Sheri Cobb South by Of Paupersand Peers

with the family these two years past. He would be highly offended at being treated as if he were back in leading strings—and who could blame him?”
    “Perhaps Mr. Fanshawe would not want his company, in any case,” Miss Darrington persisted. “After spending his days trying to drum Latin and Greek into Philip’s head, he might welcome a quiet evening to himself.”
    “If that is the case, we will certainly excuse him. But the choice should be his to make.”
    There was very little that Margaret could say to this argument, at least while the cook was listening with every indication of interest. But as they left the kitchen, she could not resist chiding her aunt.
    “I cannot think it wise to allow Mr. Fanshawe to dine with the family, Aunt Hattie.”
    “Why not, pray? You sound as if you dislike the poor man.”
    “I don’t dislike him, precisely,” said Margaret, frowning slightly. “But I dislike very much the way he looks at Amanda. Surely you have not forgotten the last tutor—or the stable boy, or the dancing master!”
    Aunt Hattie sniffed. “Dancing master, indeed! A very ill-bred fellow, to be sure! I thought so the minute I laid eyes on him.”
    “Oh, Aunt, how can you?” retorted Margaret, laughing. “When you said at the time that he was the most charming man you had ever met!”
    “Yes, well, I always say that any man with that much charm cannot be trusted.”
    Margaret, who had never heard her aunt express any such sentiment, merely gave her a knowing look.
    “Poor Mr. Fanshawe, on the other hand,” continued Aunt Hattie, “appears to be every inch the gentleman.”
    “Given his extraordinary height, that encompasses a great many inches. You must think him very gentlemanly, indeed,” observed Margaret, conceding defeat. If her aunt had already designated the tutor “poor Mr. Fanshawe,” then no argument on earth would have the power to move her.
    And so it was that James arrayed himself in his threadbare evening clothes and took his place at the dining table. He noted with wry amusement that he was placed between Hattie Blaylock and Margaret Darrington, and wondered if he had Miss Darrington to thank for a seating arrangement that put as much distance as possible between himself and the fair Amanda.
    Not surprisingly, conversation at first centered upon Sir Humphrey’s visit, and speculation as to the likelihood of anyone being arrested for the assault upon James’s person. From there it broadened, for James’s benefit, to a description of Sir Humphrey’s habits, property, and family situation. On the latter subject, Aunt Hattie provided a contribution that perhaps interested the family more than it did their tutor.
    “The vicar’s wife informs me that Sir Humphrey’s nephew has come down from London for a visit,” she said over the fricassee of veal.
    Amanda looked up sharply, but Aunt Hattie continued, unnoticing.
    “I believe Sir Humphrey and Lady Palmer are much attached to the young man, although Sir Humphrey says he is a rackety sort of fellow.”
    James smiled at this description. “One wonders how he would have characterized a nephew for whom he felt no affection at all.”
    “Oh, that is just Sir Humphrey’s way,” Aunt Hattie assured him. “Surely there must be a great deal of good in a young man who would spend his time visiting his aunt and uncle when he might be enjoying the delights of London.”
    Amanda, unconvinced, took exception to this assessment. “If he is so devoted, why have we seen no sign of him before now? Depend upon it, he is nothing more than a worthless town-beau, devoted to nothing but his own pleasures. I daresay he came to Montford for no other purpose than to sponge off Sir Humphrey while hiding from his creditors.”
    This scathing denunciation of an apparent stranger caused Margaret’s eyebrows to draw together in a worried crease. What sort of deep game was her sister playing? If this was Amanda’s attempt to demonstrate for the