Page 37 of My Devoted Viscount (Brazen Bluestockings #2)

“Theo?” Sophia rushed forward to greet her friend.

“I hope you don’t mind unexpected callers.” Theo squeezed Sophia’s hands in greeting. “We would not want to intrude on your work.” She entered the house, revealing Mildred on the steps just behind her.

Sophia almost sagged in relief at seeing the girl.

“You are always welcome in my home, Miss Burrell,” Mrs. Digby said, walking towards them. “And you, Miss Ebrington.”

They exchanged greetings.

“We were just about to go in to luncheon,” Mrs. Digby said. “I hope you will both join us.”

“Oh! We just came to, ah… Yes, thank you, we would love to join you.” Theo handed her workbasket to Kendall before removing her pelisse and bonnet.

“Yes, thank you,” Mildred added, removing her outerwear.

Sophia was relieved to note Mildred’s face and hands were clean, and her gown had only a few dirt smudges and wrinkles as might happen from being out for a walk.

She recognized the bun Mildred wore was a much simpler hairstyle than she typically wore, even this past week, one she had likely created without the use of a mirror.

Where had she been staying, if not in the cave?

Sophia was dying to find out what new danger the girl had put herself in.

Kendall had evidently gone to the music room to alert the musicians that food was served, as Fairfax, Xavier, and Mr. Huntley soon joined them at the dining table.

Wallace appeared shortly after, minus his smock, properly attired in a coat and carefully tied cravat.

Mrs. Royston, Sophia noted with a chuckle, simply rolled her sleeves down and draped her smock over the back of her chair until Kendall relieved her of it.

Introductions were made around the table as Kendall and Marshall served. Everyone began to eat, except Mrs. Digby. She sat at the head of the table, perfectly still in her chair, wearing a beatific smile as she gazed at her fellow diners.

“Something wrong, Aunt?” Fairfax set his soup spoon down.

Mrs. Digby shook her head. “I was just thinking it’s been quite some time since I had so many young people at my table.”

“Quite nice, isn’t it?” Mrs. Royston added.

Sophia realized that not only could she not speak privately with Theo or Mildred while they ate, Marshall had seated them by alternating genders.

She was tucked between Wallace and Xavier on one side of the table with Mrs. Royston, while across from her Fairfax sat beside Theo, and Mr. Huntley sat beside Mildred.

Well, at least the latter pair’s proximity might lead to light flirtation and further her matchmaking plans for them.

“If I’d known the company to be had, I would have visited sooner,” Wallace said, smiling at Sophia.

Only because she sat directly across from Fairfax did she see his fleeting grimace, replaced so quickly by a neutral expression she might have thought she’d imagined it.

Wallace’s smile spread.

“Here, here,” Mr. Huntley said. “A toast to Aunt Gertrude’s beautiful company.” They all raised their teacups or wine glasses in a toast, a becoming blush spreading on Mildred’s and Theo’s cheeks.

After more general conversation, Sophia heard Theo clear her throat.

“I was thinking about resuming my excavation,” she said, glancing at Fairfax. “I’d like to make progress while my cousin is here visiting.”

“Are you interested in fossils, Miss Ebrington?” Mr. Huntley twisted in his chair to get a better look at Mildred.

“I am interested in Miss Burrell’s project, yes,” Mildred hedged.

“The … weather … seems clear for digging in rocks on the bluff,” Fairfax said.

“You should be fine, dear girl,” Mrs. Digby said. “The smugglers won’t be using my caves again anytime soon.”

“Smugglers!” Wallace and Xavier spoke at once. They began asking questions, speaking over the top of each other without giving anyone a chance to respond, though Mr. Huntley and Fairfax tried.

“Oh, dear, you’ve done it now,” Mrs. Royston muttered with a grin.

“I don’t see why we can’t discuss it among family.” Mrs. Digby glanced around the table. “And friends who are already aware of what happened.” She tapped her palm on the table. “Boys, hush!”

Silence.

Once she had everyone’s attention, Mrs. Digby succinctly explained about the smugglers, their contraband disappearing from the cave, the revenuers, and the innkeeper and his son Clyde.

Relieved that Mrs. Digby omitted any mention of the cave-in, Sophia met Fairfax’s glance. He kept his chin down while he ate his soup but lifted his eyes to hers, a small smile playing about his lips.

“You feel confident they will not return?” Theo stared at Mrs. Digby.

“Correct, Miss Burrell. I had a very productive chat with Clyde’s mother, Mrs. Renwick. If he purchases from smugglers again—and I think his father will be keeping a tight rein on his spending for quite some time—he won’t be using my property to store his un-taxed goods.”

“Now we just need to figure out who is walking on the beach late at night, pretending to be a ghost,” Mr. Huntley said. “I heard there was another sighting last night.”

“Well, really,” Mrs. Digby huffed.

Mildred kept her head down as she ate. Sophia also stayed quiet.

Conversation was lively as they finished the meal. The men decided to go down to the beach right away. Wallace and Xavier wanted to see the cave where the contraband had been stashed and the beach where the new ghost had been sighted.

“Feel free to go with them if you wish,” Mrs. Digby said to Sophia. “I’m going to have a lie-down.”

“Perhaps we’ll join them after I catch up with Theo and Mildred,” Sophia said, watching the men leave the room. She almost missed it, so subtle were the hand movements, but Mr. Huntley slipped a coin to Marshall, who swiftly tucked it in his waistcoat pocket.

Mr. Huntley bribed the footman to seat him next to Mildred?

Excellent.

Despite the gallant entreaties of the men to join them for a walk to the beach, Sophia, Mildred, and Theo headed to the drawing room. Theo retrieved her workbasket along the way. They sat in a tight circle on the sofa and a chair pulled up close.

