Page 3 of Marry in Scarlet
Cal, lounging on the settee beside his wife, chuckled. “Like a cake on a plate, George? More like a hedgehog in a bag.” He bit into an almond biscuit.
George ignored him. She glared at Aunt Agatha. “How dare you go behind my back and make such a... such an offer?”
Aunt Agatha made a dismissive gesture. “Well,someonemust make a push to find you a husband, and Emmaline is otherwise occupied breeding The Heir. Besides, since Rose’s disgraceful behavior left the duke embarrassed at the altar, this family owes him reparation.”
“Possibly, but we don’t owe himme!”
The old lady set down her teacup with a snap. “If a duke is going spare, my gel, it doesn’t do to dally!”
“But I don’twanta duke! I don’t want a husbandat all! I’ve said so repeatedly. And even if I did, Everingham would be the last man I’d consider!” George didn’t know what it was about the Duke of Everingham, but he... he irritated her with his cold, hard gaze, so indifferent and superior and I-rule-the-world. She longed to take him down a peg.
“Nonsense! Every gel needs a husband. And, all appearances to the contrary, youarethe daughter of an earl and need to marry and be a credit to your family.”
The flat dismissal of her views infuriated George. “Not me. I don’t want a husband, I don’t need one and I won’t have you or anyone else arranging one for me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, child.”
“It’s not ridiculous and I’m not a child. I’m almost twenty and—”
“And well past the age you were married and off your aunt’s and uncle’s hands. Ashendon and Emmaline are starting their own family.” Aunt Agatha gestured to Emm’s swollen belly, then trained her lorgnette on her rebellious great-niece.
George put up her chin and glared back. She wasn’t sure whether the old lady actually needed the eyeglass to see with, or whether it was just her chosen weapon of intimidation. Whatever the reason, George would not be intimidated.
Aunt Agatha continued, “Ashendon’s sisters are now married—in however scrambled a fashion—and their future is taken care of. There is only yourself remaining—an ill-mannered, unfeminine, ignorant, tomboyish hoyden with no idea of ladylike or even polite behavior—and worse!—no interest in acquiring it. You should be grateful that I’m taking an interest in your future.”
“Grateful?For unwarranted and unasked-for interference?” George was ready to explode. The insults stung; there was no denying there was some truth in them, but she would never let Aunt Agatha get the better of her.
“You cannot expect your uncle and his wife to care indefinitely for his late brother’s unwanted and unacknowledged offspring—especially a gel who’s more trouble than she’s worth. A charitable gesture is one thing, an embarrassing millstone quite another.”
Emm sat up angrily. “George isnota millstone, Aunt Agatha! Nor is she an embarrassment. She’s a dear sweet girl and a beloved member of our family and as far as I am concerned she can live with us until... until she’s a hundred years old!” She reached out a hand to Cal and he took it, a silent gesture of support.
Aunt Agatha gave a dismissive wave. “That is yourcondition speaking, Emmaline. Breeding women are notoriously hysterical.” She turned to Cal. “You see? Yet again Georgiana is causing your wife distress. And endangering The Heir.”
“I’m not the one upsetting people,” George muttered.
“Now look here, Aunt Agatha,” Cal began.
“Oh, don’t worry, Cal,” George said. “I know better than to mind the spiteful outpourings of an interfering, officious, presumptuous old b—”
“George,” Emm said in a warning tone. George glanced at her and bit off the remainder of the insults she had stored away. She would cross swords with Aunt Agatha any day, but upsetting Emm was another matter.
Aunt Agatha drew herself up, an outraged silver-haired praying mantis. “Abominable gel! Never in my life have I been subjected to such disgraceful incivility from a chit not yet in her majority. And from a member of my own family!”
“If the cap fits, wear it,” George said sweetly. “In any case, I won’t be on Cal and Emm’s hands forever. The minute I turn twenty-five and get my inheritance, I’ll be out of here and nobody need bother about me at all.”
Aunt Agatha primmed her lips. “More than five years to wait, then. A young married couple should not have to endure the company of—”
“I’ve asked and asked Cal to arrange for an allowance to be paid to me, an advance on my inheritance. He always refuses, but if I had it, I’d be gone and out of their hair in an instant.”
“Precisely why I won’t do it,” Cal said firmly. “There’s no question of enduring anything or anyone, Aunt Agatha. Emm and I are very fond of George and, as Emm said, she’s welcome to live with us as long as she likes.”
“Exactly! We love you, George, and there’s no question of your being in the way,” Emm said. “Now, please, let us all enjoy our tea and stop squabbling.”
At the wordteaGeorge’s dog, Finn, rose and sat down beside Cal, fixing the half-eaten biscuit in Cal’s hand with a mournful gaze.
George frowned and said in a low voice, “I do cause you trouble. You can’t deny it, Cal.”
Cal exchanged a glance with his wife and smiled a slow smile. “Let us say, rather, that you enliven an otherwise relatively humdrum existence.” Then as Finn nudged him, he added, “You and your enormous hound, I meant. And, no, Finn, this ismybiscuit and is not for dogs.” He finished it in two crunches. Finn slid to the floor with a dejected sigh.
