The Roguish Miss Penn (3 page)

With that puzzling remark he strode off toward the hall, his long legs eating up the yards in a hurry.

Katherine sat in quiet bewilderment for a moment, then absently urged the donkey to a trot. Scattered drops of moisture cascaded down from the beech trees as she continued down the lane to the main road.

At the turning, her face cleared as she recalled what he had said to his sister earlier about strays. Any that wandered onto the land was his. So where did that place her?

Chapter 2

Melly shifted impatiently on the wooden bench that overlooked the slowly flowing Cam, flashing a pert look at her dearest friend. The two girls sat in the rear garden of the Penn house, cozily situated beneath a pergola that once upon a time had boasted a drapery of climbing roses. It was all Katherine could do to keep the structure upright now, but she loved the view and pleasant shade it offered, and so persisted in her efforts. Today, the late-summer sun warmed them while they shared a fascinating gossip.

“I scarce believe that you, of all people, should meet Lord Ramsey. Tell me, what did his house look like?” Melly queried, her eyes searching Katherine’s face for evidence that she had magically altered as a result of this momentous occasion.

Closing her eyes in reflection, Katherine said, “My impression is one of light and charm. For you must know that  I spent most of my time attending to his lordship and Mrs.Cheney. We went through a breakfast room decorated, near as I can remember, in pale green and ivory. I was hurried up to the plunge bath so as to not drip over the floor any more than necessary, so I cannot tell you about the furniture, other than I recall it seemed richly dark.”

“And her bedroom?” inquired the avid listener.

“It was a luscious shade of pink. Everything in the room seemed to bloom with pretty chintz roses—from pillows on her bed to the draperies and covering of two chairs and a chaise lounge. She insisted I sit down before a charming dressing table while she brushed out my tangled hair.” Katherine exchanged a rueful look with Melly on the difficulty of dealing with Katherine’s short but unruly tresses.

“Well, I believe she turned you out remarkably pretty,” was Melly’s thoughtful reply to that remark. “I do not recollect I have ever seen you look so nice.”

“The dress helps, I suspect,” Katherine said dryly, fingering the delicate blue muslin in what she knew to be the very latest style. There appeared a hint of jealousy and pique in Melly’s comments. Although the vivacious brunette might be a friend, Katherine was not blind to Melly’s faults.

“Your hair, as well, though.” Melly complacently patted her brunette curls. “That particular shade of ripe corn must be trying when choosing clothes.”

“Oh, I doubt it presents any greater difficulty than brunette.” Katherine inhaled sharply, aware she had just snapped back at her friend. Was there a trace of Kate the Shrew in her, after all?

Melly opened her eyes wide at this riposte, then returned to her questioning. “What was the hall like?”

“Very nice. A lovely carpet runner went along the length of the hall and down the stairs, so that we made no noise at all when we came back down to the saloon.”

“No paintings? What did it look like?” Melly probed.

“Melly, I thought your mother has visited there? Surely she told you everything.”

“Not as well as you do. So?”

“Some paintings—one portrait and several landscapes. That pretty green color also covered the walls in the staircase hall, with lovely white plasterwork decoration. You know the sort, garlands of fruit and flowers. I fear that when we went into the saloon all I noticed was the magnificent view from the windows looking out to the Gothic Tower. It is very romantic. Although,” Katherine added, “there was a very comfortable sofa facing the fireplace. And I believe there was a Gainsborough hanging above the surround.”

“I do not suppose I would have observed any more than that, what with his lordship sitting close to me.”

“He was in a chair across from where I sat,” corrected Katherine. Her vivid recollection of Lord Ramsey was not one she wished to share with Melly. While he was not at all what one would usually describe as being handsome, he possessed a great charm of address if one overlooked his tendency to levity.

Katherine was born with a twinkle in her eye, or so her father proclaimed. She enjoyed the silly and ludicrous and adored a good chuckle. But she expected a man of Lord Ramsey’s consequence to be more serious in his approach to life. Ramsey revealed a shocking bent toward frivolity and wit that Katherine was not at all accustomed to hearing. Indeed, all the gentlemen she knew, save her younger brother, behaved with exceeding propriety. Dull to be sure, but proper.

