The Roguish Miss Penn (8 page)

“Well, actually we have never approached him on this particular matter, sir. We felt prudence to be the better course, if you follow our thoughts,” Teddy replied earnestly.

Turning to Katherine, Lord Ramsey gave her a concerned look. “Does this present a serious problem? I’ll not have you placed in jeopardy.”

“Philip,” Gisela cried in dismay, “you will not frighten the girl. She has written a play—which I hope to read this evening— and intends to produce it during the fair. It is hardly a situation of enormous difficulty.” She thought a moment, then added, “If you like, I can sound out her father. He will likely tell me more than the rest of you.”

Lord Ramsey rubbed his chin, thus getting a smear of dirt across it. “And how is that, pray tell?”

“I shall use my feminine wiles,” Gisela declared triumphantly. She then chuckled at the face her brother made, and turned to the chosen trunk.

Within an hour they had selected a variety of gowns and coats suitable for the characters in Katherine’s play. She was ecstatic at the richness of fabric, the beautiful lines of the garments. They would have cost an enormous sum of money had she tried to purchase or make them.

“I vow the actors and actresses will wonder ere they see this bounty,” Katherine declared to Gisela. “Such elegance is not often seen, especially where they must supply their own costumes, as is sometimes the case, so Teddy tells me.” She studied her brother while he helped to gather the clothing in neat piles for the servants to fetch later. “Although where he comes by all his knowledge I cannot imagine.”

“There is a morning coach to London with a return the same evening, is there not?” Gisela said innocently.

“You mean. . . “whispered Katherine, incensed that she had been excluded when Teddy knew how much she longed to go to the theater.

“I rather suspect so,” Gisela said with a rueful face.

Katherine was silent while the four made their return trip to the lower floor. The ladies paused in Gisela’s room to freshen up while the two young men continued to the saloon.

Katherine turned to her new friend. “I worry that the costumes may be damaged seriously beyond repair. I imagine they will get hard usage.”

“They are merely rotting away in the trunk, my dear,” Gisela said, soothing Katherine’s ruffled feathers with an offer of some lovely cologne.

When the ladies joined the men, Lord Ramsey ushered Katherine to a chair by the window, inhaling with appreciation. “Quite superior to pond weed.”

Katherine chuckled at the memory, then gestured toward the pond. “Gabriel makes a return visit. I fancy he longed to come, for he came up to me as we were to enter the cart. Do you suppose that is possible?”

Ramsey bent over to study the face tilted up at him, fixed her with a warm gaze, and shrugged. “Anything is possible, have you not learned that yet?”

“Anything?” Katherine made a reflective face, then smiled. “I shall cling to that thought, my lord.”

“You do that, Miss Penn.”

“Philip, I am well aware that we all observe the proprieties of society, but do you not think we might call you Philip rather than that odious title all the time?”  Gisela queried.

He shrugged again. “Only if I may call Miss Penn Katherine. And her brother Teddy, of course.”

“Naturally,” replied Gisela, looking remarkably smug. “That is settled, then. I shall like that. I get excessively tired of being Mrs. Cheney-ed to death.”

Sounds heard in the hall indicated that Mr. Penn had decided he had spent quite enough of this day closeted in his lordship’s fine library. By the time he reached the front door, Gisela skimmed along the hall to halt his departure.

“Join us in the saloon, sir, please do. We have been having such a delightful visit. How pleased I am to make the acquaintance of your children. You have done a very fine job of raising them by yourself. It cannot have been easy for you.”

Clearly startled to receive the unexpected sympathy, he paused in his steps, obviously reflecting the past years. “You are very kind. I had not considered it as such, but I did have help - my cousin, Sophia.”

“Ah, yes. She is the lady who longs to return to her garden by the sea.”

Amazed that Mrs. Cheney had learned so much in such a short time, he permitted himself to be led to the saloon, where they had a good visit.

Before they left, Gisela said to Mr. Penn, “I fear the gentleman who usually preaches our Sunday sermon has taken ill. Would you consider taking his place? I should very much like to hear you.”

Evidently flattered at such a request, Mr. Penn nodded graciously and promised to attend to the matter.

Katherine and Teddy exchanged worried looks. Seated behind, Gabriel honked grandly, having relished his bout with the gardener’s son who had fetched him from the pond.

