“My current state? Do you refer to what I wear, or to the fact that I am in close proximity to Lord Spaulding?”
Mrs. Davies took but a trice to consider her answer. “Both, my lady. And you can bet that Miss Duffy shall rush out and wait while they have their fortifying drinks that Mr. Davies is preparing to take out to them.”
“Oh, yes. She is like a little parrot. Always ready to give a detailed report to my Papa about my comings and goings.”
“You ought to plant her likeness on a target,” Felix suggested.
“I do like archery, and shooting. I have a few sketches of her that I could fix to the target. She could be used as a popinjay. Of course, as she shadows me at the best of times, I would never be able to do it.”
He smiled. “So, you kept it up, eh?”
“Oh, aye. Papa thought it wonderful exercise for me, and he likes to boast that his little delicate flower can outshoot most of his friends, with a bow and arrow, pistol or rifle.”
He sighed. He never should have thought of her as such a delicate creature. She was delicately built but there was steel running through her blood, and she had a strength to her character that most women her age sorely lacked.
“Oh, I think you shall be having more time to yourself in the next few days, my dear.” His heart softened. It was the first time he had ever connected to a woman like this. He had never used any form of endearment for them before. He felt that in the next couple of days he would be using more than just that one endearment for her.
She smiled at him. “Come along, move those legs of yours, we must move out of the Entrance Hall before they all burst into the house.”
A little dog came running toward them, barking happily, with her tail wagging like mad.
“Lord Spaulding, this is Felicity.” From what he could see under the mop of hair, it was a Skye terrier. “Felicity isn’t overly fond of Miss Duffy. She usually keeps to my rooms when Miss Duffy is about. She was my mother’s little doggie, and now she is Papa’s little doggie. She is an indoor only dog, and shares her time between the two of us.”
“Why don’t we go into the one of the receiving rooms, my lady?”
“The Library would be fine. Papa will probably take the guests into the South Drawing Room.”
“Aye, you are quite right, my lady,” Mrs. Davies said. “Come along, then, my lord. Your arms must be getting quite tired.”
“Indeed not. I think I could carry Lady Epiphany forever. She weighs nothing at all.”
Epiphany’s smile brightened at his words. He didn’t think he would be able to manage courting her, but so far he seemed to be off to a bloody good start.
He walked with her into The Library, the little dog following them close at their heels. It was a large state room, and boasted several sofas, and plenty of chairs. He walked over to the nearest sofa, and gently placed her down upon it.
Epiphany’s smile faded away to briefly be replaced with a grimace as her body hit the cushions. She bit her lip. Felicity jumped up onto the sofa and settled her tiny body next to Epiphany’s.
“See, you do require a doctor,” he pointed out. “I just saw your stiff upper lip falter.”
She sighed and stuck her tongue out at him. The rebellious act took him back to when they were both much younger. He saw her as she had once been, a little bloody imp.
“I shall take my leave, my lady. If you need anything you only need to ring. Once the guests retire to their rooms to dress for dinner, you should be able to safely make your way to your bedchamber.”
She sighed, as Mrs. Davies left the room. “I could have taken the backway up to my bedchamber. I wouldn’t be discovered that way but I am certain that Mrs. Davies won’t allow it. She doesn’t want me to be seen by any of the guests and some of them do tend to wander.”
They sat for a few more moments in comfortable silence, with only the sound of the fire crackling away to keep them company. Felix’s ears perked up at the sound of stomping feet. He knew that particular stomp. The double doors leading into The Library, flew open. Standing in the doorway was Colonel Blessing, looking as if he was in high dudgeon.
The winter air must have done him some good because he looked a little healthier than he had a little over a fortnight past. It was a startling transformation that he was happy to see. Lewis truly was a miracle worker. His healing touch was unparalleled.
Behind him, stood the little pest, Miss Duffy, smiling serenely. She thought she had Felix cornered. Oh, how he loathed women like her. Someone had to make sure that she was properly put in her place. It sounded to him as if she had come to this place to disrupt the harmony that they enjoyed, and he wondered why the Colonel was putting up with her troublemaking ways. She needed to sheer off.
