The Roguish Miss Penn (21 page)

“It is certainly a lovely parasol,” Katherine dutifully replied. She turned with relief at the sound of steps in the hall. The dinner hour neared. Surely someone would come to her rescue. The last thing on earth that Katherine wished for was a dissection of her outing on the Cam.

“Good evening, Katherine. And you as well, Cousin Sophia. It has been a splendid day, has it not?” Sidney entered the room with a cautious step. Katherine’s face seemed to contain a supply of thunderclouds dropped from the heavens.

“Hello, Sidney. I am glad to hear you spent a good day.” Katherine began to pace somewhat restlessly about the room.

“After you left, I joined several of the actors for a turn about the town. We saw you floating down the Cam.” His eyes narrowed. “I also saw Miss Bonner. Tell me, is she always such a shocking flirt? Her behavior with Mr. Weekes is little short of scandalous.

Katherine turned from where she had contemplated the view out the window to stare at Sidney Exton. “I somehow doubt that Melly would behave that much out of line. For all her coquettish ways, she would not exceed what is proper, especially with Mr. Weekes.” Katherine looked at Sophia, then added, “We observed Melly with him in town. I confess she was flirting with him, but he seemed to take it in good heart.”

“Tossing her cap for him, is she?” replied Cousin Sophia with her customary directness.

“That doesn’t bother you, Katherine?” Sidney strolled across the room, his boots making tiny clicks on the wooden floor.

Katherine wished they might have an Oriental carpet such as she had seen at Fairfax Hall. In fact, there were a good many things she wished.

“Why should it bother her? Mr. Weekes has come here chiefly for Mr. Penn’s advice and counsel.” Cousin Sophia quickly interposed her remark, for which Katherine was grateful. It galled her to acknowledge that Sophia was utterly right.

“I do hope that Melly succeeds,” Katherine added evenly. “She has had the pick of the university for ever so long. And she does not have the opportunity to travel to London for a Season.”

“And you do?” There was an odd note in Sidney’s voice, more than curiosity. Katherine couldn’t tell what it was, and so ignored it.

Katherine picked up a pillow from the sofa, playing with its tassels as she thought. Why not? Her father had admitted he believed she had no desire for such. “Yes,” she replied in a considering voice. “I rather think I shall. Great-aunt Harriette has begged me to come ever so many times. I had no idea that Father didn’t care a pin as to whether I went or not. It ought to be splendid.” She hoped that she didn’t sound as though she was contemplating a trip to the tooth-drawer:

“It will not be until spring, I gather?” Cousin Sophia inserted dryly.

“Oh, yes, the spring,” Katherine agreed, wondering if she might be more inclined to seek a husband by then. Would her heartbreak heal that quickly? One didn’t die of a broken heart. One merely felt like it.

“You should remember that Great-aunt Harriette is hardly likely to be in any condition to show you about, much less be able to sponsor you to Almack’s. If you are on the lookout for a husband, that is the finest place to be.”

“How excessively vulgar that sounds,” Katherine exclaimed. “Besides, I suspect that our great-aunt is far more active than you lead us to believe. Her letters are full of her activities and all the delicious bits of scandal she gathers. Does it bother you that I might avail myself of her chaperonage? I cannot see what possible difference it could make to you,” Katherine observed in conclusion.

Cousin Sophia laughed, rather rudely, Katherine thought.

 “On the contrary,” Sidney denied, a rather unctuous smile crossing his face. “I admit my thinking is selfish.” He gave Cousin Sophia an impatient glance, as though wishing her a mile away. “You see, I nurture modest hopes of my own in your direction.”

“Why, Sidney,” Katherine exclaimed. “I beg you—” Her words were cut off by the arrival of Mr. Penn and Teddy.

 “Sidney, you here?” Teddy blurted with all the finesse of a young cub. “I mean,” he amended, “I saw you with your friend and I thought you might be spending the evening with him.”

“Rankin? And so I shall later on. I’ve to see to a bit of business first.”

“Business at this hour of the day?” Cousin Sophia said, her inflection reflecting her doubt of the matter.

“Nothing much, but of interest to me.” Sidney studied Katherine with speculative eyes.

“Did you spend your day at the hall, Papa?”

“I was not floating down the Cam, my dear.”

“Dear me, did everyone in Cambridge see me today?” she cried in vexation.

“I happened across the bridge at Silver Street as you floated by. You were wielding a white parasol to good effect, as I recall.”

