Married to the Rogue (Season of Scandal #3) - Mary Lancaster Page 0,1
for himself in such matters,” Deborah said firmly. “You need only explain the truth to him, and if he is worthy of you, he will not allow it to make any difference.”
“You don’t really live much in the real world, do you, Deb?” Lucy flounced to the door, although the drama of her exit was spoiled by the arrival of Bertha, the maid, with a tea tray. Lucy was obliged to step aside before continuing on her way.
The tea was duly poured and the scones snatched by Deborah’s starving siblings, who were all trying to tell her their news at once. It was some time before she could ask her mother, “How serious is this matter of Lucy’s imminent engagement?”
“Almost secure,” her mother replied ruefully. “The Letchworths arrived at Coggleton House last month, for the first time in several years, apparently. Certainly, they have not been in residence since we came to the area. They held a ball for all the neighboring gentlefolk. Needless to say, Sir Edmund was captivated by our Lucy and has called on us several times since. She has been riding with him and his sister, and we have been to dinner at the house. We were the only guests! Apart from Mr. Halland, who was visiting his grandfather—the Earl of Hawfield, you know—at Gosmere Hall.”
Bewildered by this aside, Deborah drew her parent back to the matter in hand. “Are his affections engaged, do you think? Are Lucy’s?”
“Well, who would not want to be Lady Letchworth? He is a most agreeable and unassuming young man, most attentive and polite, and I do believe his interest is quite fixed on Lucy. So you do see why this trouble of yours has come at precisely the wrong moment? We truly don’t want to scare him away.”
“If he can be so scared away, he isn’t worth having,” Deborah said staunchly.
“Tell that to your sister,” her mother retorted. “In fact, repeat it to yourself next quarter day when the rent is due. For there will be no more money from your position, and there is precious little left in the coffers. To be frank, Deb, this is not merely a matter of love, it is a necessity.”
Stricken, Deborah gazed helplessly at her mother. She had known things would be tight, but she hadn’t appreciated just how close to the precipice they stood. One way or another, it seemed, ruin awaited them all.
*
Having been shut up in stuffy coaches for almost a day and a half, Deborah resolved to go for a walk with her younger siblings that afternoon.
“But, you can’t!” Lucy exclaimed. “I was going to walk this afternoon!”
Deborah blinked. “I wasn’t excluding you.”
“She’s planning to run into Sir Edmund,” their sister Lizzie giggled.
“Then it’s as well I will be there to chaperone you,” Deborah said.
Deborah stared at her, absorbing the inevitable guilt. “Then I shall walk in the other direction. Do you want to take the children, or shall I?”
“Oh, both of you are being silly,” their mother declared. “We shall all go together. We must never appear ashamed of Deborah, or it will merely confirm the rumor. Besides, no one will know anything about this scandal. Probably.”
“The Letchworths don’t even know her name,” Lucy said grimly. “And I would rather keep it that way.”
“Give her another name,” Giles suggested. “Miss Tumblebumpkin.”
“Miss Raspberry!” Lizzie, the youngest, cried.
“Miss Lunkhead,” Stephen contributed.
“It might fit,” Deborah said tartly, “but I refuse that one in public.”
“Miss Kneesandtoes,” Giles said.
“Miss Honeycake!”
“Miss Horseandhounds!”
They were still coming up with increasingly bizarre names, most of which made Deborah laugh and even cracked a smile in Lucy’s anxious face as they left the house and walked through the village.
Lucy clearly had a preferred direction and set off along the path that led, eventually, to Coggleton House.
“What is he like?” Deborah asked her, hoping to heal some of the rift between them. “Is he very handsome and clever?”
“Not really,” Lucy replied. “But he is quite…serious. A most moral and upright gentleman.”
“Well, that is good,” Deborah said, trying to summon enthusiasm for this description of her sister’s favored suitor.
“Not in the present circumstances,” Lucy said grimly and walked faster.
Deborah, sighing, made no effort to catch up. Instead, she asked the children what they thought of Sir Edmund.
“Apart from mooning over Lucy, he’s not so bad,” Giles said. “He always acknowledges us, which every adult doesn’t always trouble to.”
“And he plays spillikins quite well,” Lizzie offered.