Read Online A Poor Relation by Carola Dunn - Free Book Online Page A

my life.”
    * * * *
    Millicent glowered. All day yesterday she had waited for Lord Farleigh to call, and they had seen neither hide nor hair of him. Rowena was amazed at her cousin’s ability to persist in the sulks overnight.
    Wise in his daughter’s ways, Sir Henry had breakfasted early and gone about his business, so only the four ladies were present in the dining room. Aunt Hermione nervously buttered her fifth muffin. Millicent’s megrims always made her overeat.
    “Pass the marmalade, if you please, Rowena. You must not suppose that his lordship means to slight you, Millicent dearest. I daresay he is unaccustomed to polite society and does not realize that a courtesy call is proper after dining out.”
    “Mr. Ruddle has better manners by far.”
    “But Farleigh is an earl, my love. One must forgive a titled gentleman a great deal. I am certain it must have been Captain Cartwright’s health that kept him at home. Nothing less could keep him from your side, for it was plain that he admired you prodigiously.”
    “It is not at all becoming in a gentleman to fuss so over his health. Captain Cartwright is a bore.”
    Anne flared up. “He is an excessively well-informed gentleman, and kind, too, for he answered all my questions. If you want to flirt with the earl, I wonder that you do not go to the Grange.”
    “That just shows how little you understand. I’ve no intention of making him think I am chasing him. It is for him to do the pursuing.”
    “But you are chasing him.”
    “Anne, go to your room at once. You are not to speak so to your sister. Hush, Millicent dear. You will cry yourself into a spasm. Come up to my room and I shall bathe your temples with lavender water. Anne is a shockingly unfeeling creature to distress you so.”
    Abandonned, Rowena poured herself another cup of tea and sipped it slowly. Why did Aunt Hermione always give in to Millicent? She and Anne had discussed it more than once. Anne’s theory was that her mother was like a hen set to hatch a peacock egg. Being a plain woman, Lady Grove had been overwhelmed to find herself with a beautiful daughter and had spoiled her from the start. Pampering and pleasing Millicent had become a habit, and there was the added incentive of trying to avoid the fits of temper that could render the entire household uncomfortable for days.
    It was impossible not to sympathize with Lady Grove, equally impossible not to be irritated.
    Rowena was not sure which she disliked more, the way Millicent so determinedly relegated her to the background or the constant rows between the sisters. Though Anne did not ruffle Millicent’s feathers on purpose, she had no notion of minding her tongue. In a way it was admirable that she did not allow herself to be cowed by Aunt Hermione’s constant strictures, but it did not make for a comfortable atmosphere. Of course, Anne could always escape to her books.
    That was why Rowena did not go now to join her. She was no doubt poring happily over some weighty tome.
    Rowena had tried to occupy herself with reading during her free time, but she was used to an active life and soon grew restless. She wanted some useful occupation, other than trailing round after her cousin. At least she was free for an hour or two this morning, till Millicent recovered from her fit of pique. She decided to go for a walk.
    A brisk breeze herded clouds across the sky, their shadows sweeping across the hills. It was a perfect day for a wild gallop, and Rowena wondered wistfully if Vixen had found a good home. In the end the mare had been put up to auction along with Chillenden and its contents. She must not think about Chillenden. She turned her thoughts to Lord Farleigh as she rambled across the park and up onto the sheep-cropped slopes beyond.
    Aunt Hermione was right, the earl admired Millie prodigiously. He had scarce been able to tear his eyes from her all evening. With Millie setting her cap at him, the poor man did not stand a chance, which