“I have been worried about you,” Sophia said, grasping Mildred’s hands. “Where did you go?”

“There’s a folly on the estate next door, beside a pond,” Mildred said. “It provides shelter from the wind and rain, and no bats overhead.”

“And no smugglers traipsing by,” Theo added. “Imagine my surprise when I took the shortcut across Lady Lyttelton’s estate on my way here and spotted her.”

Sophia huffed out an impatient breath. “We need to solve the issue of your engagement, soon. We have no idea how Mr. Thorpe might respond if he or any of his staff found you on his property, and I’m not convinced it’s safe for you to go back to the cave.

” She fought the impulse to shudder, as the memory of being trapped in the cave-in, alone in the dark, threatened to overwhelm her.

“And what about his dogs?” Theo added. “They might give you away.”

“The dogs seem to like me,” Mildred said calmly. “Even the one that’s big enough to saddle and ride. She looks ferocious but is actually quite gentle.”

Theo harrumphed, and pulled back the cloth on her workbasket.

“I wrote to my Aunt Mary in Newton Poppleford, and learned she has a copy of last year’s edition of Debrett’s .

Yesterday she brought it to me herself.” She rolled her eyes.

“Both my aunt and my parents still hold out hope I will find a match instead of another teaching position.”

They thumbed through until they found the entry for the current holder of the title Earl of Wingfield.

“Let’s see,” Sophia said, scanning the correct entry. “Born 1767—”

“Good heavens, he’s nearly half a century old!” Mildred wailed.

“—no marriages, and no issue. Succeeded his father in 1811. Something, something, created earl in 1659, more boring family history. Heir presumptive is—” Sophia’s breath caught in her chest.

“Who? Who is Wingfield’s heir presumptive?” Mildred demanded.

Theo took the book from Sophia’s lax fingers and read the paragraph. Her head shot up, her mouth falling open in shock as she stared at the two women.

“You have me on tenterhooks! Who is my fiancé’s heir presumptive?”

Passing her the book, Sophia jabbed her finger on the page to point out the relevant line.

Mildred read, her brow furrowed, until she dropped the book in shock. “This is too, too cruel.” She held her hand to her forehead and swooned against the back of the sofa, then abruptly sat up again. “Wicked Wingfield’s heir presumptive is his cousin, Mr. Matthew Huntley? My Mr. Matthew Huntley?”

She got up and paced a circle around the sofa. “My father affianced me to a man known as Wicked when there is a superb specimen like Mr. Huntley so close in the family? Oh, how could Father be so cruel!” She dramatically swooned on the sofa again.

“This could work to our advantage,” Sophia slowly said, tapping her bottom lip with one finger.

Theo tucked the book away in her basket. “How?”

Mildred sat up straight. “Yes, how?”

“I’ve noticed how attentive Mr. Huntley is to you.”

Other than a blush stealing across her cheeks, Mildred did not respond.

“Perhaps we can persuade him to talk to his cousin.”

“To what end, pray tell? Transfer the engagement from one man to the other? Pass me around like a horse being sold at auction?” Mildred sniffed in disdain.

Theo pinned her with a steely stare. “Would you rather be a filly in Wicked Wingfield’s stable, or Mr. Huntley’s?”

Mildred dropped her chin. “I see your point,” she whispered.

“But would your father agree to a different fiancé?” Sophia got up to pace.

“It would be different if Mr. Huntley was Wingfield’s son rather than cousin.

How do we know Huntley is wealthy enough to be acceptable to your father?

And Mr. Ebrington may be set on you becoming a countess, which will never happen if you’re Mrs. Huntley. ”

“The boots Math— er, Mr. Huntley was wearing the other night were made by Hoby,” Mildred said slowly.

“I recall my father wanting a pair of similar style, and my mother talking him out of them because they cost more than we usually spend in a month on the entire household.” She brightened.

“And Huntley’s waistcoat buttons are silver, not brass. ”

“And he’s hanging about with a viscount who is heir to a marquess,” Theo added. “Attended the same schools.”

Sophia waved her hand. “I wouldn’t put it past Fairfax to carry his friend, financially speaking. They have so much in common when it comes to music, he would want him accepted in the same social circles.”

“We can sniff out his finances further,” Theo said, drumming her fingers on her knee. “But first I suggest we ascertain if Mr. Huntley’s affections are truly involved, or if he is merely engaging in a flirtation while rusticating in the countryside.”

“He invested at least a sovereign today to make sure the footman seated him beside you,” Sophia said, sitting down.

Mildred brightened. “He did?”

“And on the side away from his friend Fairfax, so he practically had you to himself,” Theo added.

“He did!” Mildred fanned herself with her hand.

Theo rolled her eyes before turning her steely gaze on Sophia. “I could have conversed with Fairfax, but he was too busy paying attention to you.”

Sophia coughed. “Before we put more effort into this, I want to be sure it’s not just an infatuation on your part.” Sophia held Mildred’s hand again. “That you aren’t being distracted by Mr. Huntley’s angelic singing voice or full head of hair.”

“His lovely auburn hair…” Mildred cleared her throat.

“We have managed to engage in several conversations. None of the gentlemen visitors at the Academy ever wanted to discuss Salieri versus Mozart. But Mr. Huntley wasn’t put off by my knowledge of music history the other night.

The only other person who ever wanted to discuss a composer or composition in such depth with me is you.

” She pleated her skirt on her knee. “I think… I think Mr. Huntley and I could be happy together.”

Sophia stood. “Then let’s go get you a different fiancé.” The other two stood as well. “We’ll start by joining the men on their walk on the beach.”