The Seventh Suitor

Chapter 11

A week later, Harriet found a chance to do a good deed, although she had learned early on that one person in the household did not need to be won over - Lord Oscar. It was Wolverton's easygoing uncle, though, who was in a rare taking one afternoon. Harriet was sure if he had known he was being overheard, he would not have been so vocal. As it was, he was ranting to himself in the main drawing room when she entered, ready to endure afternoon tea with Zoe and the dowager.

Zoe, who had been civil to her the morning of the campout, had since returned to her surly attitude and Harriet was unsure why. Wolverton, on the other hand, had taken to coming to her bedroom door each evening to wish her a good night.

But she forgot all that now in the face of Lord Oscar's anger.

"Demmed smith! Says there is no new shipment of tin for more soldiers. I know it's because I haven't paid for the last ones yet..."

"Is there a problem, Lord Oscar?" Harriet interjected.

"Ah, Lady Wolverton! What a pleasant surprise. But please, child, call me Uncle Oscar."

"Thank you, and I wish you would call me Harriet. I always look about for your mother when someone calls Lady Wolverton. Now," she continued briskly, "there seems to be a problem. May I ask what it is?"

Uncle Oscar was silent for a moment and then the boys, who had been hiding behind a sofa, popped up with matching grins.

"Uncle Oscar can't get the smith to make him any more soldiers," Rory declared.

"The smith says it's because he hasn't any tin," Ian added. "But we know better - the tin arrived two days ago."

"Uncle Oscar is overextended," Rory said solemnly.

"Where did you hear that, pup?" Uncle Oscar growled.

Ian and Rory both started to reply, but Harriet thought she understood the situation and held her hand up, bringing all conversation to a halt.

"Gentlemen, collect your hats and coats. Rory, find your uncle and tell him we are taking a walk to the village, will you?"

Rory found Harriet a few minutes later with the report that his Uncle Gerald was out on the estate. She nodded as she adjusted her bonnet and picked up her reticule. "Thank you, dear. Shall we?" She put her arm through Uncle Oscar's, and with the boys running ahead, they went on foot into Wolverton.

"You are sure there is a new supply of tin?" she asked the boys once they reached the smithy.

"Yes, ma'am! We saw it being unloaded and everything!"

"Very well, then..."

Harriet stepped inside to be greeted by a large, beefy man in an ember-scarred apron and wearing a disdainful expression.

"Wot can I do fer ye, Miss?"

Harriet, who had yet to make the acquaintance of the village leaders, only smiled. "Good afternoon, Mr... Mr..." She trailed off, realizing she should have asked the boys the smith's name in advance.

"Mr. Brown, Miss," he supplied, but did not offer any more details, just stood there staring at her.

"Ah, Mr. Brown, the blacksmith," she said, smiling at her own jest, which he ignored. "I trust you are the tinsmith as well? The man responsible for Lord Oscar's soldiers?"

"That be me," he abruptly replied. "But I don't-"

"Good!" Harriet exclaimed. "I wish to order a set of soldiers made for him and I was told you were the man for the job. I'm Lady Wolverton, and..."

"Wot?" He jumped to immediate attention. "Yer ladyship!" he said, suddenly solicitous. "But you don't want to be buying tin soldiers for the likes of him, my lady."

"Oh?"

"He owes me money, my lady, and he don't need no more toys."

"Toys!" Harriet said indignantly. "Those soldiers are not toys, Mr. Brown. Why, they are... they are part of a program being conducted by the government." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Who do you think works out strategies in advance for the war office? Lord Oscar! Who do you think provides post-battle analysis?"

"Lord Oscar?" The smith's face had gone white under Harriet's steady gaze and alarming information.

"Lord Oscar," she said firmly. "Of course, it being the war office, he doesn't always get reimbursed on time. I'm here to settle the bill and order more. Can't let Napoleon win over a lack of tin soldiers on my lawn," she said sweetly.

"No, my lady. Whatever you say, my lady." Harriet pulled her draft book from her reticule.

He was still bowing and scraping as Harriet, having settled the debt, came sweeping regally out of the smithy ... and straight into Wolverton's arms!

"Gerald!"

"Harriet!"

"I ... I thought you were busy on the estate!"

"Apparently," came his dry reply. Rory and Ian stood off to one side, holding his horse and looking apologetic, but Harriet gave them a swift smile and they visibly brightened. Uncle Oscar had pushed past her into the smithy, and now he came back outside, singing her praises.

"What a gem you are, my dear!" he crowed. "Brown hasn't been that nice to me in a donkey's age! Whatever did you say to old fuss britches?"

"Yes, Harriet, whatever did you say?"

She stifled a laugh and indicated that they should head for home.

