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‘I assure you that is the name he gave, Mr. Norwood,’ Aunt Mary said.
‘But that would make him a marquess!’ Uncle John exclaimed.
Aunt Mary raised her eyebrows and patted her simple cotton cap absently. ‘Then I suppose his lordship, the Marquess of Thorburn, had himself quite an adventure in the local marsh this afternoon.’
‘And topped it off with some tea and cakes at a local farm,’ Uncle John said, snorting.
Aunt Mary shook her head. ‘’Tis most extraordinary. I daresay the whole town shall hear of it before long. Alice and Peggy shall talk of nothing else, you can be certain.’
Alice and Peggy were maids in the household, and did, indeed, enjoy a good piece of gossip.
‘Why shouldn’t Lord Thorburn enjoy our cakes?’ Kate asked absently. She found her mind would not stray from the images of the afternoon: Lord Thorburn pushing the horse, Lord Thorburn smiling in triumph, Lord Thorburn walking beside her, leading Merrylegs, his face half covered in peat.
They’d given him a clean shirt and invited him to wash upon arrival at her uncle’s home.
How she had admired him, once he was all tidy again. What a relief when he agreed to stay, and she had had the opportunity to change, as well. Despite their relative wealth compared to some farmers, the Norwoods only had one mirror in the house, an aging heirloom from Aunt Mary’s side of the family. How Kate had stared into it, before joining Lord Thorburn in the parlour. She’d studied her grey-blue eyes, and frowned at her skin—a bit more ecru than the snowy white she knew noble ladies favored. ’Twas the consequence of days spent out of doors, bonnet or no.There is nothing to be done about it,she had thought with pique, and instead she turned her attention to her hair, twisted in an unfashionable, simple chignon. Pulling free a few strands, she had endeavored to make them curl around her fingers, to no avail.
With a sigh of frustration, she hurried to the parlour, unhappy with her looks but glad, at least, to be clean and presentable again.
‘There she goes with her ideas,’ Uncle John said fondly.
Kate frowned, having already forgotten what she had said, so caught up was she in the memory of the tea with Lord Thorburn.
‘Indeed, I should think his lordship paid us a great compliment in taking tea,’ Aunt Mary said more frostily. ‘Accustomed to the best of everything, no doubt, and lowering himself to our hospitality just the same.’
‘He was most grateful for my assistance,’ Kate pointed out.
Aunt Mary’s lips pressed closed.
Later, as Kate assisted her in tidying up, the lecture Kate knew was simmering within her aunt’s mind came forth.
‘You’ve a look about you I must say I dislike,’ Aunt Mary said.
Kate drew in a deep breath, bracing herself for the same refrains she had heard since early childhood.
‘Lord Thorburn graced us with his presence, and I suppose we are to be thankful for it. It shall certainly entertain the town and all of our neighbors for the foreseeable future.’
‘But...?’
Aunt Mary gave her a sharp look. ‘But you’ve the eyes of a mooncalf, my dear. ’Twon’t do in the least, you know, falling in love with a marquess.’
‘Oh, Aunt, how foolish you must think me!’
‘’Tis no fault of your own, I fear. Your mother turned your head with all her talk, telling you you were special, your blood was finer than ours, and the like.’
Kate looked down at the plate she was wiping, a pang of sorrow rippling through her at the mention of her mother.
‘Do you think my father—’
‘Och, shush,’ Aunt Mary said with disapproval. ‘You know better than to speak of it, child. Now, I’ve my deliveries in two days’ time—’
‘She said he was a footman, but—’
‘Katherine Norwood!’ Aunt Mary exclaimed.
‘But Aunt, ’tis only that I’ve never understood it! The things she said. If she was but a maid and my father a footman—’
‘What she told you was nonsense. The fantastic imagination of a troubled soul.’