Which made Lord Ramsey’s reference to strays all the more difficult for her to comprehend and analyze. If she took him seriously, as she would any other man she had met, she would think he intended to capture her for his own. And that was patent nonsense, she reflected somewhat sadly. Lord Ramsey had managed to put Katherine in a horrid confusion, and she was not accustomed to such a strange, dizzying sensation.

“And you go back tomorrow?” Melly intruded into Katherine’s mental wanderings with her persistent curiosity. “I must say, I think it vastly unfair for you to have this access to such an elevated gentleman. I would fare much better, given the chance.”

Melly undoubtedly had no notion as to how conceited she sounded. In her view, she merely stated the truth, her position as the town’s incomparable. This complacency now irked Katherine. While her own mirror didn’t flatter her, she knew she was no antidote. “I shall strive to be worthy of the advantage, you may rest assured.”

Melly gave her girlhood friend a confused look. “There are times when I simply do not understand you, Katherine. You admitted Lord Ramsey is a handsome man. Yet I doubt if he gave you more attention than that odious pet of yours.”

Gabriel wandered close to the girls, bestowing a narrow look at Melly, quite as though he prepared to nibble at her new morocco slippers.

“Go away, you nasty creature,” Melly hastily drew her feet beneath the hem of her gown.

Gabriel merely hissed at her, then waddled toward the river, obviously hoping to find something tasty. One glance was all it took to realize that eating provided Gabriel’s one great interest in life. He was enormously plump. Every time he invaded the kitchen garden, the cook threatened to roast him. Katherine tried to keep the peace as best she could, but Gabriel did not make it easy.

Katherine was saved from further interrogation by the eruption of Teddy into the tranquility of the garden. At the sight of Melly he came to an abrupt halt in his precipitous dash. “Oh. You are here,” he declared most unnecessarily. His look accused Melly of trespassing in his domain— a lowering attitude to be sure, and one the beauty was quite unaccustomed to receiving.

Melly rose from the bench, apparently deciding that she would gamer no more tidbits of life at Fairfax Hall from Katherine now that her pest of a brother had arrived. He was the one male who had never appeared to succumb to Melly’s charms, and she could not forgive him this failing.

“Well,” Melly drawled, with a glance at Teddy to see if he noticed her new pink muslin gown trimmed with pretty lace, “I expect you will make a mull of the entire opportunity. For you are nearly on the shelf, are you not?”

“How astute of you to remember my age, dear girl.” Katherine grinned at Melly’s puzzled expression. “I daresay I shan’t perish if I do not wed within the year.” She followed Melly toward the garden exit.

Katherine stifled the desire to say no eligible man existed in Cambridge that she would have as a husband. Michael Weekes was unattainable at present. Unless. . .  she might convince Lord Ramsey to provide Michael with a living, or something. She wondered if Lord Ramsey needed a secretary. Had not her father said something about the excellent money one of the former fellows now earned in that position?

Her sense of the ridiculous coming to her aid, Katherine continued, “Papa must have someone to look after him, for I could never leave him alone.” She omitted reference to the well-known fact that her father rarely appeared about the house and could well take care of himself, if it came to that.

“And I have not the faintest idea of how to go on,” added her incorrigible brother, who quickly twigged to his sister’s feelings. “It is important to have a sense of family,” he added in a tone of righteousness.

“I daresay you have the right of the matter in that respect, Theodore,” Melly snapped back at the young man, who so persistently ignored her. “I wonder how you manage to get through the day.” She gave her skirts a twitch, then flounced from the garden in quick steps.

Teddy watched the garden gate swing close, then turned to face his sister. “Honestly, Kitty, how you can tolerate that widgeon is more than I can see. What a vixen she  is.”

“She does not mean to be cruel. While a trifle spoiled, who can deny that she is the loveliest girl in town?” Katherine led her brother back to the pergola, gently pushing him down on the bench. What she wished to discuss she would rather not have the entire household know.

“Can’t hold a candle to you, in my opinion,” Teddy declared loyally. “All that pink and white gives me a royal pain.”