Recollecting the gathering of pink bodies that had dotted the landscape, Katherine willed herself not to blush. “It was kind of him to think of the sun.”

“To be sure,” murmured Mr. Penn before turning to Sophia. “I trust Mrs. Moore has our dinner ready? I find myself rather sharp-set this evening.”

“Is it books or beauties, I wonder? How goes the discussion on Jonah, Julian?” Sophia rose to give the bellpull a tug, signaling the housekeeper that the family had at last assembled for the evening meal.

“Jonah? We are past that. The Beatitudes was the topic of discussion today.” He rubbed his hands together, evidence of how he had relished the conversation.

“Interesting?” Cousin Sophia took Julian’s arm to lead him to the dining room.

“She has a fine mind,” Julian mused.

“And that shocks you?” Katherine said with a hint of sharpness in her voice.

“There are few women who could hold their own on the subject.” He said this reflectively, as though surprised.

“And as long as the university refuses to permit women to get an education, it will undoubtedly remain that way.” Katherine gave her father an annoyed look while decorously seating herself at the table.

“I am aware you do more than dust my books when in the library, Katherine. I doubt you will come to a bad end as a result, in spite of your learning.”

“Really, Papa!”

Teddy guffawed as he slid onto his chair. “Small chance of that. She is too busy planning for her future. Now that Mr. Weekes has a living, I’ll wager we shall see more of him around here.” He grinned at Katherine, oblivious to her discomfort.

Katherine exchanged a pained look with Cousin Sophia. “Actually, I rather doubt that. I expect Amelia Bonner will see more of him than we shall.”

“Amelia Bonner, is it?” Mr. Penn said with surprise. “She’s an ambitious little minx, as I recall. You can do better, Katherine, if you put your mind to it. At least, that is what Mrs. Cheney says.”

“She does?” Katherine said, incredulous that she had been discussed between her father and Gisela.

“Katherine says she intends to visit her Great-aunt Harriette, come spring. Does that meet with your approval, Julian?” Cousin Sophia looked up from her plate, fork in midair as she waited for his reply.

“There is the possibility Katherine may not have to go to London for a husband,” Sidney inserted in what Katherine considered a disgustingly coy tone.

Katherine flashed him a withering look. If he thought she would succumb to his rather obvious attempts to fix her attentions, he was all out. “There is also a possibility that it will not rain between now and then, but I would never count on it, Cousin Sidney,” she said with false sweetness.

Mr. Penn bestowed puzzled looks on both young people, then applied himself to his meal. When he concluded, he rose from the table, waving the rest to remain in their chairs. “Excuse me, I want to hunt up a passage in my favorite commentary on the Beatitudes.” He strolled from the dining room, humming an amazingly cheerful tune.

“Wonders—” began Sophia.

“Never cease,” concluded Katherine as they exchanged amused looks.

Sidney finished his dinner, trying to catch Katherine’s interest with tidbits of gossip he had gathered during his stroll about the town. As well, he went into lavish detail on the wonders to be found at the fair.

“You missed a goodly amount of action today by sailing off with his lordship. Ah, the aroma of gingerbread, the cries of the sellers. It is a treat, I tell you.”

“He has the right of it there, Kitty,” Teddy added with enthusiasm. “I got a glimpse of that rope-walker who has a booth down the road from ours, and she is a real dasher.”

“And did you notice the selection of lace, perhaps?” Katherine gently twitted. “Or if there is any improvement in the design of pattens this year? I vow, if they do not improve the city streets, we shall need a boat just to get to the baker’s shop, come the next rains.”

“I broke one of my pattens,” commented Cousin Sophia. “I must remember to get a new pair. They have an excellent selection, better than the shop in town.”

“Have the Norwich players arrived?” asked Katherine, concerned for her play.

“Indeed,” Sidney answered. “They quickly set up their booth. One can see they are accustomed to the task. I wonder if Miss O’Neill will have trouble from that quarter?”

“The parting was inevitable, Exton,” Teddy said in a hurry lest his sister get upset. He jumped up from the table, gave his Cousin Sophia a hurried salute, then excused himself from the room as though a devil had tapped him.

“I trust that does not mean what I fear it does. I intend to go to the fair tomorrow. There will be a dress rehearsal or I’ll know the reason why,” declared Katherine, her resolution clear.