“What the bloody hell is going on here?” Colonel Blessing barked.
Chapter Four
Felix stood up and saluted Colonel Blessing.
“De fumo in flammam,” he said, greeting him with the motto of his old regiment.
Colonel Blessing looked stern for a few more moments, even though admiration and respect glimmered in his eyes. “Out of the smoke into the flame. Come on over here, Felix. It seems you have some things to account for.”
Miss Duffy was still preening. Smug little witch. What she didn’t know was that he knew the Colonel far better than she did, and right now, the Colonel was amused, not angry.
He did as the Colonel requested. “Miss Duffy tells me that you were rude to her Felix.”
“That is true, sir. However, in my defense, she initiated the hostilities. I merely ended them.”
“And she said you called her an old maid?”
“I did…but to clarify that, sir, I called her Miss Thornback. I never once used the words, old maid.”
Now, he could see the Colonel attempting to keep his composure. His one eyebrow twitched, and he was pursing his lips, so he wouldn’t start laughing. “Ah, well, then. That changes everything, my boy. You told me he didn’t show you the proper amount of respect due your station, Miss Duffy.”
“Oh, aye. I did. I always show men and women the respect they are due. I called her Miss. She called me…”
“Papa,” Epiphany said breathlessly, “she insulted Lord Spaulding in a most grievous manner. She didn’t give him the welcome he was due as an invited guest.”
“You ungrateful little chit,” Miss Duffy hissed. She gasped, as the venomous words spilled out of her mouth. It was as if Miss Duffy couldn’t help herself. She clapped her hand over her mouth, and groaned, realizing that she had just slipped the noose around her own neck. Now, it was Felix’s turn to smile. Apparently, he brought out the worst in Miss Duffy. It was a gift he had with some people. “Lord Painswick, that blackguard called me a bogtrotter,” she accused, imperiously pointing her forefinger at him. She was acting like a petulant child.
“Oh, now, really, Felix,” Colonel Blessing said. “I expected more out of you. I didn’t think you would ever stoop so low.”
“Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have resorted to such a scathing insult, sir, but she did just say that my manners were of a loutish nature, and that I would find the rest of my kind in the stables. She worsened the situation when she decided to tell me I wasn’t born high enough to have been ennobled, and that she would not respect my elevated station in life by referring to me as Lord Spaulding. Rather, she said she would only call me Mr. Grey. I didn’t exactly take this as an affront, as you well know, I could care less what people call me. They can call me arsehole for all I care, but it was the principle of the whole thing, sir.” He prayed he wasn’t bungling things up. He had learned a lot in the years since he had come under Blessing’s tutelage, and he had enriched his vocabulary during his time spent with his mates—but still, he often wondered if he was using the right words for the situation. He wasn’t a wordsmith like some of his friends. But then, he knew plenty of lords and ladies who threw around important sounding words even though they didn’t know their exact meaning. He knew
because he kept a mental list of the words, and then went and looked them up when he had a moment to himself.
“Aye, you thought it a rather good title at one point in time,” Colonel Blessing said, the corners of his mouth still twitching.
“She also believed that by reporting to you, she would break up the marriage contract we have made, and have me thrown out on my arse, like the beggar she thinks I am. She was quite determined about that one. Seems she believes you regard your nephew as a better man to marry Fanny.”
Now the humour diminished completely from Colonel Blessing’s eyes. He whirled upon Miss Duffy. “Leave this room immediately, Miss Duffy. I shall deal with you later. Go to your bedchamber, and do not come down for dinner. A footman shall bring you a tray of food.”
She stood motionless, not heeding the Colonel’s order. Felix groaned, and looked away from the scene that was about to be started. There was one thing about Colonel Blessing that you could always count on. His word was law, and that was the end of it. You never questioned or hesitated when he gave his orders. She was a complete barmpot. And then, she turned into a watering pot, thinking her tears would appeal to the man’s sensitive nature when it came to the ladies.
“Your magical tears shall get you nowhere today, Miss Duffy,” the Colonel said tiredly. “Now, remove yourself from my presence, before I decide to have a carriage readied to take you away from here.”
