salon to find Wivina waiting for him.
She was wearing a very simple gown, which he was sure she had made herself, of white muslin. It was cheap and plain but it seemed to accentuate her beauty rather than detract from it, and as he walked towards her he saw her large blue eyes widen and realised that she was impressed by his appearance.
“I did not expect you to be able to change!” she exclaimed.
“Nickolls and I are old campaigners,” Lord Cheriton replied with a smile, “and we pride ourselves on being able to rise to any emergency, even that of dining with a beautiful lady.”
Wivina blushed and he realised that she was not used to compliments.
As she looked away from him shyly, he thought how lovely she was and what a success she would be in London, even among the sophisticated beauties of the Beau Monde.
“Shall we go in to dinner?” Wivina asked as if she was afraid that he might embarrass her further.
They walked down the passage, and when they entered the dining room where Lord Cheriton had endured so many miserable and unpleasant meals in the past, he thought the room now seemed quite different.
The furniture was the same, and the pictures on the wall, though they had faded and needed cleaning, were unchanged. But the atmosphere of gloom and suppressed anger which had been so much a part of his father had vanished.
Instead, the evening sun coming through the windows cast a golden glow on the polished floor and he saw with some surprise that there was a candelabra on the table bearing the Cheriton crest.
“Mrs. Briggs was delighted with the birds that Richard bought from the farm,” Wivina said in her soft voice. “She is only hoping that she will have cooked them to your liking. I am afraid the stove is very old fashioned and in need of repair.”
There were two roasted chickens ready on a side table, and she added,
“Will you please carve? I am afraid Richard is late, as usual.”
Even as she spoke there was the sound of Richard coming down the passage and a moment later he came into the room, hurrying as quickly as his crippled leg would allow him.
“Sorry, Wivina,” he said, “I was reading a book and forgot the time.”
“That is nothing new,” Wivina answered with a smile. “I imagine it was very interesting.”
“It was one of Papa’s, as it happens, but one I have never read before.”
He walked to his place at the table, then, seeing the Earl carving the chickens, he asked in an afterthought,
“Can I help you, sir?”
“I suggest your sister sits down,” Lord Cheriton replied, “and you and I wait on her.”
Richard looked surprised, and glancing at Wivina with a little smile, he said,
“This is something new. She usually waits on me!”
“I imagined that would be the case,”‘ Lord Cheriton said dryly. “But this is a formal dinner party, Richard, and we will behave as befits gentlemen.”
There was just a hint of reproof in his voice, which Wivina did not miss.
She looked at Richard a little anxiously, but she said nothing as Lord Cheriton put a helping of chicken in front of her and her brother rather clumsily handed her the bread sauce and the vegetables.
She waited a little self-consciously until they were seated on either side of her and then said,
“I brought up the claret as soon as I knew you were dining with us, but I am afraid it will not yet be the right temperature.”
“The claret?” Richard exclaimed before Lord Cheriton could speak. “Do you mean to say, Wivina, that we are to be allowed to drink some of the wine you have kept locked away because you said it did not belong to us?”
“Captain Bradleigh is a friend of Lord Cheriton’s,” Wivina persisted.
“Well, I must admit I shall enjoy it even if no one else does,” Richard remarked. “It is too bad to think of all that good wine going to waste in the cellars while we are only allowed water or that fiery stuff Farlow – ”
He saw the expression on his sister’s face and
She was wearing a very simple gown, which he was sure she had made herself, of white muslin. It was cheap and plain but it seemed to accentuate her beauty rather than detract from it, and as he walked towards her he saw her large blue eyes widen and realised that she was impressed by his appearance.
“I did not expect you to be able to change!” she exclaimed.
“Nickolls and I are old campaigners,” Lord Cheriton replied with a smile, “and we pride ourselves on being able to rise to any emergency, even that of dining with a beautiful lady.”
Wivina blushed and he realised that she was not used to compliments.
As she looked away from him shyly, he thought how lovely she was and what a success she would be in London, even among the sophisticated beauties of the Beau Monde.
“Shall we go in to dinner?” Wivina asked as if she was afraid that he might embarrass her further.
They walked down the passage, and when they entered the dining room where Lord Cheriton had endured so many miserable and unpleasant meals in the past, he thought the room now seemed quite different.
The furniture was the same, and the pictures on the wall, though they had faded and needed cleaning, were unchanged. But the atmosphere of gloom and suppressed anger which had been so much a part of his father had vanished.
Instead, the evening sun coming through the windows cast a golden glow on the polished floor and he saw with some surprise that there was a candelabra on the table bearing the Cheriton crest.
“Mrs. Briggs was delighted with the birds that Richard bought from the farm,” Wivina said in her soft voice. “She is only hoping that she will have cooked them to your liking. I am afraid the stove is very old fashioned and in need of repair.”
There were two roasted chickens ready on a side table, and she added,
“Will you please carve? I am afraid Richard is late, as usual.”
Even as she spoke there was the sound of Richard coming down the passage and a moment later he came into the room, hurrying as quickly as his crippled leg would allow him.
“Sorry, Wivina,” he said, “I was reading a book and forgot the time.”
“That is nothing new,” Wivina answered with a smile. “I imagine it was very interesting.”
“It was one of Papa’s, as it happens, but one I have never read before.”
He walked to his place at the table, then, seeing the Earl carving the chickens, he asked in an afterthought,
“Can I help you, sir?”
“I suggest your sister sits down,” Lord Cheriton replied, “and you and I wait on her.”
Richard looked surprised, and glancing at Wivina with a little smile, he said,
“This is something new. She usually waits on me!”
“I imagined that would be the case,”‘ Lord Cheriton said dryly. “But this is a formal dinner party, Richard, and we will behave as befits gentlemen.”
There was just a hint of reproof in his voice, which Wivina did not miss.
She looked at Richard a little anxiously, but she said nothing as Lord Cheriton put a helping of chicken in front of her and her brother rather clumsily handed her the bread sauce and the vegetables.
She waited a little self-consciously until they were seated on either side of her and then said,
“I brought up the claret as soon as I knew you were dining with us, but I am afraid it will not yet be the right temperature.”
“The claret?” Richard exclaimed before Lord Cheriton could speak. “Do you mean to say, Wivina, that we are to be allowed to drink some of the wine you have kept locked away because you said it did not belong to us?”
“Captain Bradleigh is a friend of Lord Cheriton’s,” Wivina persisted.
“Well, I must admit I shall enjoy it even if no one else does,” Richard remarked. “It is too bad to think of all that good wine going to waste in the cellars while we are only allowed water or that fiery stuff Farlow – ”
He saw the expression on his sister’s face and
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