Chapter 5

“Perhaps he will come down with a putrid sore throat and shan’t be able to speak next Sunday?” Katherine said with little hope that her unkind wish might be granted.

“No such luck,” Teddy muttered in reply as he kicked at a tuft of grass along the riverbank at the foot of the garden behind the Penn house.

“He has a nice voice,” Katherine said in an attempt to be generous, “and a very elegant mind.”

“That is what I fear, his elegance of mind. Last time he spoke he had an awful sermon. Nattered on above an hour. Dreadful! I tell you, Kitty, there must be something we can do.” He glanced at where she stood, as though hoping for some manner of miracle from her.

She shook her head. “I see nothing but what we had best attend divine services, and support him as a good son and daughter ought.”

“You ask a great deal,” he said with a morose sigh.

“It is the very least we can do,” Katherine replied virtuously, wrapping her shawl about her more tightly, as though a chill had swept along the Cam.

“I expect you have the right of it.” He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, considering the coming Sunday with about the same enthusiasm with which one faces the tooth-drawer.

“However, other things require our attention. We must consider auditions for the roles.”

He brightened, nodding in agreement. “There’s that chap who played the hero last year, the one you thought so good? I saw him the other day. Might be a good choice for our hero.” His enthusiasm caught him up from the doldrums into which he had fallen.

“I believe his name was Ninian Denham, was it not? Tall, flaxen-haired, with dark-brown eyes?” Katherine grinned at her brother as she remembered the part the young man had played. “I suspect he might do well. He has the requisite poetical looks.”

“I still say I ought to be allowed a chance at the part,” Teddy grumbled as they turned toward the house.

“You cannot direct and act. You have not the experience. I shall give you all my support, but we are mere babes when it comes to something like this. I have tried to garner all the information I could, but there is nothing like actually doing a thing, you must know. Besides, if you can tell Miss O’Neill that you have such a handsome, experienced actor to play against, she might look more favorably upon the part.”

He sighed, this time with resignation. “I imagine you are right again. You frequently are. Have you begun the scenery sketches? You are dashed clever at that sort of thing, although your watercolor landscapes seem a bit dreary.”

“They suffer very much from cows, little boys, and rain, if you must know. One tries, but sitting about in nature can have the most dire results.” The twinkle in her eyes belied her complaining accents.

“At least falling in the pond at Fairfax Hall brought a few blessings. Do we consult with Lord Ramsey tomorrow?” His eagerness was plain, even if he pretended otherwise.

“I thought we might see him, yes. The days flow by, and there is so much to do. Papa wants to visit his library, fortunately. I can tag along out there with little or no suspicion. Papa believes me in a fair way to becoming a bosom bow to Mrs. Cheney, even though we must be nearly twenty years apart in age."

“Old enough to be your mother.”

“But very, very nice, and ever so kind. Which is more than I can say for his lordship,” Katherine concluded, thinking of the little darts from Lord Ramsey. What a pity one of the clerics who held a Ramsey-bestowed living didn’t go aloft to his maker so Mr. Weekes might be set forth as a suitable candidate. Not that she actually wished an old man ill. But some of the clerics were dreadfully ancient and gave the driest sermons in the world. Which thought brought her back to the coming Sunday. “I wonder if we might stuff cotton wool in our ears?”

“Now who’s daft in the head? Oh, you mean church. I suspect we must take our medicine.” He grimaced at the very thought of the coming sermon.

The two wandered up to the house to join cousin Sophia in the sitting room, where she worked at completing her elegant piece of needlework.

“It looks quite, quite lovely,” Katherine said with enthusiasm.

“I shall require a new piece of canvas and more wools tomorrow. Shall you keep me company when I shop?”

Katherine exchanged a guarded look with her brother. “We promised to visit Mrs. Cheney.”

“And Lord Ramsey,” added Teddy.

Cousin Sophia placed her needlework in her lap, giving the two young people a shrewd stare. “Something is up. I shall not ask, but I expect you will want a chaperone with you?” She tilted her head and smiled.

“You merely wish to know what is going on,” Katherine replied.

