“You know my family, sir?”She lost a bit of her sparkle, and physically drew back a step.
“Only in passing,” Mr.Huntley replied.Mildred relaxed her shoulders.“My cousin may have had some dealings with your father.”
Caught up in her thoughts, Sophia lost track of the conversation until Fairfax extended his dinner invitation.
“On the contrary, it won’t be an imposition at all.My aunt has already invited several neighbors, and I know she would enjoy seeing you and your parents again, Miss Burrell, and meeting your cousin.”Fairfax directed this last part at Miss Ebrington.
Yes, cousin.The tiny lie Sophia had told, to explain the presence of an unmarried, unchaperoned young woman with them… that Mildred was Theo’s cousin.Who was now invited to dinner at Mrs.Digby’s, with Theo’s parents not knowing they were supposedly Mildred’s aunt and uncle.
Oh dear.
“I very much look forward to it,” Mildred said with a breathy sigh, extending her hand again to Mr.Huntley to kiss and bow over it.
* * *
“With two handsome gents here, don’t you want to do something different with your hair?”Ruby stood behind Sophia at the dressing table, brush in hand.
Sophia had already conceded to wearing her best gown for dinner.She did not want to embarrass Mrs.Digby in front of her neighbors and friends, after all.But Ruby’s attempts at styling her hair in something other than braids so far had mixed results at best.Most mornings, whatever style Ruby tried didn’t even last until Sophia was ready to go downstairs for breakfast before part of it was sliding out of the new coif, and they ended up putting it up in a variation of a braided coronet.Again.
And she definitely did not want to appear to be showing off for Fairfax.Or even his friend, Mr.Huntley.
But there were going to be neighbors in attendance tonight, in addition to Mildred, Theo, and her parents.
“You are right.Let’s try your idea.”
They ended up with a compromise, partly braided and part of it in loose curls they pinned up.Ruby leaned back, admiring her creation, and held up a hand mirror, enabling Sophia to see it from behind.Worst case, if her hair tumbled out of its pins and fell down her back, it would not be the horrible faux pas for evening that it would be during the day.
“Excellent.Thank you, Ruby.”Sophia hurried downstairs, just as the first guests arrived.
Soon there was a dizzying array of people in the drawing room.Mrs.Royston held back to the fringes, chatting with one couple or individual at a time.Mrs.Digby seemed to enjoy her role as hostess, showing off her visiting great-nephew like a proud mama as each new arrival entered the room.When her new next-door neighbor arrived, Mrs.Digby left Fairfax chatting with a pair of spinster sisters, the Misses Webster, to introduce Sophia to Mr.Reginald Thorpe, the man Sophia had seen several times walking two four-legged fluffballs on the beach.
He murmured all the appropriate things in greeting and bowed over her hand like a gentleman.But his hands were callused, his left thumbnail black in the middle from a blood bruise, and while his clothes were of good quality and well-tailored, his coat was shiny at the elbows and beginning to fray at the cuffs.
“Did you bring Zeus and Ares?”Mrs.Digby glanced at Mr.Thorpe’s coat pockets.
Mr.Thorpe’s eyebrows nearly climbed to his forehead.“To dinner?”
“Lady Lyttleton often brought them with her.Henry enjoyed their playtime.”
He scratched his head.“Perhaps another visit.They were curled up asleep on their bed before the hearth in the library when I left.”
Mrs.Digby harrumphed.She patted him on the shoulder, then went to greet more guests.
“I take it you’re not used to having dogs?I understand you inherited Zeus and Ares along with the estate.”
Looking down on Sophia from his great height, Mr.Thorpe shook his head.“The little curs were included in my inheritance, yes.I am accustomed to large dogs who work to earn their keep.Sheep herding, hunting, and the like.”
Sophia tilted her head.“Keeping an elderly woman from feeling lonely seems to me a worthy way to earn their keep.”
Mr.Thorpe bowed his head.“Yes, of course.”He fidgeted with one cuff.“My cousin and I corresponded regularly but I regret my duties prevented me from visiting her more often.Her dogs and I are still getting used to each other.”He gave a self-conscious grin that completely transformed his rugged facial features.“Can’t tell you how many times I’ve almost stepped on one of the little buggers,” he confided.
They shared a laugh.
Spotting Theo and Mildred, Sophia made her excuses and hurried over to her friends.“Everything go according to plan?”she whispered.
“It was so kind of Miss Burrell’s parents to collect me from my parent’s cottage,” Mildred replied.
“And she was so prompt,” Theo said, “she was waiting for us by the garden gate.We barely had to stop the horses.”
