mother would never vocalize her disapproval considering the present company.
Immediately after breakfast, Daniel and Lord Williams went out to tour the estate. I paced the morning room in my spencer, bonnet, and gloves, anxious to get out and finally have my walk around the lake. But I couldn’t do so until I was certain there was no chance of meeting the gentlemen outside. When I deemed enough time had passed, I slipped from the room.
The sound of a carriage arriving greeted me when I opened the front door. Panic shot through me.
Mr. Northam was already here.
I slipped back inside and slammed the door, cringing as the sound echoed in the hall. Then I raced to the window and drew back the curtain. But instead of the expected coach or chaise, a tilbury driven by two women pulled to a stop in front of the house. Peering closer, I groaned and dropped the curtain back into place.
Catherine and her mother had arrived, no doubt in an attempt to poach Lord Williams. If only they’d come a few minutes earlier, I would have thrown the door open myself and left them to it. But without the object of their visit being present, the Johnsons were sure to be sour company.
I turned on my heel, intent on sneaking out through the back.
The bell rang just as I passed the morning parlor. Inside the room, my mother glanced up from where she was giving Alice her morning lessons. “Margaret, who is at the door?”
Cursing my luck, I turned. “I believe it to be Mrs. Johnson and her daughter Catherine.”
My father stood from the breakfast table, folding the paper he had only picked up once the baron and Daniel had left. “Excuse me.” He strode past me toward the study.
My mother rose from her chair. “I was expecting this. Margaret, ring for tea. Alice, please continue this lesson in your room. I want to see that you have mastered it by the time our guests leave.”
I pulled on the cord to alert the servants as Alice gathered up her things.
My mother glanced at me. “Margaret, you are still wearing your bonnet.”
“I was going out.”
“The arrival of guests changes that, does it not?”
I waited until Alice had slipped by me before saying, “Mother, please don’t make me stay. I have yet to take my morning walk.”
She shook her head. “You spend too much time out of doors as it is. And I have never understood what occurred between you and Catherine. Surely you do not think so ill of her as to refuse her when she calls.”
My shoulders fell. “No, of course not.” I slid off my gloves and bonnet and was just removing my spencer when the Johnsons were shown into the room.
Mrs. Johnson glanced at me sharply. “I hope we are not intruding.”
I curtsied, shadowing my mother’s movements. “Not at all,” my mother replied. “It is always a delight to have company.” She indicated a few chairs.
I sat in the chair I always occupied when company called. It was situated so as to allow me to look out the window behind the guests without divulging where my attention truly lay. I couldn’t see the lake from so low an angle, but I could see the top of the beech trees surrounding it. I tried to determine if they were swaying or not. No breeze had cooled the air that morning, but perhaps one had picked up, in which case I might need a different jacket.
When the usual fifteen-minute time allotment for a call passed, I shifted my attention back to the conversation. Mrs. Johnson was relaying some anecdote regarding one of her sons, who had recently moved to Bath with his wife. I focused back out the window. The trees definitely seemed to be moving. But perhaps it was a warm wind.
“Your daughter seems anxious for a certain someone’s return,” Mrs. Johnson said, jolting my attention back to her. A knowing smile covered her face. “Can this have anything to do with your mysterious aristocratic visitor?”
They had heard of the engagement?
No. There would have been no point in their visit if they knew we were engaged. I could still make this work. “Not at all, I assure you. I was merely lamenting the passing of such a perfect day. I do not think we shall see many more of them this year.”
“Ah, yes,” Catherine broke in, a small sneer curling her lip. “Ever the avid admirer of nature. Much more at home outside than