Sidney left the house a short time after. He was in an angry mood, the good meal notwithstanding. Katherine had made it quite plain he was as nothing to her. Not even a spark of interest or a desire to flirt was revealed. Certainly not the tender smiles such as she gave his lordship. Sidney couldn’t believe she had flouted convention to sail alone with Ramsey. That just showed that the peerage could get by with most anything they desired. Well, Sidney thought with a calculating sneer, he would fix that, he would.

Down at the inn, he met his friend. Mr. Rankin had been busy in Sidney’s behalf, and the two spent the evening secreted in a corner, drinking ale and making plans.

* * * *

The next morning Katherine dressed with haste, yet a desire to look her best. She pulled a gown of mulberry kerseymere trimmed with delicate blond lace from her wardrobe. Her bonnet was trimmed with matching ribands. She thought the effect was rather fetching, and hoped it wouldn’t rain so as to ruin her bonnet. One never knew about August—or any other month, for that matter.

She studied the white parasol for several minutes before succumbing to the feminine wish to look all the crack with such a fancy accessory.

“Ready, Cousin Sophia?” Mr. Penn had already left for the fair, as he would participate in the opening, then return to the college. The fair had once begun with all due pomp and ceremony. All that had ended many years ago, being deemed too expensive by the city fathers of the day.

“Just imagine,” Katherine said as the two women drove along Trumpington Street on their way through town. “The fair must have been a sight for the eyes to behold. Fancy the town crier leading a parade of constables, kettle drums, the grand marshal. There were two trumpeters and the town band, Papa told me, including two French horns.”

“I have seen the mace once carried by the head sergeant. And we still see the town clerk and the mayor in their robes from time to time. But it must have been a glorious sight, as you say,” Cousin Sophia agreed. “Do not look now, but is that not Amelia Bonner across the street?”

Katherine immediately glanced to the side and said, “To be sure. She has seen us and waves for us to stop. Say nothing,” Katherine pleaded. She tugged the reins of the donkey, and he drew to a halt with a toss of his head, the ribbons Katherine had tied on him earlier fluttering about quite gaily.

“Cousin Sophia, Katherine,” Amelia cooed, her voice sugary sweet. “You are off to the fair, I’ll wager. And wearing your best bonnet, Katherine?” Melly glanced to the sky, then laughed. “We can only hope it does not rain.”

“Melly, you look ravishingly, as usual. How that shade of yellow becomes you,” Katherine declared, determined to be more than charitable to her once-good friend.

“Why, thank you, Katherine.” For a moment Amelia actually looked a bit uncomfortable. “You know, of course, that Mr. Weekes did get the living from Lord Ramsey?”

“So Lord Ramsey told

Cousin Sophia spoke up then. “He has been all that is amiable and civil to Katherine. So kind of him to shower her with his attentions, don’t you think? But, then, I know you are too busy to have noticed. Show Amelia the attractive parasol he gave you, Katherine,” Sophia prompted.

Wishing she had left the pretty thing at home, Katherine reluctantly opened the item to reveal the ruffles.

Looking quite chagrined, Amelia nodded. “Yes, I noticed it when you sailed past in that boat. Without a chaperone, Katherine?” she chided even as she smiled.

“One hardly expects the daughter of the regius professor to be other than correct when in the company of one of the officials of the university,” snapped Cousin Sophia, tugging at Katherine’s sleeve. “We best be on our way. It would be a shame to miss a thing.”

“Oh, I agree,” murmured Katherine, hoping to be on her way before she yielded to a desire to fall into a round of whoops.

“What a shocking tease you are become, cousin,” Katherine said, laughter in her voice.

“Humph,” muttered Cousin Sophia, and urged Katherine to a faster pace.

Katherine obliged, commenting only, “Would you say she was chagrined or crestfallen?”

‘Neither. It was a curious admixture of vexation with sullen peevishness. I suspect Miss Bonner is not accustomed to being bested by anyone, let alone one who has always kept out of the limelight.” Cousin Sophia smiled, a small, satisfied sort of expression. “I trust you will admit his lordship had been attentive of late?”

“That is due to the theater, nothing more,” Katherine replied in an even tone, hoping she did not reveal her inner emotions on the subject.

The drive along the Newmarket road was busy with carriages, nearly all of which were headed for the fair. Sturbridge Fair had once been the greatest fair in all of England, and while it might now be more of an amusement fair than one where people stocked up goods for the coming year, it was nonetheless welcome to the town and surrounding area.