Page 24 of A Dash of Scot
Poppy nodded, her smile now as frozen in place as her locked knees. “I’d be delighted to meet her, but as it turns out, I’ll be away in the Highlands. Shame.”
Mary smiled now, well pleased. Everything she wanted was coming true with absolutely no reason why. She was getting rid of the Featherstones and really sticking it to them. As if Poppy, Anise and their mother had offended Mary somehow, when all they’d ever been was kind. “That’s right, you’re leaving in the morning, aren’t you?”
“Quite right.” That was not right at all. Her brother hadn’t given her an exact departure before, only that it would need to be soon and before the end of the season. She’d thought they might have a week to prepare, but now it appeared the time had been set for her by Mary. And considerably moved up. That was hardly…
“Shame, I was hoping to have another dinner with Colonel Austen. He seemed keen on Anise.” Mary shrugged. “Oh well, perhaps when you all visit sometime next year.”
Banished for at least a year from this house. Poppy swallowed back her anger and tears, which were clawing their way up her throat, begging to be hollered out.
“Perhaps,” she said, though it came out sounding rather strangled.
“Good night, Poppy,” Mary said her name like a sneer as if the two syllables were meant to sting.
Poppy didn’t respond but gave Mary her back. There was no reason for her to be cordial to the woman now. Not when she’d practically tossed them on their arses into the streets. There were so many things Poppy wanted to say, none of them good. And she knew it was best to walk away before she said something she regretted.
“I said, ‘Good night, Poppy.’” Mary’s pitch increased, the disrespect one of the only weapons Poppy ever had to wield. Mary couldn’t handle not being treated exactly as she should be.
Poppy continued up the stairs, pretending she hadn’t heard her.
“Poppy!” The shriek was so loud Poppy swore the windows rattled.
Still, she ignored the wench and turned around the corner of the corridor at the top, out of sight. She’d not made it six inches out view before she sucked in a massive gulp of air. Mary threw an epic tantrum in the foyer, screaming for Edward before realizing he was not in residence. A few doors from the servant’s quarters sounded, and then rushing footsteps. Likely the poor servants believed there was an emergency. Poor things, having to deal with Mary.
Poppy made it to her room at the same time Anise flung open their door, and their mother across the hallway opened hers. They both looked stricken and frightened.
“What’s happened?” their mother asked, eyes flicking toward the stairs where the shrieks had pierced the air seconds ago.
“Mary has informed me we’re leaving for the dower house tomorrow morning.”
“Tomorrow?” Anise’s face crumpled. “I’ve not even had a chance to tell my friends.”
“I will appeal to Edward.” Mama’s hand trembled where she held the door, her face paling just as Poppy’s had. “He must give us time. We’ve not even begun to pack.”
Poppy hugged her mother and pressed a kiss to her temple. “We will be all right, Mama. I think it best we not spend another minute in this house with that…”
“Bitch?” Anise offered.
“I think that’s an offense to bitches everywhere,” their mother said, surprising them both.
Poppy clapped a hand over her mouth, and Anise took a step back into their room, covering her mouth to keep her laugh from being heard by the very bitch in question.
“I love you, Mama,” Poppy said.
“And I you, both of you. Now, get some sleep. It appears we’ve got a long adventure tomorrow.”
The following morning, servants arrived with trunks and guilty expressions before they’d even risen, knocking on the doors just past dawn. Their maid whispered how sorry she was to be packing their things, and the footmen who carried the trunks looked forlorn as they disappeared with all the Featherstone belongings.
Poppy descended the stairs so quickly that she thought she might trip and fall in search of her brother. Thank goodness there was no sight yet of Mary. Rather than prowling the halls looking for people to bite, she must have decided to sleep in. Or stay out of their way now that she was getting what she wanted.
The dining room was empty. As was Edward’s study. Not even the faint scent of his aftershave to suggest he’d been there recently.
“Where is Lord Leven?” she asked the butler, Grant, who’d been in her brother’s service for as long as she could remember. He’d come to the townhouse when Edward had inherited it, and when they’d first been given residence after Papa died, Poppy had been glad for the familiarity and a possible ally.
The butler, too polite to say anything, conveyed quite a lot in his apologetic expression. “I believe he stayed overnight at his club, my lady.” He glanced around, perhaps expecting Mary to burst through a wall. Perhaps she wasn’t here at all. Maybe they would be lucky enough that she’d left from the house in search of her husband, and they wouldn’t have to see her. “This came for ye, Miss Anise and Lady Cullen.”
Grant held out a small white envelope, the kind that usually held a calling card. On the front, in a neat scroll, was written: Lady Cullen and the Misses Featherstone.
Her heart clenched to know this would be the last card they got in Edinburgh. Unless their circumstances changed, she highly doubted they would be returning. Poppy opened the envelope, praying at once that it was Dougal’s card and, at the very same time, that it wasn’t. On the one hand, she wanted him to come and explain his secret engagement, or at least why he’d failed to mention it. Especially right before he’d kissed her, so she might have had the choice not to press her lips to his… Though in the state she’d been, would she have had the nerve to deny him? She wanted to ask why he’d flirted shamelessly with her and given her hope that they might be a possible match when he’d already been tethered to another. But the name inside was not Dougal Mackay. Instead, it was Sir John Ross. The young gentlemen they’d met at the creamery.
