Page 16 of An Amiable Foe
Perry was gratified at this attention from the most distinguished member of their circle. Raife was not of the peerage, but he came from a family that could trace their lineage back to the Norman invasion. He was also the wealthiest.
Perry waved them forward. “Gentlemen, allow me to show you Brindale after you’ve had some refreshments.”
“Tell me you have something better than lukewarm tea,” Lorry said, removing the offense when he slapped his hand on Perry’s back.
“I will have you know the tea here is of the best quality. But perhaps you would prefer a bottle of real French Burgundy?” Perry hadn’t intended to reveal his find so early in their stay, but his mouth seemed to speak the words without his consent.
Lorry whistled. “The real thing! Astonished you were able to get some. I see we have come to the right place after all. What do we have in the way of female entertainment?” he asked as Perry led the way indoors.
“There’s an elderly spinster residing in the cottage on the estate,” he said cheerfully, excluding all references to Miss Edgewood. He might not be able to prevent them from meeting her, but he would do his best to keep her out of their view. “Miss Fife is quite skilled at conversation and has an excessive amount of it.”
Raife gave a visible shudder at Perry’s side, then turned to his valet, who was following them. “Grant, I trust you will alert me to the presence of prosy spinsters lurking about. Have these brought up to the room I’ve been assigned. I am sure you will see to my every comfort.”
“Ah, quite so,” Perry added, bothered that his inexperience in hosting should be so obvious. “Matley, show the valets where their gentleman will be staying. And see to it that Neck’s belongings are brought to his room.”
“Very good,” his valet said in a wooden voice as he bowed.
He had already protested to deaf ears that he would not be able to show his face to Neck’s valet, when he brought him to the downstairs room. Perry could only agree with him and counted himself fortunate that, in the end, there was no valet to turn his nose up at Neck’s accommodations.
Moments later, when the men were seated in the yellow sitting room, Perry sent Charlie for a bottle of the Burgundy, already worrying about what he would do when the stock ran out. There were fifteen bottles, and he wasn’t sure how long his friends were staying. But surely they would understand he didn’t have an unlimited supply of it. Nobody in England did. The fact that he had any French wine at all was already a thing of amazement considering the English had been at war with the French for nearly a decade.
Neck and Lorry began comparing notes about their trip. They had convened last night at the coaching house Perry recommended for the last leg of their journey, which was how they arrived all at once. As the two of them argued about how close Neck had come to overturning a mail coach, Raife looked on idly.
Perry had not even heard the knock at the front door, but Charlie came in to announce a visitor. “Mr. Vernon here to see you, sir.”
Perry got to his feet, less than pleased to see Vernon at Brindale. He could not think his friends would form a more favorable impression of the man than he had himself. However, civility forced him to perform the introductions as soon as his neighbor entered the room. He went through them all, then indicated for Vernon to sit and join them.
“Will you have a glass?” he asked, holding the treasured bottle up. “There are a few left in the wine cellar.”
“What’s this? Not Burgundy, surely. Had I known these bottles were lying around, I would’ve convinced Marianne to give them all up to me.” Vernon stopped short, likely realizing that sounded an awful lot like theft, and forced a laugh. “Not that she would have, of course. These were always meant for whomever owned Brindale.”
“Marianne?” Lorry inquired, his voice perking up with interest. “And who is she?”
Perry could not delay the inevitable, although he privately thought Vernon a dunderhead for bringing up her name amongst a set of London bachelors. “Miss Edgewood is a former resident of the castle.” He hoped to leave it at that, but Lorry, who most appreciated female company, would not let it lie.
“And where is the lovely Miss Marianne now?”
Perry glanced up, and his gaze crossed that of Raife’s. He needed to dampen the idea quickly. “She inherited the cottage on the property in her uncle’s will, and that is where she currently resides. Of course, she is a gently bred lady and will not be joining us at our suppers. In fact, I should be astonished if you meet her at all during your stay.”
“Friend of yours, is she?” Lorry asked, turning to Vernon and ignoring Perry completely.
Vernon had his glass raised to his lips, and he stared at Lorry over its rim. “I’ve known her all my life. I would say we are more than friends.”
Neck stood, stretched, and walked over to the small desk and fiddled with the feminine objects that Miss Edgewood had not removed.
“Well, I hope you will join us for our suppers. It’s always good to have an extra hand at cards.” Neck was an excellent card player, and although he would generally not stoop so far as to ruin a man, he was known to declare that if a chicken asked to be plucked, he was not one to refuse the feathers.
“As it happens, I have my evenings free,” Vernon replied after a beat, without looking at Perry to see if the welcome had been extended to him. Not that Perry could have done anything differently, but it would make things complicated to have Vernon here on a regular basis. He was not exactly the model of good ton, and Perry somehow feared his friends would associate Vernon’s lack of breeding with him.
Even after so many years spent in their company, he was not sure of his place. The continual need to prove his worth was beginning to be exhausting.
When the men had finished their glasses, toured the parts of the castle that could be shown, and politely declared themselves perfectly satisfied—Perry was vastly relieved when none of them voiced an open complaint since there was nothing he could do to improve their situation—they decided that it was fair enough outside to walk about the estate.
The property was not quite two square miles, which meant they could visit much of it on foot. They strolled at an idle pace, and Perry showed them the woods where they could get some hunting in when it was the right season. It was on the northeastern end of his property, and they rounded the pond that bordered the castle, which he surmised was part of what had once been a moat.
He had purposefully steered them in the opposite direction from that Miss Edgewood usually took to go to the cottage in hopes they would not cross paths with her. It was therefore with consternation that he saw Miss Edgewood walking in their direction and without a maid accompanying her—this despite the fact that he had expressly given her one.
She stopped short when she saw Perry and curtsied before turning to his friends. At the sight of her, a broad smile spread over Lorry’s face, and he bowed deeply. “Miss Edgewood, I presume.”
