Page 11 of Her Infuriating Earl
Be impoverished, begging on the streets, with no future at all for anyone,Phoebe knew, but, as always, she kept it to herself. Even with all her diligent work, she could not conjure up money out of nowhere, and the estate was forever just one catastrophe away from plunging them back into a precarious position.
Indeed, that was exactly why getting her sisters paired with the right husbands was more vital than ever. There was a peculiar hourglass pouring sand away in Phoebe’s mind, and if she did not get her sisters married by the time it ran out, she feared that all of her hard toil would be for nothing.
CHAPTERFIVE
“Daniel!” A figure flew out of the grand entrance of Westyork Manor, racing down the steps and flinging herself into arms that were already weighed down with luggage.
Nevertheless, Daniel chuckled and tried his best to hug his sister back. “It seems someone has missed me.”
“I have been so bored, Daniel,” Caroline complained, wriggling around in his clumsy embrace like a cat that did not wish to be held. “Mama has been in one of her sore tempers, so I have had no one to entertain me. And, yes, I know it has only been a few days, but it has felt like weeks!” She pulled back, smacking him on the arm. “You should have taken me with you!”
Daniel pretended to wince and rub theinjuredspot. “You have not yet debuted. You are not allowed.”
“But they are friends of mine! Surely, an exception could have been made.” She feigned a pout, her eyes sparkling with the joy of seeing her brother again. It was an expression that warmed his heart every time, whether he had been away for hours or months.
“They did talk about you constantly,” Daniel told her, knowing it would make her happy. “Indeed, I had to tell them to cease in the end, for I went to the ball to getawayfrom you, not be reminded of you.”
She hit him again, laughing. “You beastly thing!”
“I cannot let you know that I adore youtoomuch. A brother must keep his sister on her toes,” Daniel replied, putting an arm around her as they headed up the steps to the manor.
But Caroline looked back in earnest. “Did Olivia and Evan not journey with you?”
Daniel halted. “I am mortally wounded, Caro. You claim you have missed me, but, in truth, you have only missed Olivia. Why, you sneaky, little rascal!” He clutched at his chest, coughing and spluttering. “My heart is… breaking. Do not… bother to send for a physician. It is… too late.”
“As if you do not always seek out the company of Evan instead of me,” Caroline protested playfully, pulling his hand away from his chest and looping her arm through his. “Youare the rascal.”
He grinned. “Perhaps.”
“Now, tell me everything about the ball,” Caroline urged as they stepped into the warmth of the manor together, the fires blazing in every room, for the winter had not quite shifted into spring yet. “Leave no stone unturned, no detail to spare. I shall hear it all, or I shall have to scold you later when I hear it all from Olivia anyway. Have they stayed a few more days, or will they be home soon?”
Daniel chuckled in defeat. “They will be home tomorrow.”
After all of the lies and cruelty that had passed between Evan and his father, Martin, in both Evan’s childhood and adulthood, including the sale of the manor belonging to Evan’s marquisate, but mostly thanks to Martin’s part in trying to thwart Evan’s marriage to Olivia, it had been decided that Evan and Olivia would take up residence in the old dower house, now named “Daisy House.” As such, Olivia and Evan were never far away, yet far enough that they could have their peace when they desired it. Although, Caroline could never resist making the woodland walk to Daisy House each day, whether Olivia wanted her own space or not.
“Splendid.” Caroline beamed. “Come, let us have tea and gossip immediately!”
* * *
Ten minutes later, situated in the drawing room with tea and cakes on the way, Daniel had just reached the part of the story where he had spilled strawberry ice on Phoebe and she had raged at him like a banshee when a bark of laughter cut him off.
“That poor, dear girl!” his mother cried, pressing a hand to her heart. “Is this not the fifth gown of hers that you have ruined? I do not suppose you have any notion of how difficult it is to get a red stain out of muslin—or any stain, for that matter. Honestly, you were as clumsy as a newborn foal when you were a young boy, but I had thought you had grown out of it.”
Daniel grimaced, for if he had known his mother, Amelia, was eavesdropping, he likely would have left out the entire part about Phoebe and the strawberry ice. Perhaps he would not have said anything about the ball at all, other than, “It was pleasant.” She could read him as well as Evan, if not better. She would see immediately how guilty he actually felt about the whole thing.
“It was an accident,” he said quietly, “and it is only the third gown I have… endangered.”
Amelia chuckled, coming to sit beside Caroline on the settee. “I do hope you shall purchase a replacement this time.”
“I do not believe she would accept it, even if I did.” Daniel sat back, the armchair uncomfortable underneath him. “When was I clumsy as a child? I do not remember that.”
Amelia sucked in a breath as if the ensuing tale was about to be very long and very wild. “You were always knocking into things, always bruising yourself on this and that, always tripping over your own feet like they were too big for you, always getting colds and maladies, always worrying me sick.” She smiled. “Why do you think you were not permitted a horse of your own until you were older? I had visions of you tumbling from the saddle in myriad ways, breaking all your bones. But, as I say, you seemed to grow out of it. Not around Miss Wilson, apparently, but gentlemen are always falling over themselves for ladies like that.”
“Ladies like that?” Daniel frowned, fidgeting.
“Oh, you know, astonishingly beautiful, golden-hearted, generous to a fault, who could wear a potato sack and still look divine,” Amelia replied, her bright eyes twinkling. At almost fifty, her beauty had matured, but those eyes had never aged a day. “The sort of young lady that any mother would be proud to have as a daughter-in-law.”
Daniel swallowed thickly, wishing the tea would arrive sooner so he could wet his dry throat. “I assure you, Miss Phoebe Wilson is the very last woman on this earth who would be your daughter-in-law.”