An impatient wave of her hand silenced him. “Never mind Melly. She is upset because I am to return to Fairfax Hall to have tea, and she longs to see the inside of the place, not to mention flirt with Lord Ramsey. They invited Papa, and I have no idea as to where he secludes himself. Be a love and find him, will you? I must inform him of the interesting particular that he shall at long last have access to the wondrous library at Fairfax Hall. You know how he has wished to go there.”

Teddy’s face grew thoughtful. A golden curl flopped over his brow, giving him a poetical look that drove him to do all sorts of things to prove his masculine abilities. His eyes began to dance with mischief. “For a price. I will locate our dear, absentminded father if you will agree to put on this play you wrote. It’s dashed good, Kitty,” he added earnestly. “The best you have written yet.”

“Melly would never understand it,” Katherine replied in a roundabout manner.

“That peabrain? The only thing she comprehends is how to cast out lures to all the men. I hope the one she eventually traps in her net gives her a lot of trouble and is a pinch-penny to boot,” Teddy declared with disgust.

“The gentleman doth protest too much, methinks,” Katherine said, delighting in teasing her brother and hoping to draw him away from the subject of her play.

“Cut line, Kitty. If you worry about what Papa might say, you know he never pays attention to the plays performed. We can have the author kept a secret if you like. You will see Lord Ramsey’s theater tomorrow, I wager. While Papa is deep in the library, you can sound out his lordship in regard to sponsoring us. I want a chance to do this. Please, Kitty. For me?”

Katherine’s gaze met his, then slid away to focus on Gabriel at the edge of the river, just inside the small fence that kept him from swimming away. “Very well, I shall think about it. I make no promises, mind you. I do not wish to create a conflict for Papa by doing this. You know as well as I that there is strong opposition from the university to any theater, not to mention the fair. For all we know, it might be canceled this year.”

“They would have a riot on their hands,” prophesied Teddy. “I misdoubt they want such a view of events elsewhere in the country. Aye, you may well raise an eyebrow at me. I do not spend all my time in foolishness.”

“I never said you did, though I confess I have wondered at times when I saw you sneaking into the house in the wee hours of the night.”

“What were you doing up at that time?” Teddy gave her a nudge in the ribs.

Enjoying the bantering, Katherine lightly punched her brother on the arm, saying, “I thought I heard a thief and meant to fetch you to defend us all.”

“Ho, that’s a good one. Pull the other. What do we own to keep from a thief, pray tell? No jewels from Mama to be sure, as Papa sold them ages ago. He said them to be frivolous and that you would never wear such.”

Since this had been a sore point with Katherine, as she had dearly longed for the pearls and other pretty things her mother had possessed, she grimaced, glaring at Teddy. “Enough. You hurry off to urge Papa to come home in time to go visiting tomorrow. He shan’t like having to travel in the donkey cart, thinking such transport beneath his dignity, but it cannot be helped.”

Theodore Penn rose to his full height, grinning down at his sister from his elevated position. He was a gangly youth with the promise of great handsomeness to come. Indeed, the poetic locks and smiling blue eyes had drawn the eye of every young woman in town. A bit of time and the awareness of his attraction would make him a devastating young man.

Katherine sighed, knowing full well that while sufficient money existed to set him up, there was not a penny to spare when it came to her. Her father did not believe in educating females nor in giving them an independence. Katherine had read everything of interest in his library, but dared not utter a word to reveal what she had learned. He would undoubtedly declare her scandalous and might even cast her off to fend for herself. She could be a governess, perhaps. Or a teacher in one of those boarding schools for young ladies. The image of Lord Ramsey popped up in her mind to mock her. Michael Weekes did not. Had she given it consideration, she might have thought it decidedly odd that he remained ignored as a possible savior.

How did her father expect her to find a husband when she looked the veriest dowd? As a doctor of divinity, she imagined he expected her to have her mind above such things as pretty clothes. Not so.

She watched her brother hurry up the streets, then she returned to the house, fingering the fine muslin in her hand as she walked. The delicate sort of fabric that one might draw through a ring appealed immensely to her touch. And the slippers she could not resist wearing just for a few hours were the softest she had ever had on her feet. No doubt her father would declare that any man worth his salt would not be taken in by fine feathers. Papa had never been around when Melly flirted with any handy male, dressed in her delicate pink muslins and batting long lashes.