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Chapter 6
Freddie Lynwood arrived a day early, much to the a
"Only forget if I go back home," he had said. "Won't mind if I make m'self comfortable, will you? Don't need to put yourselves out on my account. Will send home for a change of clothes. Don't let me stop you going to the play."
And he had bowed them off the premises with punctilious courtesy and proceeded to make himself comfortable in the best chair in the drawing room, clad all in lace and silks. He had made himself indispensable on the day of the ball, balanced at the top of a ladder held by two footmen, fitting dozens of new candles into the chandeliers.
The duchess chuckled as she finished the story. "I must confess, though," she said, "that it is far more diverting to have such a thing happen to someone else than it is to have one's own plans thrown into upheaval. I had wanted to spend the whole of today getting to know you, my dear. You were so tired after your journey last night that the evening was quite wasted."
A
The duchess rested her chin in the palm of her hand and regarded A
"I have Bella to thank for my appearance," A
"And very glad I am to hear it," the duchess said. "I really ca
A
"Balderdash!" the duchess said. "The boy needs a good set-down. And call me Grandmamma, child."
A
"It's my gout," he had said, glaring at her fiercely, as if she were directly responsible for the state of his health.
She had taken an instant liking to the duchess, a diminutive bundle of energy who appeared to rule her household with a rod of iron. Perhaps the liking came because the duchess was everything she was not, A
A
The newly arrived member of the family had won A
"Alex's wife?" he had said, brows knit in concentration. "When did he tie the knot? Don't remember to have met you before. But, damme, yes, if I didn't hear something of the kind from Jack. Now what did he say?" Freddie had retained his hold on A
"Your hand, Freddie," the duchess had said bluntly. "It belongs at your side, dear boy."
"Forgot," he had said, smiling affably at A
"Your hand, Freddie," the duchess had reminded him, and finally he had relinquished his hold on A
If only the other members of the family could be as unthreatening to her self-confidence as Freddie, A
That, of course, was not her only, or even her chief, worry. Tomorrow Alexander would come. She would see him again. She would know him, at least; her sight of his portrait that afternoon had ensured that. But she did not know at all how she would behave. Would she be able to retain her poise, or would she blush and stammer and lose all control of her reactions? She did not know. And she did not know how many other people would be present during that meeting. It could all prove to be a great embarrassment both to her and to him.