"Oh, not much, really. He was easier to deal with once I introduced myself."

"I can imagine," Wolverton murmured.

"And I should be ashamed of myself for telling fibs."

"You lied, Aunt Harriet?" Rory exclaimed. He and Ian looked upon her with worshipful eyes.

"Well, it meant a lot to Uncle Oscar..."

"Yes, it certainly did," the older man agreed.

"Get on with it, Harriet," her husband urged.

"Well, I just may have hinted that Uncle Oscar's soldiers are vital to the war effort and they didn't dare make a move without his tactical input..."

The boys whooped with laughter, threw Wolverton's horses reins at their uncle and raced ahead to the house to share their tale with Zoe and Sydney.

Uncle Oscar clapped Harriet on the back and declared her a great gun. He excused himself to take a path to the side of the manor, eager to get back to his soldiers.

This left Harriet and Wolverton alone, with just the horse for company.

"That really was too bad of you, my dear," he said, but he was smiling.

"I did pay the man..."

"Of course you did," he said soothingly.

"I just ... stretched the truth a bit."

"Uncle Oscar is going to love you forever."

Harriet blushed, but when he reached over and took her hand, bringing it to his lips, she did not pull away. Encouraged, he leaned over to kiss her on the lips, but just as he was about to do so, Rory and Ian came tearing back down the lane.

"Aunt Harriet! Aunt Harriet! Your brother is here!"

Harriet's face lit up with joy, but when she would have run ahead with the boys, she stopped. Pulling Wolverton's lips down to hers for a quick kiss, she took off running, eager to see her brother.

Wolverton, a wide grin threatening to split his face, watched her go, and began whistling as he walked his horse back to the house to greet his brother-in-law.

Chapter 12

Harriet reached the front of the manor and threw herself into Obie's arms, brother and sister hugging each other fiercely as Ian and Rory danced about in excitement.

"You came! You really came!"

"Of course I did!" He finished helping unload his luggage and had just put his arm around his sister's shoulders when Sidney and Zoe came out. Wolverton's ward stopped dead in her tracks. Harriet looked from one to the other with some alarm, especially when Obie stared back.

After introductions, it was Zoe who invited him in for tea, and he accepted with alacrity. Leaving Harriet and the children behind, the two young people went inside. With a shrug Harriet followed, but first asked for more hot water for tea. She also requested a tray of cakes and tarts for her brother, who was bound to be hungry and who enjoyed everything sweet.

Speaking of sweet, she thought a while later when Wolverton entered the room, her brother had turned the dowager up that way in less than ten minutes. The change in the old tartar was so noticeable, even Wolverton raised an eyebrow at his wife over the changed attitude being exhibited by his great-aunt.

Harriet could only shrug and wonder where Obie had acquired such charm. He had never shown any before now.

"Zoe!" the dowager suddenly barked; everyone jumped. "After his sister shows this young man his room, you take him around the house so he knows his way."

"Yes, ma'am," Zoe said meekly. Too meekly for Harriet's liking.

Obie rose then and excused himself and his sister with such ease, Harriet once again marveled at his charm.

"Happy?" he asked as they went upstairs.

"Yes. No." Obie laughed.

"I thought so from your letters. I was much relieved to receive your invitation so I could check on you."

"Thank you for coming," she said, reaching up and kissing her brother's cheek.

"It doesn't hurt that Wolverton's ward is very easy on the eyes," he teased.

"You will behave yourself, young man!" she replied, only half joking. Zoe was as pretty as a Dresden shepherdess, with golden curls and bright blue eyes.

"Yes, sister dear."

An hour later, Obie found himself in a long portrait gallery with the lovely Zoe, but she seemed apprehensive for some reason. She kept glancing about and playing nervously with her curls.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked gently.

"Yes. No," she said quickly, unconsciously echoing Harriet. "I mean, I'm worried about something, but I don't know you well enough to tell you."

"Does it concern my sister?"

"Yes. That's the other reason I don't want to tell you. I haven't been exactly kind to Harriet since she arrived, and I don't want you to think badly of me..."

"I knew she wasn't happy, but I cannot believe it was only you making her miserable."

"No, the dowager is awful to her. I want to be nice to her, but I don't know how to make amends."

"Why don't you tell me what is bothering you and maybe I can help. That might make amends," he suggested.

"It might." She sounded doubtful. "But I will tell you."

She repeated what the vicar had said to his sister, leaving none of the horrid man's words out.

"Bloody hell!" he said when she was finished. The words echoed off the tall windows overlooking the gardens, and the many Wolverton portraits on the wall.

"Mr. Frost!" Zoe exclaimed, although she was grinning at his response.

"Has she told Wolverton?"

