Page 18 of Snowy and the Seven Doves
A glance at Arial and Regina showed they were trying not to laugh. Margaret gave Arial her cup.
Margaret could argue that the Duke of Winshire was as English as Aunt Aurelia, but it would be of no use. His first wife, the mother of his children, had been a Persian princess, which damned him forever in Aunt Aurelia’s eyes. Her great aunt’s views on the class system and the superiority of the English nobility were rigid and lofty, as she proved with her next remark.
“Mr. White is not of our kind. Add to that, one suspects, from his appearance, that he is an irregular connection of the house of Snowden, and I am disappointed in Margaret for lowering herself to encourage him. As I told her, Lady Stancroft, it will not do her any good with her worthy suitors to be seen in that man’s company.”
As Margaret served Regina, she decided it was time to assert herself. “Thank you, Aunt Aurelia. You have made your opinion perfectly clear. However, if any of my suitors were worthy of my attention, they would not be offended by my doing a favor for the man who saved my life.”
“Which he would not have had to do, Margaret, if you had not been in a place you should never have gone. But there. I do not know why I bother. You were a rebellious child and a foolish girl. You have become a stubborn woman. I am going to my rooms. Good day, Lady Stancroft, Mrs. Ashby.” She clattered her cup back into her saucer and flounced out of the room.
She was getting worse. She had always been perfectly pleasant in front of guests, saving her criticisms and complaints until she and Margaret were alone. Margaret was going to have to retire her to the country and hire a companion.
“I apologize for that scene,” she said to her friends. She managed to keep her voice level, though her hand trembled as she lifted her cup.
“No apology needed,” Regina assured her. “You behaved with dignity, Margaret.”
“We are not responsible for the misbehavior of our relatives,” Arial agreed. “Do not worry about it, Margaret.”
Regina frowned. “Is it common for her to speak to you like that in front of guests? Or is it just that she knows we can be trusted?”
Margaret had to admit that Regina had put into words Margaret’s own concerns. “She has been becoming more querulous. I think it is time for her to retire. I hate to hurt her feelings, but such scolds in front of the wrong audience could…” She trailed off, quailing at the thought of such public embarrassment.
“She could damage your reputation with a misplaced word,” Arial agreed. “People will believe she has cause for her comments.”
Margaret nodded. After a moment’s silence, she said, “I do not suppose that is why you called.”
Regina grinned at Margaret over her own cup. “We were both very impressed by your Mr. White. He is…” she appeared to be searching the ceiling for a word.
“Delectable,” Arial offered. “You have been holding out on us, Margaret. You told us that he was stern and borderline rude. You did not tell us that he was almost as beautiful as Peter.”
To Arial, no one was as handsome as her husband, and she had a point. Margaret had become accustomed to his appearance since she met him two years ago, but if considered dispassionately, he was breath-taking. A completely different type, though. A blond Apollo to Mr. White’s dark Hermes.
“Mr. White is certainly easy on the eyes,” she conceded.At the least.
“That isallyou have to say?” Regina asked. “Margaret, darling, we watched you dance with him. Twice. You cannot tell me you are not attracted to him, and he to you. He could hardly take his eyes off you all night.”
Really?
“She is blushing,” Arial told Regina.
“It is not like that,” Margaret insisted, in spite of the way her face burned. “Yes, he is an attractive man, especially when he is not acting like a bear with a sore paw, but he is not interested in me inthatway, and even if he was, I could not possibly consider him as a suitor.”
Regina raised an eyebrow. “Because he is from the slums and perhaps base-born?” she asked.
“Those things matter, Regina,” Arial said. “You know they do, even if we all agree they shouldn’t. Margaret needs to think of her future children.”
“I have no idea where Mr. White is truly from or what his intentions are in confronting the Snowdens,” Margaret told them. “That is why I cannot see him as anything more than a temporary escort. I cannot trust a man who keeps secrets from me. Not that he owes me an explanation. I am merely returning favor for favor.”
Arial sipped her tea while she considered that remark. “He is still delectable,” she said, decisively. “If nothing else, he makes a very attractive accessory to a lady in a ball gown.”
Regina chuckled. “True. And it may be spiteful of me, but I enjoyed Lord Snowden’s consternation last night.”
“Lord Snowden’s reaction, if I understand Mr. White correctly, was rather the point of last night,” Margaret observed.
“You have two more outings with him, you said,” Arial noted.
Margaret agreed. “We are riding in Hyde Park this afternoon, and tomorrow evening, he is to escort me to Lady Hamner’s garden party.” Another of Lord Andrew’s invitations. Lady Hamner was a sort of sister-in-law, a former ward of the Duchess of Winshire, and rumored to be a base-born child of that lady’s first husband.
“After that,” she added, “he tells me he will seek an introduction to Lord Snowden. I am not to be involved in his further plans, he says.”
