Page 44 of Impetuous

“It’s all right, Aunt Ardis,” Cassandra replied easily as Olivia ignored her aunt’s command. “Sir Philip gave Olivia and the boys permission. His coachman is looking after them.”

“But Olivia!” Aunt Ardis came to a stop beside them, looking shocked. “It is bad enough that the Lord of Chesilworth is making a spectacle of himself, but for a girl—”

“Lord Chesilworth is only twelve years old,” Cassandra reminded her aunt crisply. “One can hardly expect him not to act like a young boy, whatever his title.”

“A young lady certainly cannot clamber about atop coaches.”

“I am a very progressive thinker when it comes to children,” Sir Philip interjected, his eyes twinkling. “I don’t believe in stifling young minds, girls or boys.”

Aunt Ardis looked as if she would like to argue, but with an effort she pressed her lips together and drew herself up a little taller. “Of course, Sir Philip. If it is your wish…” She tried to smile.

“Shall we go in, ladies?” Sir Philip continued, ushering the women toward the door of the inn. “I am sure that the innkeeper can find you a private room and some refreshments.”

“That would be lovely. I find traveling so tiring.” Joanna took Sir Philip’s arm, leaning against him as if she had trekked the miles from Dunsleigh on foot rather than in a comfortable carriage.

Cassandra cast a jaundiced eye on her cousin and said, “You go ahead. I think that I shall walk around a bit first.”

“An excellent idea,” Sir Philip agreed. “Let me escort Mrs. Moulton and Miss Moulton into the inn to rest, and I shall join you.”

Cassandra received a dagger glance from her cousin as Sir Philip turned and, deftly extricating his arm from Joanna’s grasp, placed an impersonal, helping hand on one arm of both Joanna and her mother. He guided them into the inn while Cassandra walked idly around the yard. At first she kept an eye on her siblings, but a few moments of watching was enough to convince her that they were in expert hands with the coachman.

When Sir Philip returned, she had no qualms about leaving them and strolling with him along the broad main street of the quaint market town. She was sure that her aunt would scold her for her boldness, but Cassandra was enjoying herself too much to think about that. What her aunt had said about Sir Philip still niggled at her mind, and she wished that she could find out the truth of it, but she could think of no way to politely ask him about a houseful of illegitimate children, so she pushed that out of her mind, as well.

“Tell me about your home,” she said instead.

“Haverly House? It is old and rambling, gray Norfolk stone.”

“I have never been in Norfolk.”

“It is more isolated than the Cotswolds. People have gone there for centuries to get away from things. The fens were a great barrier in the past. They say that’s why there are so many churches in East Anglia. The religious moved there for the peace. Of course, now with the fens drained, it is more accessible, but still, very few people pass through it. There is nothing to go to on the other side, you see, just the ocean.”

“I hate to think what your mother will say, having all of us descend on her.”

“Mother is rather used to my eccentricities by now. As long as she is not put out, she is as placid as a clam. Since we have an excellent housekeeper, she is rarely put out. I sent my valet on with a message to her and the housekeeper that we were coming. Now Mrs. Benby may ring a peal over my head for giving her so little notice, but Mother will be quite unaffected. My sister, of course, will be in ecstasies at the idea of company.”

“Your sister?” Cassandra felt a jolt of surprise. “I—I didn’t realize that you had one.”

“Did you think me incapable of it?” He cast her an amused glance. “Anyone can have brothers and sisters, you know, even rigid and unimaginative sorts like us Nevilles.”

“I didn’t mean that. I just—I don’t know, you seemed to me to be an only child.”

He shrugged. “She is much younger than I, fifteen years, so most of my life I was raised alone. I was off at school when she was born, so we were not close in the way of siblings, at least not when she was young.”

“What is her name?”

“Georgette.” He smiled down at Cassandra. “You will like her. She is a young lady of great spunk and curiosity.”

“I am sure I will.” Cassandra hoped that Georgette would like her, although she told herself that there was no reason for it to matter.

“Sir!” a young boy called, and they turned to find one of the hostlers pelting down the street after them. “The lady sent me to fetch you.” He bobbed a bow toward them and paused to catch his breath. “She says the young miss must be careful of getting too much sun.”

“Too much sun!” Cassandra repeated in astonishment and glanced up at the mild June sky.

“Yes’m. She said to tell you to come back.”

Cassandra sighed. She knew that her aunt was not concerned about her health but about the amount of time she was keeping Sir Philip away from Joanna’s presence. “Tell them that we will come straight back.”

Her aunt’s poor temper was evident from the moment they stepped inside the private room where she and Joanna sat, sipping at drinks while Crispin, Hart and Olivia talked, laughed and hopped about in an excess of energy.