"I don't think so. I haven't heard of anyone lynching a vicar lately."

"Hmmm." The wheels were already turning in his head. Obie felt rather responsible for all this, having manipulated his sister into the marriage, so if there was someone else keeping her from the happiness he was sure she would find with Wolverton, that person must be stopped. "I'll have to think about this one. I suppose I'll have to wait until Sunday to meet this man?"

"No. He comes here every Friday to consult with the dowager on sermon topics."

"He does?" Obie brightened considerably. "Did you know I have an interest in theology?"

"You do?"

"I do now..."

They smiled at each other in perfect charity as they walked along the gallery.

"Mr. Frost? Do you think your sister will forgive me if I help rout the vicar?"

"I don't see why not. Harriet is a forgiving soul."

"Do you suppose those things the vicar said are true?"

Obie frowned.

"Knowing my sister, there is probably some element of truth in it all. With the frame of mind she was in when they married, I'd say Wolverton made her angry about something and this was the only way she could retaliate. But young ladies shouldn't know of such things," he said rather automatically.

"Why not? We have to grow up knowing them soon enough!"

He had no answer, and was saved from giving her one by the gong announcing the time to dress for dinner.

"Harriet! Psst! Harriet!"

She started awake, aware that Wolverton was in the room. This was only the second time he had been there since their marriage, as far as she knew, and she opened her eyes and sat up in alarm only to find the man standing over her bed.

"Wolverton!"

"Shhh! Sorry to startle to you, but I want you to see something."

She frowned. What in the world could he show her at... She lit a candle and glanced at the little ormulu clock next to the bed. "Two?" Wolverton grinned.

"Put on your wrapper and come with me," he coaxed. She nodded and waved him away, unaware that the moonlight washing through the windows made a silhouette of her body against the thin lawn of her nightdress. Nor did she see the appreciative perusal of the same by her husband.

"Where are we going?" she asked softly after putting on a blue quilted robe and a pair of slippers.

"Outside."

"Oh." She didn't question him more, just followed him downstairs and out a side door into the garden. "The moon!" She stood in awe as the full globe of light passed in and out of the clouds, large and luminous in the sky.

"Beautiful," he replied, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms about her waist. "You should make a wish."

"You can't wish on the moon!" she scoffed.

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

Harriet shrugged. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"Do you know everything, then?"

"Well, no..."

"Then go ahead and make a wish. What's the harm in it?"

"All right," she said with some resignation. "The wish has been made. How about you?"

He almost said he'd made many wishes lately, but he stayed silent except for a murmur of assent. They stood there for a long while, staring, until Harriet finally turned and looked at Wolverton instead.

"Well?" she said invitingly. "Aren't you going to make my wish come true?"

"I thought you'd never ask," he said and lightly kissed her upturned lips.

"Is that it?" she teased. In a sense, she was rather frustrated. She had been thinking about his kisses - and more, if the truth were told - and thought he would have been a little more aggressive about it by now. Unfortunately, he hadn't, so she had decided to take matters into her own hands.

"You want more?" he said in some surprise.

"Yes, please," she primly replied. He laughed and pulled her closer, holding her around one shoulder and her waist, and kissing her more soundly. Harriet sighed in relief, wondering just when it was she had developed such tender feelings for her husband.

They were wrapped up in each other for so long, they did not notice the clouds covering the moon, or the wind as it grew steadily stronger. Nor did they notice the first few drops of rain as it splashed their faces. They noticed, however, when the heavens opened and they were soaked to the skin before they could reach the house.

"I would be more than pleased to help you with your wet clothing," Wolverton offered as they reached her room.

"I would be more than pleased to let you," Harriet replied, and if it took them all night to get each other undressed, toweled dry and tucked into bed - together - no one knew except for the maid the next morning, who found soggy clothing all over the room.

Chapter 13

Wolverton woke up the next morning feeling rather smug about how things had turned out. He was also feeling a soft, warm body curled up next to his, and he reached over to touch Harriet's cheek.

A little too warm, he thought with some concern and got out of bed to ring for her maid. Getting dressed quickly in her room, so he could keep an eye on his wife, he was much relieved when the maid arrived, discreetly gathering damp clothes as she moved about.

"I think Lady Wolverton has a fever," he said. Tilly came over to the bed and felt Harriet's forehead. She nodded.

"I'll get her into a clean... a nightdress," she said with only a hint of embarrassment as she pulled back the coverlet. "You run along and get some breakfast, my lord, and I'm sure she will be awake when you return."

Harriet was awake, as Tilly predicted, but her eyes were glassy and she could not stop coughing. A maid appeared in the bedroom door and said Miss Sidney was also feverish, and most of the guilt Wolverton felt at keeping Harriet in the rain was assuaged by this report. His attentions, however, were now divided.

