Page 23 of Tattle Tail
“You should wait here. It is the warmest place in the house,” she said. “Have a cup of tea. I will see what my mother requires.”
“Tea by the fire. Swanky,” he said.
“Can you be serious?”
“I am.” To his benefit, Joseph’s eyebrows scrunched together in his confused expression. “This is a nice house. I’m trying to express admiration.”
Their ideas of niceness were incompatible.
It was not a nice house. Her parents were being extraordinarily rude. Her mother always had meals timed to finish just as guests arrived. She never required help in the kitchen. Her father should have been at the front door to greet them, or at least been in the front room waiting. Instead, Joseph was to sit in the room alone and be ignored. Her parents’ actions said exactly what they thought of Joseph, and the rudeness of it offended Peaceable. They raised her with high expectations for her behavior.
She expected the same from them.
He inspected the room, his hands folded behind his back. The decorative objects on a bookshelf seemed to be particularly interesting to him. “Is this a test? To see if I’ll steal something?”
“I would not put it past my parents,” she admitted. “I am sorry to leave you but my mother…”
He waved a hand, dismissing her apology. “I’m a big boy. I’ll be fine.”
In the kitchen, Peaceable found her mother sipping a glass of wine. Dinner was already finished, waiting to be served. The bakery box sat unopened on the counter.
“Do you need me to carry something to the table?” Peaceable asked.
“No, we need to discuss that male,” her mother said.
Peaceable had been prepared for this. Tolerance would question Joseph’s family, his career, and his feelings. The questions would be relentless, wearing Peaceable down until she finally agreed to whatever her mother wanted, just to make it stop. The only way out of this trap was to get ahead of the attack.
“Yes, let us talk about how rude you are to a guest when you ignored his greeting,” she said.
Tolerance’s ears went back. “Because I would not touch his hand? I do not know where it has been. It’s unhygienic.”
“A verbal greeting?”
“Why should I greet that male? He will not be here long.”
Now Peaceable’s ears went back. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, this engagement is obviously a bit of rebellion. Youwillcome to your senses and accept Lord Resolve’s offer.” Tolerance sounded so sure of herself.
“No, Mother. I—” She glanced away. Despite all the lies she told recently, she found herself unable to say that she loved Joseph. Half the time, she didn’t even like him. Instead, she said, “I do not care for Lord Resolve in that way.”
“But you could. Think about it, you’d be Lady Peaceable.”
“No, Mother.”
“The prestige you’d bring to the family—”
This was an old argument, one Peaceable tired of hearing. “Are you on Armistice’s tail to find a mate?”
“That is not the same. Your brother is a medic, and he is very busy with his work,” Tolerance said.
“I am busy with my work. Does that not bring prestige to the family?” Peaceable had no idea where this sass came from. It was not like her to be defiant.
Tolerance must have had the same thought. Her tail lashed out behind her. “You do not sound like yourself. That male is a bad influence on you.”
“Answer the question, Mother.”
“You design expensive toys for wealthy people. Your brother saves lives. It is not the same thing.”