“Your play,” Cousin Sophia replied calmly. “You shall have to cast the roles and ready the scenery, not to mention arrange costumes. That castle will be difficult to simulate.”

“How neatly you frame us, Cousin,” Katherine laughed, then gave the older woman a little hug.

The lady smiled, darting glances at the two. “What do you plan?”

“Since the title is Castle of the Black Forest, I want something gloomy enough to make the ladies tremble with anticipation.” Katherine placed her hands together before her, as though to plead with a villain.

“Your heroine has enough foolish fancies to do the lot in, I think,” inserted Teddy, barely suppressing a grin.

“Well, and she is foolish. Of course I believe that anyone whose sensibilities are so delicate that they swoon at the least shadow or collapse into tears at the wave of a drapery is a peagoose.”

“Pity you cannot have Amelia play the part,” Cousin Sophia commented dryly.

“Melly would fit it admirably,” Teddy agreed.

“Did someone mention my name?” Amelia Bonner inquired as she entered the room. “I told dear Mrs. Moore I would see myself in, for we are all such old friends.” She studied their faces with great curiosity. “Your housekeeper is so busy,” she added by way of explanation.

Katherine thought Melly was well on her way to becoming just like her mother. There was little one might do about such a thing, however. Unless one was given to teaching lessons, and Katherine had enough on her plate at the moment, thank you very much.

“Did you enjoy your visit to Fairfax Hall?” Melly quizzed like a persistent little bird. “But what a silly question. Of course you did, for who could not? I vow I should simply swoon were I to receive an invitation to tea there. It must have been vastly pleasant for you. My, Katherine, you are of a certainty moving about in elevated circles. Soon you will have no time for your ordinary friends.” Her smile was polite, but Katherine detected a waspish note in that sugary voice.

Since Katherine suspected that were the tables to be turned, Melly would cut her as quick as a cat could wink its eye, Katherine felt few qualms in not extending any sort of invitation to join them, not that such would be proper—thank heavens. Only Lord Ramsey or Mrs. Cheney should do that, and with any luck at all, their paths would not cross. If Melly learned more about the play, their lives would be in greater jeopardy.

“I think the least you might do is include me, Katherine. After all, we have been friends since we were in leading strings. I would never dream of repeating what I know about your little play, but. . . ” She batted her dark, feathery lashes at Teddy, who began a retreat toward the door and safety, muttering vaguely about something or other he had to do.

Katherine looked at Cousin Sophia with dismay. She had felt secure, thinking there was little Melly could do to push her way into the group. Now it seemed Melly had figured out her own path. Katherine bowed to the inevitable.

“I feel sure Mrs. Cheney would welcome an extra hand with the costumes. You sew such exquisite stitches.” This fortunately was true. Amelia did the most perfect stitching Katherine had ever seen. She could be depended upon to alter costumes in secrecy, were she included, and her work would hold up well. “All the clothes we found in the old trunks are in need of touches of repair. Mrs. Cheney’s maid would be overwhelmed with the job, so we had planned to do our share.”

“You, Katherine? Sewing? Hm, you do well enough, but you need more patience,” Amelia stated in a rather arrogant manner.

Since her words were true, there was no cause for Katherine to be annoyed. Perhaps it was the smug manner in which they were spoken that irritated her.

At that moment Teddy stuck his head around the corner. “Katherine, you must help me with that job I mentioned earlier. I know it is a bit messy, but Melly is welcome to come if she doesn’t mind a bit of dirt.”

Amelia threw up her hands in horror at the very thought of dirt. “No, I thank you, Theodore. Another time.” She curtsied to Cousin Sophia, then fled the house, having accomplished what she desired in jig time.

“Pity you did not think of that before she invited herself along to Fairfax Hall with us tomorrow,” Katherine said. “What is it I must do that will soil my hands?”

“Nothing. I merely said that to frighten her off. You know how she hates a dab of mud. I thought we might round up a few actors for auditions. Care to join me now?”

“Gladly.”

The two left Cousin Sophia putting the final stitches in the tapestry and headed to the area of town where they knew the actors liked to linger.

* * * *

Lord Ramsey hastily guided his team into position before the inn, then left his carriage and pair in the hands of his groom. He had observed Miss Penn with her brother, and felt this was a rather unsavory area for the two.