Perfectly Flawed (10 page)

Sir Philip must not have cared for her at all. The very
thought saddened her. Any one of her current suitors
would have been exceedingly pleased to be in Sir Philip's
place.

Clearly Sir Philip was only being polite and did not
wish to further his acquaintance with Charlotte. He must have thought of her as the daughter of his absent host,
and beyond that, nothing more.

How she wished there was a spark in his eyes when
he looked at her, some gaiety in his voice when addressing her. How could Charlotte feel as if she would burst
with joy when by his side while he, Sir Philip, remained
oblivious to her interest?

Philip caught a glimpse of Lady Charlotte's exquisite
profile. In that moment he realized exactly how much
beauty she possessed. A type of beauty rarely seen even
in the most elegant ballrooms of London.

He felt his face suffuse with an uncomfortable warmth,
and his cravat felt as if it grew snugger by the second.
The realization astounded him and he quickly consoled
himself by amending that an admission of her beauty
was not a declaration of any sort of affection.

She was merely an exceptionally lovely lady. There
was no harm admitting such. It was, after all, common
knowledge in this household.

"I have sent a note off to Yewhill Grange," Muriel announced, returning to the Citrus Parlor. "And the Music
Room has been lit"

Charlotte and Philip stopped to regard Lady Muriel.
"We have asked Miss Wilbanks to accompany us on
the pianoforte tomorrow afternoon," Charlotte informed
him with a vibrancy in her voice that told of her excitement.

"Is there to be a musical recital tomorrow for your
gentlemen callers?" Philip regretted he would not be able to attend. He already had plans for the following
afternoon. "How delightful!"

"Why don't you proceed to the Music Room?" Mrs.
Parker suggested. "I have nearly finished here."

"If you would do me the honor, Lady Muriel," Philip
said, offering her his other arm.

Muriel refused politely and tendered a compromise
of her own. "I shall lead the way."

"Tell me more what you have planned for tomorrow."
Philip sounded as if he were genuinely interested.

"We shall play Mozart," Charlotte began, "a Vivaldi
piece, and that nice Bach sonata we all love. You know
the one, Moo-I mean Muriel."

"I know the very one," Muriel replied, pushing the
double doors open wide.

Inside the Music Room, the wall sconces burned
brightly, illumining the coffered ceiling and decorative
friezes. Philip turned toward the front of the room where
the harp and pianoforte sat. Behind them a collection of
polished, stringed instruments and shiny horns of various
shapes and sizes lined the wall.

"And what is it you play?" he murmured to Charlotte.
He held up his hand, halting her reply. "No other instrument except the harp would do you justice, I think."

"You are so very clever, Sir Philip," Charlotte replied,
smiling at his veiled compliment.

Philip's gaze moved to Muriel. "I expect the devil's
own violin would suit you best" Oh, how it brought him
such pleasure to tease her.

"My violin skills do not match our sister Augusta's." Muriel displayed a tight smile and remained civil. "I
shall play the flute."

"Ah, you own to Pan's talent," Philip replied with true
understanding. "The ability to inspire disorder and fear."

Muriel looked up from her book when movement at
the doorway of the Breakfast Parlor caught her eye.
"Good morning, Aunt Penny," she said, with Charlotte
repeating the same only moments later.

"Good morning, girls." Aunt Penny shuffled through
the morning post. Her hands didn't exactly shake, but
there was a perceivable tension in the unsteady manner
with which she sorted through the correspondence. "I
think we may have moved forward with our afternoon
with too much haste. There have been too many rushed
missives, allowing the possibility of erroneous communication. I fear the sheer number of guests that might
land on our doorstep."

If, indeed, any gentlemen had decided to return after
hearing of Charlotte's wayward eye, it would be remarkable. Muriel fully expected Lord Irving to have
spread the tale by this time.

