Page 25 of A Sense of Misgiving
Luke shook his head, grinning. ‘Stop trying to be outrageous. You might not be able to live up to your father’s expectations, but you are no lightskirt either.’
‘No,’ she agreed, ‘I am not. Sometimes I am not sure what I ought to be.’
‘Yourself,’ he said softly. ‘Always yourself.’ His expression sobered. ‘Anyway, Paul tells me you are dissatisfied with Redfern.’
‘For which I hold you entirely responsible. You should know better than to go around disappointing young women.’ She shook a finger at him, her expression playful. ‘First Lily Carlton, and now Mrs Arnold out to make mischief, unless I have misjudged her. I cannot always overcome my fear of spiders in order to rescue you,’ she chided, referring to her brave sortie into the house’s long unused hidden passageways that she had braved in order to rescue Luke from Lily.
‘I don’t do it on purpose,’ he protested. ‘In my defence, I was young and reckless when I first knew Lucy. I thought of her as another very pretty sister, nothing more. I have since learned caution.’
How gratifying.’ Flora tilted her head as she continued to speak. ‘I gather that Mrs Arnold has spent much of her married life travelling abroad with her husband and has only recently settled back in Wiltshire. Now her brother, the injured war hero, is also back.’
‘And penniless.’
‘Most likely. With eight children to support, it’s fair to suppose that Mrs Arnold’s father counted upon her engaging your affections, thereby assuring the security of the whole family. When that did not happen, he invented a debt of honour, which your father refused to acknowledge. But before he could take matters further he died, as did your own father, and Redfern’s expectations of a financial windfall expired with him. But one or two of her sons must have known about it, and probably believed the debt was genuine.’
‘Added reason for Lucy to resent me,’ Luke said thoughtfully. ‘But that doesn’t explain how knowledge of that debt came to your father’s attention.’
‘No, it does not,’ Flora agreed, ‘and you can be sure that I’ve given the problem a great deal of thought.’ She sent him a distracted smile. ‘So, what do we do now to neutralise my father’s spite? My offer to return to Salisbury stands.’
‘Out of the question!’ Luke said curtly. ‘There has to be another way.’ He paced the length of the room, rubbing his chin. ‘Let’s hold fire on making any decisions, at least until Farthingale has called on Monday and we have a better idea what we are dealing with. In the meantime, there’s Mary’s party for you to look forward to the day after tomorrow.’
‘Which will give you an opportunity to watch her with Redfern.’
Luke scowled. ‘Indeed.’
‘Poor Luke,’ Flora said sympathetically. ‘All the responsibility for this estate, and for your family’s wellbeing, and people are constantly trying to get the better of you as well, forcing you to remain always one step ahead of them. It must be exhausting.’
‘But I have you and your sixth-sense to protect me,’ he said, making light of his problems.
‘You would have, if you believed in my abilities.’
‘I believe in you,’ he said, suddenly serious. ‘And I am not ready or willing to let you go.’ He briefly touched her shoulder and just as quickly reclaimed his hand. ‘I hope you and Grandmamma intend to come down this evening.’
‘I believe her ladyship plans to.’
‘Then you’d best get on,’ he said, glancing at the lock clock ticking away in the corner of the room.
‘Goodness, is that the time?’
She sprang lightly to her feet, smiled at him and was gone in a swirl of muslin and lace petticoats.
Chapter Six
‘I am going into the village on errands for the countess,’ Flora said, putting her head around the door to Mary’s sitting room the following morning. ‘She isn’t having one of her good days and doesn’t feel up to accompanying me.’
‘Oh dear. I hope she isn’t unwell.’
‘Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious. We have to accept that she is no longer young, and sometimes she overdoes things.’
‘Like taking too much wine,’ Mary said, smiling.
‘Precisely.’
‘She was determined to remain downstairs for far too long after dinner last night. It was as though she had some sort of point to prove to herself. And now, today, she is paying the price.’ Mary sighed, looking preoccupied but not, Flora suspected, with the painting that she was attempting to perfect. ‘Thank you,’ she said, ‘but there is nothing I need from the village, so I won’t come with you if you don’t mind. I want to finish this painting while the light is right.’
‘All right. I shan’t be gone for long and Sandwell is with the countess.’
It was a crisp, sunny morning, the air fresh and cool, carrying with it a suggestion of autumn. Flora decided to drive herself the short distance into Ashton Keynes in the gig that had been placed permanently at her disposal, rather than putting Luke’s coachman to the inconvenience of taking her there himself. The old cob harnessed to the conveyance was obliging enough, but had one pace only. On such a lovely morning, Flora was perfectly content to allow him to amble along at a lazy trot as she admired the colours of the turning leaves and enjoyed the feel of a breeze biting into her cheeks.
