

Anna forced a chuckle. “Come, Kit, surely you are not relying on Mrs. Bennett’s version of events. Why, to hear her talk, one would think that you are quite taken with her daughter.”

Kit made a wry face. “Point taken. But you did at least talk to the man.”

“Yes. At parties and such. He was…a nice man. He did not seem puffed up with pride, as I had expected of the son of a duke. But it has been three years. He may have changed.”

Kit smiled at her. “Don’t worry. I will not be disillusioned if he offers me a set down.”

As it turned out, Kit was far from offered a set down. In his eagerness, he rode over to Winterset not long after their conversation, and when he returned, he was smiling and bubbling over with liking for their new neighbors.

“He’s a jolly good sort,” Kit told her, a boyish grin on his face. “Just as you said—not at all proud or puffed up. I quite liked him.”

“Good. I’m glad,” Anna responded with genuine pleasure.

“There were several other people there, as Mrs. Bennett said,” he went on. “His sister, Lady Kyria, and her husband, who is an American.”

“And what are they like?” Anna remembered hearing Reed speak of Kyria more than once, as well as his other sisters, and she could not help but be interested in her.

“Very nice. Lady Kyria is stunning. Actually, I had seen her when I was in London. A friend took me to a party once, and she was there. Unforgettable.”

“What does she look like?” Anna pressed.

“Red hair, very tall. Just…just beautiful,” he finished lamely, shrugging. “And quite charming. Not a bit of snobbery about her, either. Strangely enough, the family seems a bit egalitarian.”

“I understand that the duchess is very forward-thinking,” Anna told him.

“Lady Kyria’s husband is a chap named Rafe McIntyre. He’s an American—shook my hand, acted as if he’d known me all my life.” He paused, and his expression shifted subtly. “There is another woman in their party…Miss Rosemary Farrington.”

Something cold touched Anna’s heart. “Another woman? A relative, do you think?”

“Oh, no, I didn’t get that impression. I think she is perhaps a friend of theirs.”

“What—what is she like?” It was common to bring friends along to stay at one’s county estate, but it betokened a certain interest in a woman if a man asked her to come with his family to his estate, especially if she was there by herself, not just a member of a family invited to stay. “Is she—are her parents there?”

Kit looked at her oddly. “No, I don’t think so. No one said anything about them. Why?”

Anna blushed, realizing how peculiar her question had sounded. “I don’t know. I was just wondering…if there were any other people there. You know, if it was a large party or small. One cannot rely on Mrs. Bennett for accuracy, you know.”

“No, I think they are the only people who came to Winterset.”

“Tell me about Miss Farrington.” Anna strove to keep her voice light. It was absurd, she knew, for her to feel this quiver of jealousy at the thought that Reed might have an interest in Miss Farrington. After all, she expected him to go on with his life. Indeed, she wanted him to. She wanted him to be happy.

“She is a beautiful woman. Not, perhaps, as beautiful as Lady Kyria is, but, to my way of thinking, much better—more normal, you know, more approachable. Her hair is blond and her eyes are blue. She is quite small and just a little bit shy, I think.”

It was only then that Anna noticed the moonstruck look on her brother’s face, and a different sort of anxiety crept into her. “Kit…you are not—you sound quite taken with Miss Farrington.”

Her brother’s expression hardened, the rapt look in his eyes replaced by something a little bitter. “Don’t worry. I’m not a fool. I know that there is no possibility—”