smiling fondly at her cousin, shook her head. ‘I should dearly love to stay another week or two, Caro, but my conscience will not permit it. I have already left poor Clarissa Mountjoy to her own devices for two weeks.’
‘I think it was highly unfair of Aunt Augusta to foist that distinctly foolish female on to you, Katherine,’ Lavinia Wentworth announced, with a rare show of annoyance. ‘She is engaged as a companion and resides in your home for the sole purpose of ensuring that you, an unmarried female, are suitably chaperoned at all times. Yet I swear it is you who takes care of her. It is a fine duenna indeed who cannot bring herself to travel more than a mile or two because she fears becoming queasy!’
A further fond smile touched Katherine’s lips as she looked across at her aunt. ‘Believe me, Aunt Lavinia, I am not sorry that Mountjoy is afflicted with travel sickness whenever she steps inside a carriage.’ She couldn’t prevent a sigh escaping. ‘I am forced to admit too that I do find her company excessively tedious, for she is undeniably an extremely foolish woman, but she does try so very hard to please. And I would never go back on the promise I made to Aunt Augusta and turn Mountjoy off. The poor woman put up with Great-aunt Augusta’s megrims and ill humours for twenty years. I believe she has earned a little peace and contentment in a house where not too much is expected of her, and she can more or less come and go as she pleases.’
A further sigh escaped Katherine as she finally abandoned her book and set it to one side. ‘I must admit, though, as chaperons go, she could never be described as diligent. I cannot say that I would feel in the least sorry if she did decide to leave, and I could employ someone of my own choosing.’
‘I doubt there is much chance of that,’ her aunt warned. ‘I fear, my dear, that you have made the woman’s life far too agreeable since Aunt Augusta’s death for her to wish to take up another post.’
‘You are possibly quite right,’ Katherine agreed. ‘But there is just a glimmer of hope on the horizon. Mountjoy received a letter from her widowed sister a month ago, inviting her to make her home with her. Needless to say I would be delighted if she does decide to leave, but I am resolved that it must be her decision.’
‘You would have no need of a chaperon if you chose to make your home here with us,’ her aunt reminded her.
Katherine had wondered how long it would be before the subject was once again raised. Her aunt had asked her on several occasions to make her home in Hampshire, and Katherine had always neatly avoided giving a firm answer. It was not that she felt she would be unhappy living with her aunt and uncle, for she was fond of them both, and adored both her cousins. Nor was she afraid that the little independence she had acquired would be drastically curtailed, for her aunt was such an easygoing soul who would willingly allow her to do more or less as she pleased. No, stupid though it might be, she was afraid to take up permanent residence under this roof; afraid that, as had happened so often in the past, she would bring ill fortune to the household if she were ever to remove here.
‘That is certainly true, Aunt,’ she agreed, her warm smile concealing quite beautifully those deep-rooted fears that had continued to torment her in recent years. ‘But I would never dream of inflicting Mountjoy on you. And even if I should be lucky enough to persuade her to accept her sister’s kind offer, there is still Bridie to consider. There is not the remotest possibility that I shall ever be able to persuade that fiendish woman to take up another post. I know I shall be cursed with her company for life! She is the most self-opinionated, domineering creature imaginable! If once she takes up residence here, you’d swiftly find her ruling the roost in the servants’ hall, and your own staff leaving your employ.’
Mrs Wentworth frankly laughed. ‘Oh, I know Bridie can be a little outspoken on occasions, and is certainly not what one might describe as a conventional domestic, but I for one, as I’ve mentioned before, have always felt very relieved that she has been there to take care of you, Katherine.’
She looked up as the door opened to see her butler enter the room, carrying a small silver tray. ‘Yes, what is it, Meldrew?’
‘A letter from Osborne House for Miss O’Malley, ma’am,’ he answered, presenting Katherine with the tray. ‘The footman is still here, awaiting a reply, miss.’
Surprised, Katherine removed the missive, which did indeed bear her name in bold, elegantly constructed letters, and broke the seal. ‘Good heavens!’ she exclaimed, after running her eyes over the few lines. ‘I’ve been invited to take tea with Sir Giles and his sister this afternoon at three o’clock.’
She handed the note across to her aunt. ‘Have you anything planned for the afternoon, Aunt Lavinia?’
‘As a matter of fact, dear, Lady Charlesworth plans to call. But, in any event,’ she added, after scanning the brief missive, ‘it would seem the invitation is for you alone.’ She did not appear in the least offended, as her next words proved. ‘I’m rather relieved. I should not have wished to cause offence to either Sir Giles or his sister by refusing. In the circumstances, however, I feel I must remain here, as I have already assured Lady Charlesworth that her visit will be most welcome.’
Katherine was far from convinced that her aunt’s assertion was one hundred per cent true. If her cousin’s expression of comical dismay was any indication, poor Caroline certainly wasn’t looking forward with any real conviction to her future mother-in-law’s proposed visit. Caroline, of course, had little choice in the matter; Katherine, on the other hand, most definitely had. She considered she had more than fulfilled her role as dutiful niece on the night of the engagement party, and had no intention of enduring the formidable Dowager’s company for a further lengthy period.
‘Would you mind very much, Aunt Lavinia, if I accepted the invitation to take tea with the Osbornes? I rather liked Sir Giles—a highly intelligent man who possesses a rather dry sense of humour.’ She chose not to add that she had been less favourably impressed with his sister.
‘Of course I do not object, my dear,’ her aunt assured her before turning to Meldrew. ‘Inform Sir Giles’s footman that Miss O’Malley will be delighted to accept.’
‘My, my, Katherine! You must have made a favourable impression on our reserved neighbour,’ Caroline teased, the instant the butler had withdrawn. ‘Sir Giles is not renowned for socialising to any great extent. He generally keeps himself very much to himself when in the country.’
‘Oh, I do not think that is strictly true, Caroline,’ her mother countered. ‘Sir Giles has always been a most genial man. I do not deny that since his wife and his younger son died, he has tended to be less sociable, but that is only to be expected. Furthermore, his work for the government keeps him in London a good deal.’
Caroline frowned a little at this. ‘Do you know, Mama, I’ve never perfectly understood the nature of Sir Giles’s work. I do not think even Papa understands precisely what duties Sir Giles performs.’
‘Our esteemed neighbour has always been a little vague about it, certainly,’ her mother agreed. ‘I believe he mentioned once that it was something connected with the War Office. I do happen to know that he numbers among the Regent’s close friends. So perhaps one of his duties is to keep our future King abreast of events, though why he should feel the need to spend so much time in the capital now that monster is on Elba, and the war is thankfully at an end, I cannot imagine.’
She frowned as a thought suddenly occurred to her. ‘In fact, I understood your father to say that Sir Giles accompanied Major Ross to the capital on the morning after the party.’ She shrugged. ‘Evidently he must have returned … At least for Katherine’s sake I sincerely hope he has, otherwise she will find herself having to endure his far less sensible sister’s company for an hour or two.’
It required a monumental effort, but Katherine managed to resist the temptation to declare that if it was a choice between spending time in the company of Lady Charlesworth and Sir Giles’s sister, she considered Miss Mary Osborne most definitely the lesser evil!
The Wentworth carriage having been kindly placed at her disposal, Katherine set off on the short journey to Osborne House in