Page 19 of Aurelia

“Yes, almost three months at sea.”

“Will you accompany his lordship?” Aurelia asked Mr. Montgomery.

“One expedition was enough to last me a lifetime,” he said, smiling while his gaze slid nervously to the door.

Just what was going on? Why was he so—

The door to the room flew open hard enough to bang against the wall and a tall, dark-haired girl entered, the scowl on her face as she glared from Lord Crewe to Mr. Montgomery making it clear that she did not want to be there.

She flounced to the table, flung herself into a chair, and ignored the three of them.

Lord Crewe sighed and stood. “You can serve now,” he told the butler, who was hovering on the threshold.

“This is my daughter, Lady Celsa,” the earl said once they’d taken their seats. “Celsa, this is Miss Burton. Greet her correctly and apologize for making her wait for dinner.”

Aurelia felt a stab of embarrassment, as if she were the one being chastised.

The younger woman glowered at her.

“Celsa,” her father said, his voice quiet, but so sharply edged it could have cut stone.

“I am sorry I made you wait for dinner, Miss Burton,” the girl all but spat.

Lord Crewe cleared his throat.

“It is a pleasure to meet you.”

A less genuine greeting Aurelia had never heard, but she smiled at the girl, who looked to be fourteen or fifteen. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, my lady.”

Lady Celsa grunted.

Thankfully the arrival of the first course filled the awkward silence.

“Do you have siblings, Miss Burton,” Lord Crewe asked.

“One brother and four sisters.”

“You are the eldest?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“You have a sort of quiet authority about you.”

Yet again the words were not themselves taunting, but something in the way he said them was.

“How old are your siblings?” the earl asked.

“Three-and-twenty, one-and-twenty, twenty, seven-and-ten, and my brother is almost five-and-ten.”

“I am an only child,” the earl said, tearing off a chunk of steaming bread and dipping it into his soup. “Although Arthur came to live with us when I was three. He will tell you I was a spoiled little brat when he met me.”

Mr. Montgomery smiled at Aurelia. “It is true; he was a monster.”

Aurelia could well believe it.

“I admired Arthur greatly and he used his influence for good, thereby shaping me into the fine man I am today, isn’t that right, Arthur?” the earl asked.

Mr. Montgomery laughed.