Page 77 of Miss Flibbertigibbet and the Barbarian
Viola blinked. Instinctively, she reached for Addie’s hands, taking them in a gentle clasp. “I’m delighted to make your acquaintance, Lady Adriana.” Viola’s eyes scanned Addie’s features. “Welcome to Styles Place.”
Viola would have curtsied, but Addie tightened her grip on Viola’s hands. “Please”—she smiled encouragingly—“just Addie.” She glanced at Phillip. “And I hope you will permit me to call you Viola. As I understand it, we will, God willing, soon be family.”
Phillip was staring at her as if he wasn’t sure that what he was seeing was real.
Addie smothered a snort. “Phillip.” She tipped her head meaningfully at Dickie and Nicholas, both of whom had come strolling up in her wake.
“Oh. Yes.” Phillip leapt to introduce Viola to Dickie and Nicholas.
Addie released Viola’s hands to allow her to greet the pair.
That accomplished, Viola waved them to seats.
Addie sat on the other end of the settee, while Nicholas and Dickie sank into armchairs opposite, and Phillip resumed his position before the empty hearth.
Addie decided that more reassurance wouldn’t go astray. “I hope,” she said, addressing Viola, “that Phillip has explained that we are here to help and, indeed, that we’re determined to retrieve these letters of his, even though that means handing over The Barbarian.”
Nicholas added, “We believe it will be possible to complete the exchange, after which we’ll reclaim the horse.”
“We also,” Dickie determinedly put in, “want to unmask whoever is behind this—whoever is blackmailing you and Phillip.”
“Indeed,” Addie replied. “We can’t allow anyone to imagine they can blackmail a Sommerville and get away with it.” She was very aware that Phillip’s weren’t the only secrets the family was harboring. “So”—she looked up at Phillip—“it’s time to make plans. All of us, together.”
Phillip glanced at Viola and somewhat tentatively said, “It seems the best way.”
To Addie’s relief, Viola nodded firmly. “I’m sure it is.” She looked at Nicholas and Dickie. “We need help, and I would be grateful and honored to accept help from such quarters.”
Her gaze shifting to rest on Addie, Viola drew in a breath and, looking openly puzzled, ventured, “Lady—” She broke off and amended, “Addie, I admit I’m confused. I had thought”—she glanced fleetingly at Phillip, and her befuddlement was plain—“that you were Miss Flibbertigibbet.” Viola returned her gaze to Addie and lightly frowned. “But that plainly isn’t so.”
Addie parted her lips on a brief explanation, but Phillip spoke first.
His gaze on her, he huffed and said, “I fear, my dear, that my sister has a temper. Miss Flibbertigibbet was her response to…the importunings of immature gentlemen.” When, surprised that he’d known that, Addie blinked at him, he arched a dark brow as if asking “Am I right?”
She opened her mouth, then closed it. Glancing at Dickie, she saw he was grinning and nodding, while Nicholas, elegantly relaxed in the armchair, was regarding her with a fond expression that suggested he understood her reaction to Phillip’s unexpected insight.
Yes, she’d been angry, but had it been that obvious that Miss Flibbertigibbet had arisen from that?
The idea threatened to derail her thoughts. She shoved it aside for later examination and refocused on Viola. “That might be correct, but regardless of how Miss Flibbertigibbet came to be, she’s not here now.”
The firm declaration had Viola smiling. “So I see, and I must admit I’m glad of that. I was exceedingly trepidatious over how our first meeting would go.”
Addie felt her cheeks warm, and the others all smiled. “Enough of me. I’m sure I don’t need to remind anyone that we’re here to discuss how best to deal with this dastardly blackmailer.”
Viola glanced at Phillip. “I take it Phillip has explained the pertinent details of our situation.”
Addie, Dickie, and Nicholas nodded.
“Well, then.” Viola pressed her palms together in her lap. “What are we going to do?”
Nicholas sat back and let Adriana, Dickie, and Phillip explore the possibilities, interrupting only to clarify critical points, such as confirming that The Barbarian truly would allow only Adriana to ride him.
“He’s broken to the saddle and bridle, of course,” she said, “but he’s simply a willfully stubborn and picky horse.”
“I gather he allowed Papa’s old friend, Wisthorpe, to ride him,” Dickie said. “He seems an only-one-person-at-a-time horse.”
The discussion shifted to the details of how to actually make the handover in The Drove.
Phillip looked at Adriana. “Perhaps you might take a look at The Barbarian this afternoon. The grooms say he’s restless. A decent gallop might take the edge off and leave him more inclined to be docile during the handover and whatever eventuates after that.”
