Page 54 of Pursued Beyond Treachery
“Here,” Mr. Kendall said, stepping out of the very parlor she’d just exited. “We’ve been waiting nigh on an hour for you both to finish prettying up.”
“Liar,” Lady Stanford said with a smirk. “You went down the back steps and came through the sliding door from the music room.”
Sir Nathaniel descended the steps. “I told you she’d never fall for it.”
Eddie chuckled. “Fine. I may have only arrived a minute or two before Mel, but I was here first.”
“Again with the lies.” Lady Stanford gave his ear a tweak.
“Ow!”
“You forget I can see into that entire room from the door. Besides, Miss Wayland only exited no more than a minute before you.” She turned to Susannah. “Tell me Miss Wayland, was my brother waiting with you?”
Mr. Kendall cast her a look of pleading, his eyes growing droopy like a puppy begging for a treat.
She giggled, and Lady Stanford turned back to witness her brother's expression. “Oh, no you don’t.” She reached for his ear.
He skittered out of her reach, holding a hand over said ear. “I may not have been the first downstairs but at least I shall be the first to the carriage.” Hat in hand, he escaped out the door.
Susannah laughed at the good-natured teasing between the siblings. It warmed her heart but also left it longing for her own brothers and sister.
Already Amanda had sent three letters begging her to find a husband quickly and quit London so she might return home. Finding the idea both humorous and heartbreaking, she’d not known what to write in return.
If she married, she would never return home to live. Her new position might even move her far away from them—unless she married John.
Why did everything circle back to John? If only she had a sizable dowry and as flattering a figure as her cousin. Maybe then he’d find her appealing. He certainly had not complained every time Miss Guthrie placed her hand on his arm or sat so close she might as well have been in his lap.
“Are you well?” Lady Stanford asked as they made their way to the carriage.
“I am, why do you ask?”
“You looked like you wished to gouge someone’s eyes out.”
A surprised laugh bubbled out of her. “My face has a mind of its own apparently.”
“Or your mind has more control than you’d like.” Lady Stanford’s blue eyes bore into hers. She lowered her voice. “You can tell me, Susannah. I will not divulge anything to anyone.”
It would be nice to share her burdens, but they were just that—her burdens. Sharing only added to others’ troubles and LadyStanford had plenty of her own. No, she needed to be the strong one, like she always had been. Her family depended on her, if not to raise them financially, then to be the solid dependable one they could count on.
“I have no complaints; I am simply excited for the night and a little upset at my sister’s letters.”
Lady Stanford tipped her head slightly to the side. “Is she still begging you to return?”
“She is.”
“Poor girl.”
The ride to the Lincolnhurst townhouse was filled with lively banter and suppositions. Sir Nathaniel surmised that the countess only held this event to pressure her son, Lord Hamdon, into taking a wife, but Mr. Kendall insisted the woman hosted a great deal of parties with or without the incentive.
A pristinely dressed footman with a fine face and figure opened the door to the carriage when they arrived. To Susannah’s delight, Miss Harris’s carriage stopped behind theirs and the woman exited after her mother and father, two younger sisters on her heels.
“My, but you must have been crowded,” Lady Stanford said softly to Miss Harris when she joined them.
“Yes. I cannot wait until Jenica’s baronet takes her off, for then we might all fit nicely again.”
Mr. Kendall sidled up to her. “Or you might consider marrying. Then you’d have your own carriage.”
“Are you offering?” Miss Harris snickered at the look of horror on his face.
