Two men got out of the carriage.
‘Mr Sandys!’ exclaimed Dora, delighted to see Jacob’s brother again.
‘Miss Fitz-Pennington.’ William bowed. ‘I do apologise for our bad manners, turning up in force like this unannounced.’
‘Think of it like a spot inspection of the sergeant major,’ muttered Jacob.
Dora bit her lip to hide her smile, then she thought of Ruby and all humour vanished. ‘It’s no trouble at all. How are Charlotte and the children?’
‘Very well, thank you for asking,’ said William.
‘This gentleman, as you might’ve guessed by now, is our eldest brother, Arthur, Viscount Sandys,’ said Jacob.
She swept a curtsey. Was that a squeak she heard from an open casement in Jacob’s and her bedroom? What was Ruby doing in their room? Her heart thumped with a sense of impending doom. This was going to be awful.
Arthur inclined his head slightly. ‘Miss Fitz-Pennington.’
An awkward pause followed. It wasn’t her cottage so the etiquette for the situation was unclear.
‘Shall we go in?’ suggested William, coming to the rescue.
‘Very well. The carriage can be turned down the track,’ Jacob instructed the driver. ‘There’s a trough behind the barn.’
With a salute, the team of driver and grooms moved off to deal with the Landau.
‘I’m surprised the carriage survived the potholes,’ said Dora, desperately casting about for ways to keep the viscount apart from Ruby. If this were an inspection, a pregnant unmarried mother was going to be as welcome as unpolished boots.
‘I did suggest we all rode.’ Jacob sent a sour look in the direction of his eldest brother.
‘I thought it good to be prepared in case Miss Fitz-Pennington wished to go anywhere,’ said Arthur, walking into the house at the head of their little party.
‘Like where?’
‘Home?’ Arthur flashed Dora a smile that was all blades. Right, so this was a fight, was it? Good to know. She mentally pushed up her sleeves.
‘Her home is with me.’ And there went her knight, parrying on her behalf, not that she needed defending.
‘Actually, I have become a great walker of late,’ she said, ignoring the implication that she should scuttle back to London. ‘I do find the Lakes so beneficial to one’s health. Don’t you agree, Mr Sandys?’
William started at finding himself dragged into the conversation. ‘Oh, quite so. Wonderful place for a summer holiday.’
Arthur came to a halt in the centre of the dining room and studied it with a proprietorial air. His eyes swept the papers on the table and noted the crumbs that Dora hadn’t yet had time to clear.
‘We have a new case, Jacob,’ Dora said in a low voice. ‘I will tell you the details later. We also have a?—’
Before she could say the word ‘visitor’, Ruby made her entrance from the stairs, wearing one of Dora’s most fetching morning gowns. It was too long for her, so she’d pinned it up, and wore a shawl to disguise the fact she had not been able to fasten the back. That must have been what she was doing at the window. Dora kept her shawl thrown over a chair by the casement.
‘Dora, I didn’t know you were expecting guests?’ Ruby said with a demure curtsey to the company.
With an inner sigh, Dora faced the inevitable requirement to introduce her friend. ‘Gentlemen, this is Miss Ruby Plum, who is visiting for a few days. Ruby, allow me to introduce, Dr Jacob Sandys, our host, and his brothers, Mr William Sandys and Viscount Sandys.’
‘My lord, gentlemen,’ Ruby said breathily. ‘I’m overcome by the honour.’ She blushed prettily and fluttered her eyelashes at the viscount.
Jacob shot a look at Dora.
‘Her visit was unexpected– that seems to have been the theme of the last few days,’ said Dora with a wry smile.
Was this as much of a disaster as Jacob’s expression suggested? If he had hoped she would make a good impression on his brother, it was not ideal that one of her theatrical pals had moved in without his invitation– and one who was clearly in an interesting condition.