"I fear the situation could get out of hand again," continued Aunt Penny. "I cannot have another footrace tak ing place. Such things will surely cause a scandal!" She
returned to the correspondence in her hands.

"Allow me to fetch you some coffee, Aunt Penny,"
Charlotte said, rising from the table and proceeding to
the sideboard.

"Thank you." She handed the first missive to Muriel
and simply said, "Eton." It was merely a remark, not a
commentary on Muriel's ongoing dispute with the educational establishment. "Do you still petition the Head
Master for acceptance?"

Muriel did not wish to hear how futile her effort was.
Glancing at the handwriting, she knew exactly who had
penned this latest reply.

"It is her dearest wish to further her studies, Aunt
Penny," said Charlotte, placing a cup of coffee at Aunt
Penny's customary place at the table and returning to
her own seat. "I applaud her effort"

Muriel placed the letter on the table, ignoring it for
the time being. It was better left to be read in private.

"A letter from Augusta!" Aunt Penny announced, handing it to Charlotte, who happily accepted it. "Will you
read this for us?"

Charlotte took her time opening her sister's letter,
while remaining attentive to the undisclosed correspondences.

"This is from His Grace." It was an answer to Aunt
Penny's missive of the day before. She glanced at her
nieces. They were all anxious to hear what the Duke had
to say. "Thank goodness. Perhaps he will know what to
do better than our day-to-day conjecture."

"How could we possibly have made adequate arrangements?" Muriel complained. "It's not as if we had any
warning they were about to descend upon us en masse."

"Aunt Penny is doing the best she can, Moo." Charlotte
defended their aunt unnecessarily. "We all are."

"Please, let us not start bickering among ourselves,
shall we?" Aunt Penny straightened the missive and began to read. "He writes, If Faraday Hall is expected to
host the majority of the Season's population, regardless
if we are pleased to do so or not, we must provide proper
diversions."

"I suppose we must continue to do what we can until
he arrives," Charlotte said, sounding as cautious as Aunt
Penny had.

Aunt Penny scanned the end of the missive and then
paraphrased his remaining thoughts. "His Grace will
conclude his business and return home as soon as it is
feasible. He expects to arrive sometime today, perhaps
tomorrow at the latest." She passed the letter to Charlotte, to allow her to read her father's words for herself.

The remaining correspondence was an invitation to a
ball given by Lord and Lady Hopkins for their daughter
Lady Margaret tomorrow evening at The Acorns.

"A ball?" Charlotte could not have sounded more delighted at the news.

"But had they not gone to London months ago?" Muriel
was clearly confused by their change in circumstance.
How could the Hopkins possible give a party here in the
country? "Margaret was to attend the Season this year."

"Apparently they have returned," Aunt Penny stated.

"Obviously." Muriel resigned herself to her plighther presence would prove unavoidable.

"Dust off your dancing slippers, Moo," Aunt Penny
alerted her. "With the number of gentlemen who will no
doubt attend, you will not have cause to sit out a single
set."

"We need not plan an activity for tomorrow since we
shall all enjoy an evening of dancing." Charlotte's eyes
sparkled with delight. "How wonderful for all of us!"

"How wonderful, indeed," Muriel groaned, not pleased
in the least.

"I shall wear Mama's string of pearls," Charlotte said
at once and then added, "No, it will not do. Perhaps my
topaz cross?" She placed her hand at her throat as if
envisioning her precious necklace.

Muriel remained silent, merely moving her tolerant
gaze away from her beloved sibling.

The news brought a much-needed smile to Aunt Penny's lips. It must have pleased her that Charlotte would
have a night where she could wholly enjoy herself, since
she had been denied her Season.

"I can wear one of my new gowns," Charlotte continued, oblivious to her sister's disinterest in her fashionable
wardrobe. "The silver-shot lutestring-I think that should
look very nice."

Charlotte probably hadn't the slightest notion of
Muriel's dislike for parties. In Muriel's opinion, there
were too many people to tolerate and it took too much
effort to behave agreeably.