Harriet cast pleading eyes on him and he understood she was worried about Sidney, so he left his wife in Tilly's capable hands and went to check on the little girl.

In the nursery, Nanny had sent the boys out to play and had isolated her youngest charge.

"With the young masters off to school in the fall," she told her employer, "it's time they had their own rooms, my lord. It also will keep them from being exposed to Miss Sidney." Wolverton agreed and began to make plans in his head for the boys' belongings to be moved that morning.

"You might want to send word to Lady Danvers, my lord. Miss Danvers was here to play only Tuesday, and I would not like her to fall ill."

Between calling for the doctor, getting rooms ordered for the boys and sending a note to Jellie, it was a while before he could check on Harriet. When he did, she was silently fussing with Tilly about drinking some water, unable to talk but still managing to convey that she had a sore throat.

Harriet brightened considerably when Wolverton entered the room, but he had time only for a smile and a kiss on her forehead before she dozed off to sleep.

Word that Harriet and Sidney were ill spread fast, and Obie and Zoe used the illness and its ensuing household disorganization as an excuse to go for a walk and make plans.

"Tomorrow is when the vicar calls on the dowager," Zoe said as they inspected the roses in the garden. "They'll have tea together, discuss a few lesson topics and then Mr. Singleton will read his upcoming sermon. It's all rather dull and boring and I don't know why you wish to attend. Why don't we just have someone catch him in a compromising act with one of his parishioners?"

"Is that possible?" Obie asked, ignoring the impropriety of it all. He had learned his lesson concerning Zoe's outspokenness the day before. Zoe laughed.

"He and Miss Clementina Bright have a regular meeting in the woods every Saturday afternoon."

"How do you know? Does everyone know?"

"I know because I first saw them a couple of months ago and they show up in the same spot every week. That first time, I thought an animal had been caught in a trap, but it was only Miss Clementina..."

"I get the idea," Obie said hastily, his ears turning pink. Zoe seemed to be paying him no mind as she broke off a rose and began denuding it of all its petals.

"I don't watch, of course..." she rattled on, "but anyone with good hearing - and some without - can tell..."

"Yes, yes," Obie impatiently replied, eager to change the subject. "But who should catch them?"

"Uncle Gerald?"

"No, we need it to be someone who dislikes the man enough to spread the word. Wolverton would just beat him to a pulp and that would be the end of that. We'll have to sacrifice Miss Clementina's reputation, though."

"No hardship there," Zoe said, dismissing that woman with the wave of her hand. "I love it when the dowager tells Mr. Singleton he needs to discuss her soul's condition with Miss Clementina. I have to sit through these visits sometimes, you see, and I sit there and watch the sweat pour right off his brow."

"That gives me an idea... A couple of them, actually..."

"Tell me!" He did and they laughed as they headed back to the house to check on Harriet's condition.

The doctor had come, pronounced Sidney and Harriet as having infections, and left. Tilly insisted on obtaining the prescribed medication from the apothecary, and while she was gone, Wolverton called Zoe, Obie, Uncle Oscar and Aunt Victoria together. They had gathered in the main drawing room when Lady Danvers was announced.

"Gerry!" she cried, striding into the room. "I would not blame you if you never allowed the children to play together again. They were together several times last week and Belinda had a slight sniffle, but it went away and I never gave it another thought. Then dear Harriet and little Sidney seemed fine on Tuesday... Will they be all right?"

"Have a seat, Anjelica. I was just about to tell everyone what is happening." Jellie flopped down on a sofa next to Obie and eyed him with curiosity.

"My brother-in-law, Mr. Frost," Wolverton said, remembering his manners. "Obie, our close friend and neighbor, Lady Danvers."

Obie wondered at first if some of Harriet's unhappiness stemmed from this neighbor and her "close" relationship with Wolverton, but he curbed his wariness after seeing that lady's genuine concern. That, and Zoe kicked his foot as if to admonish him for his thoughts.

"They are going to need bed-rest for a couple of days and are not to be disturbed," Wolverton told everyone. "Ian and Rory have been moved to rooms of their own." If the boys, who had gone to the tree house, had been present, they would have cheered. Zoe and Jellie exchanged smiles, but the dowager shook her head in disapproval.

"In my day..." she began, but Wolverton cut her short.

"Now is not the time, Aunt Victoria."