That stopped the conjured tears, as Epiphany had called them. She tossed Felix a furious stare and flounced out of the room in a rustling of skirts.
“There. That has been sorted. Now, we can have some peace,” Colonel Blessing said. Not one minute later, a silly looking fop swept into the room. He couldn’t be more than a few years older than Epiphany, perhaps they were even the same age. Even though he was dressed in similar attire to the Colonel, he looked every part of the coxcomb. His hair was combed into an odd style, and he moved as if he had a stick thrust up his arse. He was tall and thin, with a mop of dark hair. His body build and his hair colour was almost identical to Colonel Blessing. He also had the hawk nose that Felix gathered was indicative of the Blessing bloodline. What he lacked, however, was the genial personality that Colonel Blessing maintained, as long as someone didn’t test him sorely. “I stand corrected,” the older man said, sighing loudly.
“Oh, Peter. Why don’t you go back out and mingle with the other guests?” Lady Epiphany asked tiredly. “I already have a pounding headache, and you usually give me a headache so I don’t need the pain doubled, thank you.”
Peter snorted at her, and puffed himself up like a bloody peacock.
“What is this I hear about Miss Duffy being insulted? Upon my honour, Uncle, if you shan’t do anything about it, I shall do something about it. Someone has to be the man in this family.”
“Aye, and that someone isn’t you,” Felix muttered beneath his breath.
“What did you say, you…you little upstart?” Peter asked, his voice going high with his outrage.
“Call me that again in that disrespectful tone of voice, you bloody prig, and I shall carry you outside and stick you headfirst into the snow.”
“I would like to see you try,” Peter Blessing sneered.
“Oh, you would, would you?” Felix asked, taking a threatening step toward him, and watching Peter cautiously take a step back toward his uncle. If he thought that the Colonel would protect him, he was sadly mistaken. Before Felix could follow through with his threat, Peter’s eyes settled on Epiphany, and he gasped.
“Epiphany, what in heaven’s name are you wearing? You look dreadful,” he demanded. “Miss Duffy muttered something about you not looking like a proper lady today, and I didn’t pay her any mind, she usually babbles on so, but this time I should have taken heed. It isn’t right. A lady should not dress like a gentleman.”
Felix wanted to take the man and shake him like a rag doll. He had so many things he wanted to do with him, and by the look of dudgeon on the Colonel’s face…he wouldn’t try to stop him.
“She is wearing clothes, you fool,” Felix said, loud enough that his voice reverberated off the walls of the Library.
“I can see that you scatter witted ninny,” Peter said. What was it with the inhabitants of this house deciding to hurl insults at him? He had a scarce supply of friends here. “What I want to know is why she is wearing breeches, and she looks to be kitted out to go hunting. You do not look like a lady, you look like a rather well dressed boy. You shall embarrass your father. You shall disgrace the House of Blessing.”
“Don’t speak for me, Peter,” Colonel Blessing said. “You are being quite the annoying little whippersnapper today.”
“I do apologize, Uncle Christian. I only thought you wouldn’t approve of Fanny’s attire. She shouldn’t be receiving guests looking like that.”
“I am not receiving guests, Peter. As you see, I am safely cloistered away in the Library. No one could possibly see me, as this is a family room and only closest friends are brought in here.”
“And you think that guests wouldn’t happen upon you?” he sneered.
“Stop haranguing the lady,” Felix said, steel in his tone. “She isn’t up to hearing you prattle on so like a spoiled little brat.”
“Again, you stick your nose into matters that do not concern you, boy. You should leave now and go back to the stables.” The little shite was dancing across his nerves and soon, Felix would turn into Tiny, and no one here wanted to see that.
“Oh, Peter!” Epiphany gasped.
“If anyone is going to the stables, it shall be you, you annoying little bastard. I shall carry you there, and find the largest pile of shit and then toss you into it, headfirst.”
“You shall do no such thing. Tell him, Uncle.”
“If he gives you a choice, take the snow over the shit, Nephew,” Colonel Blessing advised. “Pray, do not bring him back in here if you pick to throw him into the horses muck, Felix. I don’t want that mess in this house.”
“Felix? You call this man, Felix?”
“Aye, that is what he has always called me, that, and Mr. Grey.”
