Read Online The Parliament House by Edward Marston - Free Book Online

quickly. 'I simply mentioned that…' She paused to choose her words with care. 'Well, that someone has come into your life, and that you seem to spend a lot of time with your new friend.'
        'Do you have any objection to that?'
        'None at all, Father.'
        'What Susan objects to,' said Brilliana with the boldness of an older sister, 'is that you pretend to be visiting your parliamentary friends when, in fact, you are sneaking off to be with Mrs Kitson. I don't think it's unreasonable of her, Father. Do you?'
        Sir Julius scowled. The tension in the room was almost tangible. Susan braced herself for an explosion that would be largely aimed at her, and she wished that she had never even told Brilliana about their father's growing interest in a certain lady. It had been a serious mistake on her part. When she was kept safely down in Richmond, her sister was comparatively unthreatening. Brought to London, however, Brilliana Serle had an uncanny knack of introducing maximum embarrassment into any family discussion.
        Susan closed her eyes in readiness but the expected onslaught did not come. Instead, repenting of his evasive behaviour, Sir Julius chose to be more honest with his daughters. He cleared his throat.
        'You were right to upbraid me, Susan,' he confessed with a forgiving smile. 'My friendship with Dorothy - with Mrs Kitson - has been cloaked in too much secrecy. My only defence is that I feared our acquaintance would only be a short one, and that I would be left looking foolish if I had set too much store by it.'
        'Tell us about her,' coaxed Brilliana.
        'It's difficult to know where to start. Suffice it to say that she's one of the most remarkable women I've ever met. Mrs Kitson has so many accomplishments that she takes my breath away.'
        'How old is she, Father?'
        'Brilliana!' reproached Susan.
        'It's a fair question,' said her sister. 'It would be insupportable if he were infatuated with someone who is younger than we ourselves.'
        'Mrs Kitson does not fit into that category,' Sir Julius assured her, yet neither is she declined in years. I would describe her as being in the very prime of life.'
        'Widowed, I presume?'
        'Yes, Brilliana. Twice.'
        'Comfortably off?'
        Susan was shocked. 'You've no right to ask such a thing.'
        'Nevertheless,' said her father, 'I'm happy to provide you with an answer. No, Mrs Kitson is not comfortably off.' He grinned as he saw the look that was exchanged between the sisters. 'She is extremely well provided for, so the pair of you can stop thinking that she is after my money. Mrs Kitson has more than enough of it herself.'
        'That sounds promising,' observed Serle. 'May one inquire how you first met the lady, Sir Julius?'
        'Through a mutual acquaintance who was at Newmarket one day. It was pure accident,' he said, 'but she has transformed my life. Mrs Kitson has been kind enough to say the same of me. That's why I'm glad that you and Lancelot have descended on us, Brilliana.'
        'You were not so pleased a minute ago,' commented Susan.
        'I was still trying to hide and dissemble then. Now that it's out in the open, I can speak freely at last.' He looked at his younger daughter. 'I know that you disapprove, Susan, but only because you have never met Mrs Kitson. That can soon be remedied. Only today,' he told them, 'when we dined together, she said how much she was looking forward to meeting my family. I'll arrange it at the earliest opportunity.'
        
       
        Sarah Bale made no secret of her fondness for him. When Christopher Redmayne called at the house on Addle Hill that evening, she gave him a cordial welcome and ushered him into the little parlour as if he were an honoured guest. She then took her two young sons into the kitchen so that Christopher could speak to her husband alone.
        'What sort of a day have you had,