"Perhaps Zoe should spend a few days at Danvers Court," Jellie suggested, but rescinded when it she and Mr. Frost appeared alarmed at the prospect. "Or not. I'm sure she could assume some of Harriet's household duties." Zoe nodded vigorously and Jellie was even more suspicious. Zoe hated household chores. "I won't keep you," she added, rising from the sofa. "I just wanted to apologize for Belinda's unwitting part in all this. I'll have my cook send over something special to tempt the invalids. Nice to meet you, Mr. Frost. I'm sorry your visit coincides with such an unfortunate event." She patted Wolverton's shoulder on her way to the door. "Let me know if there is anything I can do to help."

She left almost as noisily as she had arrived, her riding boots beating down hard on the hall's black and white marble tiles. A maid came into the drawing room with a verbal message for the earl.

"Zoe, would you and Obadiah go out to the tree house and fetch the boys?" he asked with a sigh. "It seems there is some concern upstairs as to the ownership of some of their property."

The two young people departed happily enough, although both were worried about the two patients.

"I hope Harriet gets well soon so I can apologize to her," Zoe said as they cut across the garden to the tree house.

"I can't believe that's all you are plotting," Jellie said from the other side of the hedge. "Although an apology would be in order, Miss Zoe."

"Yes, Jellie. I know." Zoe hung her head.

"That act won't fadge with me, my dear. I know you two are up to something."

With an apologetic look at Obie, Zoe told Jellie everything. When she was finished, Jellie gave them a beatific smile.

"I think you've just found yourselves a willing accomplice."

Wolverton sat by Harriet's bed all afternoon, even though she continued to sleep restlessly and even though Tilly urged him to go downstairs and do some work.

He should have found something else to do, he realized later. All he did was worry that she had not been right in her mind the night before.

What if she gave herself to me without even knowing it?

He dismissed that for the ludicrous thought it was. That was no delirious or comatose woman he had held in his arms.

What if she doesn't remember any of it later?

That had him worried.

Chapter 14

That night Harriet's temperature increased and Wolverton never left her side, even at the risk of infection. By dawn, fortunately, her fever broke and Tilly sent him to get some sleep in his own room while she tended to her mistress.

Sidney, too, was feeling better that morning, and Wolverton, after checking on the little girl, took Tilly's advice. If he had been aware of the mischief Zoe, Obie and Anjelica were involved in, he would have never gone to bed. Fortunately for the co-conspirators he was down for the count when the vicar arrived.

It hadn't taken much to convince the dowager to allow them to join her, and Zoe was already pouring out tea when the minister was announced.

"Mr. Singleton, I would like you to meet Lady Wolverton's brother, Mr. Frost. Mr. Frost, our esteemed vicar, Mr. Singleton." Obie bowed politely to the man and pretended not to notice when he leered at Zoe. It would not do to get into a fight. Yet.

"Good day to you, Miss Zoe," Singleton said, looking her up and down. "Have you two come to join us only for tea?"

"Oh, no!" Zoe exclaimed in a little girl voice that would fool no one but the dowager and the vicar. "Mr. Frost is a scholar of divinity at Cambridge, and he so wanted to meet you and hear your sermon, sir." The two young people had the pleasure of watching Mr. Singleton break into a sweat.

"Divinity student? Cambridge?" the vicar said with a gulp.

"Why, that is your alma mater, isn't it, Mr. Singleton?" Zoe asked sweetly. She had heard him talk enough about the place to assume he was a graduate.

"I attended Cambridge," Singleton hedged. "I didn't exactly graduate from that particular university."

Obie and Zoe looked at each other with unconcealed delight as the vicar quickly changed the subject. This was better than they planned.

"Mr. Frost is an exceptional student," the dowager bragged, unwittingly playing into Zoe's hands. The older lady had only heard Wolverton say so two evenings before at dinner, but it must be true -- the young man was so charming.

"He graduated monstro sane laudo from Eton," Zoe said proudly. Obie choked on his tea, especially when the vicar declared that he, too, had graduated with that distinction, only from Harrow.

The man had graduated with what roughly translated to ‘show rational praise'? Did Zoe know Latin, or had she just accidentally made up something that was correct, if silly. Obie was wondering if a letter to the bishop was in order when the dowager began running through a list of neighbors who might need spiritual guidance. When she got to the Brights, Zoe and Obie paid closer attention.

"Two unmarried sisters like that, living together with no companion, no male protectors. You must call on them, Mr. Singleton. They would be better off as paid companions, or living with relatives..."

"I shall strive to talk with them once again."

"Miss Clementina seems to have some influence on her sister," Zoe said piously. "Perhaps she would be the person to work on?"

Obie choked on his tea once more. Zoe was going to get them both in trouble!

"Perhaps we could go with you?" Zoe suggested innocently, only to watch with satisfaction as the vicar visibly paled.

"I think not," the dowager said imperiously with a frown. "The man knows his work." The younger people only agreed and the rest of the meeting was limited to mundane topics.

