Miss Fanshawe's Fortune - Linore Rose Burkard Page 0,30
her mistress to leave. Imagine it! A poor orphan, she thought. In the Arundell household!
But Mrs. Arundell would have none of it. “My dear, Edward told me all about the mishmash, but you are not a poor orphan! First, there’s nothing disrespectable about losing your parents. And second, your fortune is far above that of Miss Latham. Indeed, I daresay she has little else to recommend her, possessing nothing in the way of looks or bearing except what is in the common way.” She glanced appraisingly at Frannie. “Fortune aside, your looks are uncommonly fine, your large eyes alone quite striking. Any gentleman must see that.”
Frannie winced inwardly, for she knew the truth about herself now. “But ma’am,” she said, at which Mrs. Arundell quickly reclaimed her hearing aid and held it to her ear, listening.
“I am not, perhaps, a poor orphan, but as to that, my parentage is yet—”
Here she was cut off. “My dear, your family history needs only the smallest embellishment to pass muster, and £30,000, I maintain, is the greatest embellishment a body can have among the haut ton. Even to a baronet, ‘tis no small sum. Indeed, such a dowry makes you a good deal more respectable than many who move in the highest circles. Certainly, ‘tis enough for Sir Hugo! And, do you know,” she said, putting a hand to her cap and patting it, “I nearly forgot—Sir Hugo inquired about you. You see you cannot hide a genteel upbringing.” She let out a titter of laughter. “I said you were ‘my dear cousin Frannie.’ He wanted your full name, and that made me tease him, so that he changed the subject. But now that I think on it, you must be introduced.”
“Ma’am, I daresay he is old enough to be my father, and the fortune is not secured yet.” Frannie spoke patiently but was hoping to snuff this idea of her being suitable for Sir Hugo. Moreover, she needed to be perfectly honest with her mistress.
“Oh, but Beau will see to that! And really, Frannie dear, though I hate to say it, if you are in any doubt of your fortune, an arranged marriage with a baronet would be the best thing that could happen for you. Sir Hugo is a bumbler, I grant, but he is kind-hearted.” And to the look of downcast confusion upon Frannie’s face, she waved a hand and said, “To your bedchamber! Sleep, sleep, my dear. Nothing helps low spirits like sleep.” She covered her mouth for a small yawn. “And Frannie dear; you must no longer consider yourself a companion, not in the way of a servant, at any rate. You are my guest! I need a lady friend nearby, for I have only the boys, you know. And so for the next ball, wherever it is, you will accompany me.”
They said their goodnights, and Frannie picked up her candle to make her way back to her bedchamber. As she left, she heard Mrs. Arundellʼs plaintive call. “Frannie, dear, do have a care with your light! Do blow it out before you sleep!”
Frannie’s heart was in a jumble. She could hardly sort her feelings, so tumbled they were. Relief that she was not to be dismissed; joy at the thought of staying on in the house (which seemed primarily to have to do with Sebastian Arundell’s inhabiting it); amazement that she was not to be considered a paid companion; and yet a foreboding she could not dismiss. Mrs. Arundell and the family treated her as though she were respectable, but Frannie knew only too well that her claim to respectability had shattered the moment she learned she might be illegitimate. Sebastian would soon enlighten his mama on that point. The younger Mr. Arundell did not realize what Sebastian knew and therefore had not told his mother: that Frannie had no proof her parents had married other than a simple ring. She had no proof that she was entitled to a trust fund. And she had no one to name, moreover, as the benefactor of that trust.
The next morning, Frannie wished to speak to Sebastian as soon as possible. Despite getting few hours sleep, therefore, she made it a point to take breakfast by 10:00 o’clock, hoping to catch him. She needed to make him understand that his mother had a misconception about her (alas, that it was so!) but that she must be instructed as soon as possible, so that no more notions of Frannie making a