Page 16 of Miss Determined
A groom emerged from the barn, the same fellow Lissa had left grumbling outside the Crosspatch Arms.
“We’ve been sighted,” she said. “Look harmless and a trifle dull-witted, and tea won’t be so bad. You have a pressing engagement that prevents you from staying to lunch.”
“One can have pressing engagements in Crosspatch Corners?”
“You seek to call on the vicar and must change out of your riding attire. Show some imagination, Mr. Dorning.”
They handed off the horses with directions to unsaddle both and allow them an hour at what grass there was to be had so early in the season, and then Lissa was being escorted by her guest up to the house.
“Would it be a bad thing if I were a nob?” Mr. Dorning asked.
“I’m glad you aren’t.” Lissa could be that honest with him. “My experiences in London last year were not…” How to put it without exceeding all bounds? “I ran afoul of a young man when I first made my bow, years ago. He’s an earl’s heir now, though he was merely gentry then. That experience lingers in my awareness and apparently lingered in the memory of a few gossips. Titled Society strikes me more as a blight on the English landscape, rather than anything to boast of. They probably feel the same way about me.”
“Then shame upon them,” Mr. Dorning said, offering his arm.
When Lissa accepted that courtesy, she would lose the freedom of a friendly potential neighbor and become instead a lady constrained by propriety when in the company of a gentleman.
“The vicar is Mr. Raybourne,” Lissa said, bowing to the inevitable and slipping her fingers around Mr. Dorning’s elbow. “He’s keen on the steeplechase and always rides to hounds in the first flight. We are treated to very brief sermons during hunt season, but alas, our reprieve is over for the year.”
Mr. Dorning paused on the steps of the side door and took Lissa’s hand in his. “I cannot recall when I have enjoyed a morning spent in the saddle as much as I’ve enjoyed today’s guided tour. Please say I can call on you properly and that you will introduce me to a few of the neighbors.”
I’m leaving for London soon. Mama has already started packing.Lissa pushed those dread thoughts aside.
“We don’t stand on ceremony in these parts, Mr. Dorning. You could introduce yourself to the neighbors, or ask Vicar to send along a note on your behalf. Nobody would much mind, and if you’re still here on Sunday, you’d be introduced in the churchyard as a matter of course.”
“That’s not the point.” His expression was genial, but also… serious again. “You have been kind to a stranger and taken up a good portion of the day escorting me about. I know my way around now, and I will pay a visit to the vicar this afternoon. All that aside, I would like to call on you later this week.”
The door flew open, and Diana, Caroline peeking over her shoulder, stood goggling. “Oh, Lissa. He’s scrumptious. Who is he, and where did you find him? I quite like him. If you have no use for this gorgeous fellow, then please do introduce us. I’m Diana, and I’m not out yet, but I will be soon.”
She held out her hand and batted her lashes, probably thinking herself very bold and sophisticated.
Mr. Dorning bowed over her hand. “Trevor Dorning, at your service, Miss Diana. Miss DeWitt saw me first, and thus by right of capture, I belong exclusively to her. I’m sure you will be the cynosure of all bachelor eyes—once you’ve finished growing up, of course.”
Diana simpered and giggled, while Caroline blushed. Lissa wished she’d not risked this encounter between her sisters and her riding companion, but then Mr. Dorning winked at her, and that… that was an antidote to many tribulations indeed.
Trevor had learned more than winemaking in France. When he hadn’t been marching up and down the terraced hillside of Bordeaux or reading old treatises on blending clarets, he’d been keeping an eye out for properties to buy, for rentals that would make a long-term visit in this or that region comfortable.
He’d developed an instinct for which chateaus were in good repair and which had been going to seed even before the war. A man’s horse could grow fat on spring grass, but that man would have to put out coin for the harness maker to keep his saddle in good repair. Look at his horse, but don’t forget to examine his saddle as well. So, too, were some signs of aging in a house merely cosmetic, while others indicated real difficulties.
Twidboro Hall was like the DeWitts who dwelled there. Sturdy—even the grandmother was stately and spry—and a bit down at the heels, but cheerfully determined to go on. Furniture in the guest parlor was placed somewhat oddly, no doubt to hide stains in the carpet.
Pictures, too, had been hung in unusual groupings, again likely to hide stains on the walls. An unfortunate splash of wax was one thing, but Trevor suspected water stains, which meant trouble if left unaddressed.
The Hall was spotless, though a little drafty. Some of the windows wanted glazing, and only half the sconces held lamps. The empty sconces sat across from lighter rectangles in the corridor, where—Mrs. DeWitt claimed—some of the older landscapes had been sent off for cleaning.
Of course they had.
“Lissa is going to London again.” Diana sent her sister an arch look across the tea tray. “She’s to make a fine match, and then Caroline and I can marry forlove.”
How did one converse with a creature who was half girl, half imp? “Do you imply that marrying for love would not be a fine match, Miss Diana?”
“Diana,” Mrs. DeWitt said, “perhaps you’d best go practice your pianoforte.”
“I already did my practicing for today. Don’t you recall? You claimed Mr. Clementi was a minion of Satan in C major sent to plague all long-suffering mothers who needed a bit of a lie-in. Caroline heard you, but Grandmama—”
“Do you play?” Trevor asked Caroline. The girl hadn’t said two words. She put him in mind of a hedgehog peeking out from beneath a thicket of fiery red hair. Round spectacles enhanced her air of timorous curiosity, as did blue eyes given to slow blinking.
“A little, Mr. Dorning. Lissa is the true talent in the family, though Diana is also very accomplished.”