"Gerald?" Harriet croaked upon waking early that evening. "Sidney?"

"His lordship is resting, my lady," Tilly soothingly replied. "Didn't hardly leave your side. Miss Sidney is on the mend." She sat Harriet up and gave her a sip of cool lemonade. Harried winced as it went down her throat. "I'll just pop over and check on his lordship for you, shall I?"

"Please." Harriet was glad to hear her speech was less raspy and she drank more lemonade.

Tilly had a quick word with the earl's manservant and Wolverton was soon sitting in a chair at Harriet's side. An awkward silence fell.

"The other night..." Harriet managed to say.

"Was wonderful," Wolverton quickly replied.

"It was?"

"It was." Wolverton took Harriet's hand in his and caressed her fingers with his thumb.

"I didn't imagine it, then?"

"No." He shook his head.

"Good." Harriet relaxed and drifted off to sleep, and he exhaled, unaware he had been holding his breath.

"I have to dress for dinner," he told the maid. "Will you send for me if I am needed?"

"Oh, yes, my lord." She had already made the staff aware of where his lordship had spent the night before last. About time, too, in her opinion. Especially after all the rumors. Who knew what kind of tales had gotten around about the mistress she had come to adore?

Tilly curtsied and went happily about her work as the earl went back to his room.

After dinner Wolverton excused himself to sit again with Harriet, telling the others they could visit with her and Sidney the next day, if they were improved. He was unprepared to find gifts had been delivered to Harriet while he had been downstairs.

There was a box of chocolates from Uncle Oscar, a pretty handkerchief from Zoe, an amusing little note from Obie and the finest specimen from the boys' rock collection. Harriet was sitting among this largesse, staring at the handkerchief.

"Uncle Oscar is a dear, isn't he?" she said in a scratchy voice, offering him his choice of chocolates. She didn't say a word about Zoe's past behavior, just looked on the gift as a good sign.

To Harriet's surprise and delight, Zoe even came to visit the next morning.

"Lady Wolverton?" she asked tentatively when Tilly allowed her to enter.

"Come in, Zoe," Harriet called in a friendly tone, as loudly as her throat would allow.

"You're still ill!" Zoe exclaimed, hearing the growl in her voice.

"I'm better," Harriet assured her and waved her guest to the chair next to the bed. Wolverton came in from the dressing room, a smile upon his face.

"Good morning, Zoe. How kind of you to drop by on your way to breakfast."

"I wanted to talk to Aunt Harriet," the girl said almost shyly, as if she was unsure of the reception of that particular name. One look at Harriet's wide smile, though, and she knew she had said the right thing. "About girl things, Uncle Gerald..."

Wolverton took the hint. "I'll be at breakfast if you need me," he told them, kissed Harriet's cheek -- causing her to flush -- and quit the room.

Zoe barely waited until the door was shut to move over to the bed.

"Will you forgive me for being so horrid?" she asked, tears in her eyes. Harriet reached out and stroked Zoe's bright curls.

"Of course. Especially since you were only moderately horrid. If you had been horribly horrid, I might have to think about it," she teased, handing Zoe a handkerchief. "What do you think of my brother?"

Zoe blushed, caught unawares by the question. "He's... very nice."

"I think so, too. Let's keep it that way, shall we?" she warned.

"Oh, I could never hurt Obie!" Zoe blurted out and then blushed once more.

"Would you bring him to visit this afternoon? How is Sidney?"

"She is doing much better and her nanny says she may get up and move around a little today. Shall I ask Mr. Frost to carry her in here for a visit?"

"I would like that. The boys may come, too, if they don't get too boisterous."

"I'll bring them, too," Zoe assured her.

Tilly came in at that moment with Harriet's breakfast of dry toast, a little bit of gruel and some weak tea. Zoe made a face and excused herself to go downstairs for a real breakfast.

Harriet was in such a good mood over Zoe's apology, she ate her meal without protest.

Chapter 15

By the next Friday Sidney and Harriet had recovered enough to join the family downstairs for afternoon tea.

Zoe and Obie had wracked their brains in the meantime, trying to figure out what to do with the vicar. Obie had sent an anonymous letter to the bishop, suggesting he look more closely at Mr. Singleton's credentials, but it was too soon to hear from that quarter.

The vicar was expected any moment for his usual visit with the dowager and they all looked up with varying degrees of expectancy when they heard noises in the hall. The person who breezed into the room, however, was not Mr. Singleton.

"Darlings!" Jessabelle cried as she strode to the center of the room. Her outstretched arms, covered in bright red velvet, reached for Harriet, and she embraced her sister.

