Read Online The Bride Insists by Jane Ashford - Free Book Online Page B

colored, with floppy, darker brown ears and diamond-shaped black patches around his eyes that gave him the look of a mournful harlequin. He panted winsomely. She glared at him to indicate that she was not charmed, then shifted her icy gaze to Lord Trehearth. His conduct was also beyond the pale. “Perhaps we go should inside?” Selina suggested acidly.
    Galvanized, Jamie offered Clare his arm and escorted her across the gravel courtyard, up the two stone steps, and through the heavy wooden door into the great hall. The others trailed after them and reassembled in the large space. “May I present Mr. and Mrs. Pendennis,” Jamie said, indicating the older couple. “John and Anna. They are the mainstays of the household. They’ve been here since I was a child, and they take care of the place and… my sisters.”
    â€œAs well as we can,” said the old woman darkly.
    Clare realized that the twins had not come in with them. Nor had the dog, she was glad to see. She liked dogs, but those she’d lived with had been well-trained animals.
    â€œThey’ve stayed on through thick and thin,” Jamie added. He tried to convey in his tone that the Pendennises were more than servants to him. “John, Anna, this is Lady Trehearth, and her friend Mrs. Selina Newton.”
    Rallying all her faculties, Clare smiled at the old couple. They looked rather alike, both short and broad, with round faces, the gnarled hands of hard workers, white hair, and bright blue eyes. “I’m very pleased to meet you,” she said.
    â€œI tied up that fool dog in the stables,” said John Pendennis. Like his wife, he spoke in the accent of the West Country.
    â€œI’ve no doubt of it,” replied Jamie. He wondered how his sisters had arranged for Randolph to focus his uncouth attentions on Clare. They hadn’t, he concluded. The lumbering creature was oblivious to commands. It had been sheer bad luck.
    Further gathering her composure, Clare looked around the large room that formed the entry of the house. It was not a comfortable sort of chamber. Two stories of dark wood paneling soared up to a row of high windows overlooking the courtyard. Dusty banners hung from the great beams that crossed the white plaster ceiling. The planked floor, stretching out to a huge stone fireplace on the inner side, was nearly empty. The lone table looked tiny and out of place. The space was clearly a nod to the castle that had once stood here, and not a chamber to really live in. Without meaning to, she sighed.
    â€œIt’s been a tiring journey,” responded Jamie. “Anna will show you to your room.” And let him escape the complaints he imagined were waiting to burst out of Clare.
    â€œWhile you are doing exactly what?” began Selina, her irritation breaking through in her tone.
    â€œThank you,” Clare interrupted. She was too tired to argue. And she longed to clean up before discussing why he hadn’t mentioned sisters—and anything else he might have left out. She remembered that she was the hostess here. “And Selina’s bedchamber as well, please.”
    â€œI’ll bring the luggage, milady,” said Mr. Pendennis, turning back to the door.
    The two women followed Anna Pendennis up a carved wooden staircase and into a long corridor that looked far more modern than the entry. It was lined with closed doors. A threadbare carpet ran down its length, and there was dust visible on the empty candle sconces. “We’ve not enough hands to keep up such a big place,” said Mrs. Pendennis defensively.
    â€œOf course not,” said Clare.
    â€œMrs. Newton is in here, milady.” The old woman went across to open a door to the left of the stair. “And you’re along this way.” She moved in the opposite direction. At a wave from Selina indicating she was well, Clare went into a spacious bedroom at the back of the house. Here, too, the