Page 6 of Intolerable
“Lowell, take those flowers,” the duke barked.
“Are those for me?” Cassandra sailed into the room, looking fresh and lovely in a sprigged gown, the small, stitched coral and blue flowers a pleasing contrast to the white background. Her companion, Miss Lancaster, followed.
“Indeed, they are.” He presented the bouquet of yellow, purple, and red tulips to her and effected an even courtlier bow.
She took the flowers with a smile then turned to the maid. “Lowell, if you would place these in a vase, I’d be grateful. Please take them to my sitting room so I may enjoy them.”
The maid received the tulips then dipped a curtsey before leaving. Miss Lancaster went to sit near the windows.
“Shall we sit?” Cassandra suggested, moving to a settee in the center of the large room. The invitation for him to park himself beside her was silent but clear.
Ruark glanced toward her father, whose dark eyes were fixed in a peevish glower. When they were seated together on the settee, the duke took a chair opposite, his frame stiff and his features unyielding.
“What a delightful surprise to see you, Lord Wexford,” Cassandra said, nearly provoking a smirk from Ruark.
“Why are you here?” The duke gripped the arm of his chair with his right hand. The left looked as if it were about to do the same.
“I am paying a call on your lovely daughter,” Ruark said pleasantly. He knew to expect the duke’s irritation on the best of days.
The duke frowned. “You can’t mean to court her.”
“Is she already betrothed?” Ruark looked toward Cassandra in faux shock.
“No, I am not,” Cassandra answered quickly before casting a perturbed look at her father. “Please be nice to the earl.”
“He’s an Irishman.” As if that perfectly explained why he could never be nice, let alone polite.
“I’m a Protestant,” Ruark responded affably. “Surely that improves my standing.”
“Barely. Your mother was a Catholic, was she not?”
“She converted when she married my father.” That Ruark’s extended family on his mother’s side was still Catholic had proven troublesome from time to time, particularly during the rebellion some fifteen years ago. “She is quite happily Protestant now—and living in Gloucestershire.” Where Ruark had spent much of his life since his mother had remarried.
“Your father, the Earl of Wexford. Not the man your mother is married to now.”
“That’s correct. My father was also Sir Joseph Hannigan of Lechlade, anEnglishbaronetcy that dates back to the fifteenth century.” Ruark hadn’t expected to have to work quitethishard. This wasn’t even a real social call.
“He was still an Irishman.”
“With some English blood too. Some of my family from Gloucestershire settled in Ireland in the sixteenth century on the Ulster plantation. They later moved south.”
Cassandra shot her father a glare. “You needn’t badger the earl. This ismysocial call, after all.” She glanced toward her companion. “Prudence can chaperone. I’m sure you have plenty of things that require your attention.”
“It is my responsibility to interrogate anyone who thinks they can earn your hand.”
Ruark assumed the man had dogs. He’d certainly perfected a manner of speech that was akin to growling. “It’s all right, Lady Cassandra. I’m happy to answer your father’s questions about my ancestry.”
The duke persisted with his inquiry. “Your mother’s current husband is entirely Irish, is he not?”
“Now, that is not my ancestry and not at all germane to our conversation.” Ruark stretched his arm along the back of the settee so that his hand was behind Cassandra’s head. It was an audacious and probably inadvisable move, but he was nearing his limit.
“Your motheris, however, and she married an Irish steward.” Her father said the last as if he were discussing cow shit he’d tracked into the house.
Ruark kept a tight rein on his temper. “Would an English one have been more acceptable?”
The duke muttered something under his breath that was almost certainly not appropriate for mixed company before adding, “Youare not acceptable.”
“Father!” Cassandra fisted her hands on her lap. Her brows slashed low over her golden brown eyes. “There is no call to be rude. Furthermore, I will choose who is acceptable, and I find Lord Wexford more than satisfies my requirements for a husband.”