"You're looking pasty-faced, darling," Belle said in a sotto voice as she kissed the air above Harriet's ear. "You need to be outdoors. Your freckles are fading and we can't have that, can we?" In a cloud of expensive perfume, Belle moved on to Obie, who was doing nothing to conceal his distaste for his eldest sister.

"Look at you, Obadiah! All grown up and off visiting! I was sure Aunt Phoebe was not serious when she wrote you were here. Or Harriet, for that matter..." she added. "I vow, I turn my back for one teensy second and she steals my fiancé from behind me!" she announced to the room at large. "Wolverton, darling!" She moved on to her next target. "So kind of you to make do with the leavings!"

This was exactly the kind of thing the dowager loved to hear and she jumped in with an imperious introduction before Wolverton could reply. An invitation to sit next to an old lady who knew none of the news followed.

Belle went willingly enough, knowing she had found an ear for her particular brand of poison.

Harriet wanted to plead fatigue and retreat, but changed her mind when Wolverton came to sit next to her on the sofa, taking her hand in his.

"So tell us, Mrs. Richardson," Wolverton asked, placing an emphasis on her married name. "What brings you to Hertfordshire?"

Belle laughed, a gay, tinkling sound she had perfected over the years. "My husband is a wealthy merchant, but he is so wrapped up in business, he barely has time to spend with his beautiful wife. I'm afraid I'm just a show piece," she said in a forlorn voice. "So I decided to visit my brother and sister, since Aunt Phoebe seems to think this is where all the entertainment is. I have to say I agree," she blandly added, but her eyes said differently.

Harriet looked away. Some things never changed. Belle was only here for two reasons. London was boring this time of year, and she wanted Wolverton. Married or not, she wanted him.

"Yes, but it's not hunting season," Obie interjected, as wise to her ways as Harriet. Belle made no reply, but her expression promised severe retribution for that comment.

Into the midst of all this familial harmony came the vicar, taken slightly aback at the large group gathered around the teapot. He nodded to Wolverton, cast a nervous glance at Zoe and Obie and then made a beeline for Belle.

The dowager made the proper introductions and Belle, who always enjoyed an appreciative male audience, allowed him to goggle her low-cut bodice. Mr. Singleton was hard-pressed to attend the conversation after that. He spent the next hour staring at Mrs. Richardson's cleavage and barely answering the dowager's questions. He missed Obie's thoughtful expression and the worried looks Harriet gave her brother.

Harriet saw her brother wink once at Zoe, however, and the girl's answering grin was positively evil. She resolved to speak to Wolverton about her brother and his ward as soon as possible.

She wasn't able to speak to Wolverton the rest of the day. It was decided to invite Sir Marcus and Jellie to dinner to meet Mrs. Richardson, and when the acceptance came, the household scurried to make the evening perfect.

That meant Sidney and Harriet were sent back to bed for a rest, the boys were banished to the tree house and Zoe and Obie were told to amuse themselves outdoors.

"Yes, run along, children," Belle said, dismissing them with a wave as she clung tightly to Wolverton's arm. Obie opened his mouth for a scathing reply, but a warning glance from Wolverton and Zoe's insistent tugging on his arm changed his mind.

"Your sister is ... interesting," Zoe said diplomatically as they walked through the garden. "I don't believe I've ever seen anyone else in red velvet at this time of year."

"Yes, you could call her interesting," Obie said with a grin. "I prefer calling her a witch, myself."

"Mr. Frost!" she exclaimed, but her eyes twinkled merrily. "She was certainly chummy with Uncle Gerald a few minutes ago," she noted as they headed for Danvers Hall. Jellie needed to be warned about their guest before the dinner party.

"I don't believe Wolverton has any feelings towards her, if that is what you are wondering." He told Zoe the story of how he had helped bring his sister and the earl together.

Zoe sighed. "That is so romantic. We absolutely cannot allow anyone to come between them. Mrs. Richardson certainly enjoys the attention of the menfolk, though, doesn't she?" she slyly added. "The vicar could absolutely not keep his eyes off her, er, face."

"I know." A light went on in Obie's head and he shared a wide smile with his companion. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Absolutely! I think we finally have a plan, Mr. Frost, and it will kill two birds with one stone!" The two raced off to the hall to share their ideas with Jellie.

Harriet sat in the drawing room after dinner, surprised as anyone that the evening had been so amiable.

Zoe had come into her bedroom when it was time to dress, in a deceptively simple white muslin that made the girl look like an angel, and offered to help Tilly get the countess ready for the evening. The two had looked through Harriet's wardrobe carefully, talking about Harriet as if she were not sitting there in bed, and finally decided on a blue-gray silk that almost exactly matched Harriet's eyes.

