Page 10 of War of the Wedding Wagers
“A cunning plan, Eugenia?” repeated Thornton admiringly. “I didn’t think cunning plans were your preserve. I thought you very demure and conventional.”
“Perhaps I was when I was younger and forced to hide the wild spirit that my father said would be my undoing,” Eugenia said bravely.
“Wild spirit? Goodness, Eugenia! I think you’ve said too much!” Lady Pendleton admonished her but Thornton grinned.
“So what is your cunning plan, pray tell?”
“It is actually my cunning plan,” said Lady Pendleton sounding bored. “I had been thinking of holding a ghost-hunting week at the Castle. That’s if the old pile hasn’t fallen down since we were there last August.”
Eugenia clapped her hands. “I think it a wonderful idea, Lady Pendleton, for it will serve as the arbiter as to whether you are right and my match-making will come to nothing.”
Her calculated plan bore fruit. Predictably, Lady Pendleton’s nostrils flared as she said, “Of course, your matchmaking will come to nothing, Eugenia. Sir Frederick and Miss Fairchild? It’s not difficult to see why you never married if you think such a pairing even within the realms of possibility.”
Even Lord Thornton seemed to think this a little harsh for he said, “I do see merit in an event that might relieve theennuiofevents like this. A ghostly challenge, eh? Well, with Sir Frederick a known skeptic, and with Lady Pendleton seeing noearthlymeans that your mismatched young people will find themselves suddenly attracted to one another, perhaps the services of an obliging ghost might just do the trick.”
Lady Pendleton sniffed. “You will lose your Persephone to Lord Thornton, Eugenia, and I have a mind to insist on my own reward for being proved right.”
“So, are we to dress up as ghosts, Lady Pendleton?” Eugenia asked, knowing she sounded much too eager; but really, this was the most excited she’d felt in a long time.
“Dress up as a ghost?” Lady Pendleton repeated with clear disgust, her lorgnette trembling as she raised it to her eyes. “Pendleton Castle is overrun with ghosts. I don’t need my guests confusing matters.”
“Well, well, Lady Pendleton, I had not thought you a believer,” Lord Thornton marveled, studying her with newfound interest. “And pray tell, which is the most troublesome of your ghostly cavalcade?”
“My great-great aunt Pernilla,” Lady Pendleton said, absently touching the heavy gold ring that bore her family crest. “But as I am an avowed skeptic, I believe it’s only because of her unusual and early demise that various family members have conflated her into some tragic heroine.”
“Ooh, how exciting!” Eugenia rubbed her hands together then immediately felt childish as her friend raked her with a beetling look.
“Defying one’s parents to follow one’s youthful heart earned Ancestor Pernilla her just desserts,” Lady Pendleton declared. “Well, now that you have pressured me into a great deal of work, Eugenia, I trust you will make yourself available tomorrow to help me draw up a guest list.”
“Do we really need anyone other than Sir Frederick and Caroline? And, of course, Miss Fairchild?” asked Eugenia, who’d decided she would not have her spirits dampened by her old friend.
“Good lord, Eugenia.” Lady Pendleton’s fan snapped open with unnecessary force. “You don’t suppose I shall go to all that trouble for only a handful of thanks. No, this will be a grand event held during the full moon, with a Ghostly Rout, a Treasure Hunt, dancing, and a feast. After all, one must maintain appearances when one holds a title.”
“Bravo,” said Thornton. “You will outdo yourself.”
Lady Pendleton sniffed. “If I am to put myself out doing anything, there are no half measures.”
“And how do you think Pendleton will like the idea of a Ghostly Rout, a Treasure Hunt, dancing, and a feast?” asked Lord Thornton. He cleared his throat. “It won’t be a cheap exercise.”
“Pendleton will do as he’s told, like he always does.”
Eugenia and Thornton glanced at each other but were silent.
Pendleton had had a fortune when he’d married, but his wife wielded the power with her title and estates, the upkeep of which relied heavily on Pendleton’s funds.
“No, this Ghostly Event will be the highlight of the season,” said Lady Pendleton. “I predict that Caroline will meet her match and that your instincts, my dear Eugenia—when it comes to matchmaking—are quite off the mark.”
Chapter Seven
“Are you sureyou’re going to be warm enough, Amelia?” Mrs. Fairchild fussed, adjusting the fur trim on her daughter’s traveling cloak for the third time as the horses stamped and snorted in the cool air in the shafts of the carriage. “I just fear you might catch a chill. I’ve heard Pendleton Castle has not been maintained as well as Lady Pendleton’s other houses, so I worry that her attempts at authenticity might involve freezing, rather than frightening, her guests to death.”
The fact that this was not said with an attempt at humor made Amelia smile, even as she caught the shadow of real concern in her mother’s eyes.
“I’m sure Lady Townsend and some of the other guests who will surely be invited by Lady Pendleton will have reassured themselves of sufficient comfort,” Amelia said as she put her foot on the carriage step.
“And I hear that handsome Sir Frederick is going to Lady Pendleton’s Ghostly Affair, too,” Mrs. Fairchild went on happily. “Are you sure you don’t wish to further your acquaintance with that gentleman for there was a time when I did think you and he—”
She trailed off at Amelia’s look, while Edward said, firmly, as he followed his sister into the carriage, “Sir Frederick’s preference is for blondes. Besides, Amelia is much too serious for a man of his tastes.”