Unfortunately, Aunt Penny was probably correct. There would be no sitting or standing at the edge of the dance
floor with the number of young men who had recently
arrived.

There is nothing I detest more than dancing, thought
Muriel.

Muriel left the Breakfast Parlor and came upon Susan
Wilbanks just entering the manor. She had finished removing her bonnet and cloak, leaving them in the care
of a footman.

"Please tell me we are to practice before our performance." Susan wrung her hands, either with worry or to
simply limber her fingers before sitting at the keyboard.

"Do not worry, Sukey," Muriel assured her friend.
"You could play before a filled theater, for you are always
perfection itself upon the pianoforte."

"Always? When we play for only ourselves, yes." Susan
concerned herself over nothing. "However, my fingers
may fumble upon the first attempt at Vivaldi"

"Char-Char wishes to rehearse as well." Muriel motioned for Susan to follow her up the stairs. "I expect we
have less than three hours before our first guest appears."

"Less than three hours?" Susan's excitement was palpable. "Let us collect Char-Char and begin at once!"

"Gracious, Sukey, calm yourself." Muriel glared at
her friend in a stern manner. "Lydia is dressing CharChar now and it will take me only a moment to don my
frock. You can help me with my tapes."

Upon seeing Susan's dress choice, Muriel changed into a dissimilar green sprig muslin to complement the
Pomona green day gown Charlotte planned to wear.

Some time later, Muriel and Susan met with Charlotte
in the Music Room. They played each piece to their satisfaction. Aunt Penny suggested the girls move to the Citrus
Parlor to relax before the gentlemen's arrival.

Twenty minutes later Aunt Penny appeared at the doorway and announced, "It is time." Muriel detected some
anxiety in her aunt's stance.

They were about to entertain the gentlemen callers
yet again. Aunt Penny did not wait for the girls to follow
her but left once she had delivered her message.

Charlotte and Susan stood and checked their appearance. They chatted and giggled among themselves before continuing to the Music Room. Muriel followed
them down the corridor, paused at the Breakfast Parlor,
and then decided to move to the window for a look down
the drive.

Coming up the drive, she saw Sir Nicholas in his highperched phaeton accompanied, by the looks of it, by
about a half dozen gentlemen, all on horseback. Behind
that first party, a second, more substantial pack followed,
just making the turn from the road. Their afternoon's
guests would arrive very soon.

Instead of heading directly to the Music Room as Susan and Charlotte had, Muriel slipped down the corridor
leading to the Grand Foyer to observe their company
enter.

"Good afternoon to you, Mrs. Parker." Sir Nicholas bowed from the waist. "I am only too happy to be of
service once again."

Near the front door, several of the family's liveried
footmen did whatever Huxley could not, collecting the
numerous hats, walking sticks, and coats of the arriving
gentlemen.

"Shall I direct the gentlemen to the Music Room?"
Sir Nicholas suggested.

"Thank you. If you would, please lead the way." Aunt
Penny nodded to the baronet to proceed.

Muriel thought she should move along before the men
invaded the corridor where she now stood. With a sense
of self-preservation, she continued down the corridor to
the Music Room where Charlotte and Susan awaited.
They quieted upon Muriel's entry, perhaps thinking she
was one of the gentlemen.

"They are on their way now. I'm glad to see some of
them have decided to return-there are even a few gentlemen I have never seen before." Muriel continued to the
wall behind the pianoforte where the other instruments
were displayed. She had left her flute on the side table after their practice.

"Why is it they all rushed off yesterday only to return
today?" Susan wondered aloud.

"I believe there was something they wished to discuss in private," Muriel offered. She wasn't yet ready to
include their dear friend in the sisters' ruse.

"Major Dunham!" Charlotte called out in welcome,
alerting Susan and Muriel that they were no longer alone and should curtail their conversation regarding
the guests. "Won't you please come in?"