Peter’s eyes dawned with recognition. “You mean you are that Felix Grey, meaning you are Uncle’s old manservant from the Wars? You fit the description, as I recall it. You are as large as a giant. Great big lout that you are.”
“Aye. I am that Felix Grey.”
“You may call him Lord Spaulding, Peter,” Colonel Blessing said calmly.
“I don’t think so, Uncle. I shall call him Felix as well.”
“If you do, you will be smelling shit sooner rather than later,” Felix said.
“As for that, I should call you out to a duel,” Peter said. “You have insulted Miss Duffy’s honour, and my own.”
“I wasn’t aware you had any honour,” Felix returned.
He heard Epiphany attempt to smother a giggle. “Pistols or swords?” Peter asked.
“How about fists?” Felix countered.
Peter looked completely baffled by that one. “And as for you, young lady, once I am the Master of Blessing Hall, you shall not be coddled in such a flagrantly indulgent manner. You won’t be allowed to have your whims and fancies anymore, little lady. You will have rules. You shall toe the mark. Mark my words, you will, and you will wear the attire befitting of your station as a female, and as my wife. Riding around the countryside like that shan’t be borne. In fact, I do not know if you should even be allowed to go out riding. It breeds too much independence within women, as far as I am concerned. Women should only be allowed to travel about in carriages, and none of this driving your own curricle or phaeton nonsense. No…you shall always have a driver. Women cannot think to drive their own vehicles, they haven’t the intelligence for it.”
“You are a special kind of a fool, aren’t you, Peter?” Felix asked.
“Felix, as Master of this House and husband to my daughter, what would you have her wear?” Colonel Blessing asked.
“Lady Epiphany c
an wear whatever she pleases, sir. She can do whatever she likes. As much as I grieve the thought of her not showcasing her charms in a lovely frock, as her husband, I don’t have control over her body, I am only committed to cherishing it, not controlling it.”
“Hogwash. That only displays your puny and rather common intellect. Everyone that is anyone, knows that a husband controls his wife. Besides, you will never be her husband, nor shall you be the Master of Blessing Hall,” Peter said.
“You are a bit too eager for your uncle’s death, aren’t you? I wasn’t aware I came here to be the Master of Blessing Hall. That position already seems to be filled and when the regretful day comes when it is not, then, my wife shall be Mistress, and I shall do my duty as Master, should she require it.”
“Can we be tie the knot today, Papa?” Epiphany asked eagerly.
Felix grinned like a besotted fool.
“It isn’t a wonder why my uncle sought you out so he could strip my birthright from me, and marry Epiphany off to you. You truly are my uncle’s trained monkey. You do and say whatever he wants you to.”
“That is it,” Felix said. “That’s done it, well and good.”
Colonel Blessing sighed. “A moment if you will, Felix.”
“Of course, sir.”
“Let me clear a few things up for you, Peter. Even though I have stated this before, your birthright wasn’t to inherit this Hall, or any of my other holdings. Indeed, I have always regarded Epiphany as the heir of my body, and I regret that she cannot inherit my peerage along with the lands, the houses, and my considerable wealth. Unfortunately, when it comes to my earldom, you are my heir presumptive.
“You were never formally promised to Fanny and she has never been very keen on a match made with you. That was something my sisters had always advocated. My wife…my dear wife on her death bed, begged me to ensure Fanny’s happiness. She said that she wanted her to find a man that was like me. Who would share a life with Fanny instead of ruling over her and suffocating her free spirit. I do believe that I have located that man in Lord Spaulding, and I know she would have approved of him. Indeed, Mary was quite fond of him in life, as I recall. You are my nephew, and I am rather fond of you, but I am not fond of the man you have become. You were such a delightful child. You have turned into a soft man. You haven’t an ounce of steel in you, Peter. You bluster about as if you have the courage that Felix possesses, and yet, you do not. You would not walk through fire for your mates. I have seen Felix prove himself in the heat of battle, and I know that he is the man who shall stand by my daughter’s side and give her the support she requires in the wake of my passing.”
His Blessed Epiphany (A Regency Holiday Romance Book 9) Page 4