Care was taken with the dressing of her hair, and then Wolverton, amused to have been approached by his ward earlier concerning a certain set of family jewelry, came in and presented his wife with a silver chain holding tourmalines set in a silver starburst. There was a tourmaline clip for her hair, as well, and a thin bracelet of the dark blue stones for her wrist.

She was in good looks when her guests arrived, even though she knew she could never compare to Belle, who was tall and elegant in sapphire blue. Harriet did not see her sister covetously eyeing her jewels, but Zoe did and nudged Obie to call his attention to it. They gave each other rather self-satisfied smirks that were wiped off their faces the moment Harriet glanced their way.

Anjelica and her husband arrived, Jellie wearing old gold, and after a few weary moments of trying to converse with the guest of honor, Jellie gave it up and gravitated toward Harriet. Mrs. Richardson did not seem to notice, as she had one hand on Wolverton's arm and the other on Sir Marcus as she told what she thought was an amusing story, not realizing neither man was particularly entertained.

"I'm so pleased to see you up and around," Jellie said. "You must enjoy having your brother visit, too." It went unsaid that Harriet must not like her sister being in residence.

"Thank you so much for your visits and the little presents you sent. I do like having Obie around. He and Zoe have become great friends, as well."

Jellie smiled. "She was very bored not having a companion her age. It doesn't hurt that he has nothing but admiration for her person, either. I've been in a position recently to entertain the two at the hall a time or two..." Her secret smile did not alarm Harriet, although it should have. She was beginning to see why all the children gravitated to this outgoing lady. "Fortunately, they are rather level-headed when it comes to affairs of the heart. If it's meant to be between them, they have enough sense to wait a few years."

"That's a relief," Harriet replied, and she meant it.

After dinner, where Belle nicely restrained herself from making any derogatory comments about her siblings, the ladies retired to the drawing room. Harriet and Lady Danvers once again put their heads together in conversation, but this time they were joined by Zoe. The dowager, who disliked Harriet and barely tolerated Anjelica, motioned for Belle to join her.

"Now, tell me more about how your sister stole your fiancé, Mrs. Richardson..." the old lady purred. Belle was more than willing to oblige.

"She looks and acts so innocent, and she is really a snake in the grass," Belle admitted.

"She was innocent, until a sennight ago, or so my maid tells me."

"You mean they didn't ... they never ... Hmmm." That information gave Belle pause, and some food for thought.

Belle really didn't really want Wolverton, of course, or she would already be his countess. No, she was merely peeved that Harriet, her plain, dull sister, should snatch up her leavings so quickly. She wasn't too thrilled with Wolverton, either, thinking so little of her that he replaced her with Harriet. For that, they were both going to pay dearly -- Wolverton with his body and Harriet, fool that she was, with her heart.

"What did you think of Lady Wolverton's sister?" Anjelica could not help but ask her husband later that evening as they rode home.

"She was amiable enough," Sir Marcus vaguely replied. He thought maybe he had imbibed in a little too much of Wolverton's excellent port, because he was pleasantly drowsy.

"At first, perhaps," Jellie said tartly. "She is a different person when gentlemen are around. Can you believe the way she hung on Gerry after you joined us? What was so important, anyway, that kept you over your port and had you all rather pie-eyed?"

"It was the oddest thing, really," Marcus admitted. "Every time Mr. Frost, Oscar or I suggested we retire to the drawing room. Gerry poured another round."

Jellie's expression was thoughtful. Perhaps Gerry was not as insensitive as she thought. Her afternoon's conversation with Zoe and Mr. Frost had been enlightening and plans had been revised to include Mrs. Richardson, despite Anjelica's initial reluctance. After observing the lady with Harriet, she knew reports of the elder sister had not been exaggerated by the young people.

"What a quaint group of family and friends you have acquired, Harriet dear," Belle had said at one point. Champing at the bit when the gentlemen had taken their sweet time joining the ladies, she had turned on Harriet for sport. "A crotchety old lady, a handful of disrespectful children and a crazy gentleman for family, and a handsome neighbor and his insignificant, horsy wife for friends." She had laughed derisively and Jellie had no doubt the remarks had been made to be overheard.

"Lady Danvers is not insignificant, and she is an excellent horsewoman!" Harriet had said in defense of her friend.

"Such admirable qualities," Belle sarcastically replied, unconsciously fluffing her blond curls -- curls Jellie perversely thought more appropriate for a girl Zoe's age.

"I think so," Harriet mildly agreed. That was the end of the conversation, because the rather owlish-looking gentlemen came into the room at that point, and Mrs. Richardson had begun an assault on Gerry.

Yes, thought Jellie smugly as she leaned back into the carriage squabs, Mrs. Richardson was going to do quite well in the role she had been cast in the vicar's downfall...

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