Sweet Rogue of Mine (The Survivors #9) - Shana Galen Page 0,33

owned. Not because it was made of silk or covered with embroidery, because it was not. But because Mrs. Northgate had been right about the ruffles and flounces. Pru had worried those embellishments would make her look silly, but they really did flatter her. The ruffles at her bosom gave it more fullness and the flounces on the hem balanced out her height and long legs. She looked a bit less like a...well, she looked down at her green dress. She looked less like a string bean.

And Mrs. Northgate had been correct about the color as well. Pru could see the warm reddish brown made her skin look pinker and brought out the color of her eyes and hair. She didn’t look quite so drab and brown as usual, and though she would never be a beauty, she knew she would look well in the dress.

“Peacocks?” Mrs. Northgate said. “Whyever would you think of peacocks?”

“I suppose I hope to spot the one at Wentmore again. You said before you remember when the earl brought them to the great house. Tell me about it.”

“I hardly think what you saw was one of the original peacocks. The earl must have brought them to the house twenty years ago.”

“Oh, but it could be,” Pru said. “One of the missionaries we stayed with in Constantinople told me he had known one of the peacocks there for twenty-five years.”

“He had known the peacock?”

“Yes. The bird was quite tame, though not friendly. The man used to bring the bird a few pieces of bread, and the peacock would take the bread from the man’s hand. I even fed him myself, though the missionary did caution me not to try and touch the bird. They will peck if threatened. And they can fly. The peacock would roost in a tree near the house where we stayed, and its call was quite awful. The sound was like a baby crying or a cat yowling. Still, I miss that cry some mornings. It was so much more intriguing than a rooster’s crow. Do you know I named the peacock? I called him Ahmet.”

“You are a strange girl,” Mrs. Northgate said, but her tone was one of fondness.

“Won’t you tell me about the peacocks the earl brought?” Pru asked. “You said you remembered when they arrived.”

Mrs. Northgate sat back in her chair, which caught Pru’s attention. The woman usually sat straight as an arrow. “I do remember it,” she said, her eyes fixed on the window just over Pru’s shoulder. Pru almost looked to see what was on the window ledge that had caught Mrs. Northgate’s attention. “He unveiled them at a garden party. Most of the village was invited, and we all attended. The earl and his family were at Wentmore for several months of each year. We saw the children in the village. They were polite, though the boys were a bit wild, I must say.”

“How many children were there?”

Mrs. Northgate’s gaze snapped back to Pru. “I thought you wanted to hear about the peacocks?”

“I want to hear about everything.”

“You are too curious by far,” Mrs. Northgate chided before tapping a finger to her chin. “How many children? Let me see. There were the three boys, and goodness, how many girls? The eldest was a girl and there was another in there and then a little one as well. How many is that?”

“Six children. Three boys and three girls.”

“The girls were very pretty and well-behaved. At that garden party they all wore white dresses with blue sashes. Very pretty.”

Before Mrs. Northgate could give more particulars about dresses worn twenty years ago, Pru thought it wise to turn the conversation. “Did they seem to be a happy family?”

“Happy enough, I suppose. I don’t see how anyone could be happy with those two wild boys. The youngest—your pupil—was the best behaved of the lot. Who would have thought he would have turned out as he has? Though none of us were surprised he went into the army.”

“Why is that?”

“Oh, he had a gift. He gave a demonstration that day. It was a shooting competition.”

Pru gasped. “Not the peacocks!”

“Oh, you and your peacocks! No peacocks were harmed. The men were shooting at clay pots on a fence.” Her gaze strayed to the window again and she smiled faintly. “The earl had the men stand quite a distance away, and the men complained that no one could hit the targets from that distance. Oh, but they tried. A few hit one or