When Julian slid onto the remaining chair between the two men, Viscount Rumsford leaned his head toward him and with a twinkle in his eye, said, “The boys will not be joining us this morning. They’re, um, a bit beneath the weather.”
“They’re ill?”
“You might call it that.”
“Oh.” Julian smiled. He’d warned George and Wills the night before about all the champagne they’d drunk as if it were water. Apparently, the two toss pots were now paying the price.
The viscount leaned closer and lowered his voice. “I wanted to thank you for taking Mina in hand last night.”
“Oh, it was nothing. I found her wandering the balcony above the ballroom, and I…I did what I could to keep her safe till her maid came to re-claim her.”
“It was the maid’s half-day off. I should never have trusted that attics-to-let old nurse to keep her in the nursery once the music started.” He paused and looked around Julian, exchanging a grin with Sir Thomas. “We were busy greeting all the guests flooding into the masque last night. I should have known Mina wouldn’t be able to resist spying on the dancing.”
Julian was struck with a sudden terrifying thought. “She’s not ill, is she? She’s well after wandering barefoot in the cold?”
Viscount Rumsford gave him an odd look and then a broad smile. “Of course. She’s fine. Bridget takes great care of her. Had a fire built and warmed her good before bed.”
Julian exhaled, realizing with a start he’d been holding his breath. An odd lurch in his stomach settled. He didn’t think he wanted to contemplate a world without his friends’ pest of a younger sister. And then he immediately forgot his concerns and tucked into the tower of food on his plate.
* * *
Mina closedher eyes and puckered her mouth into a bow, making smacking noises while whirling around the kitchen garden.
“Mina—. Whsshtt!”
She circled back toward the sound of Bridget’s voice, trying to maintain her balance while keeping her eyes closed. She was fine until the fountain got in her way. What was the fountain doing between her and the back stoop? Surely it wasn’t there before?
Her maid raced to her side and stood over her after she’d stubbed her toe on the edge of the fountain and had fallen in amongst the cherubs spouting water.
“Miss Wilhelmina Rumsford!”
She’d kept her eyes closed to hang onto the fantasy of dancing with the handsome bear a while longer before she had to return to her real life. She knew the bear was not really handsome, because he was just Julian, her brothers’ stuffy friend. But she could dream of the magical night before when he’d made her believe, if only for a few minutes, that she could be part of the glittering world her mother and father inhabited.
She stared up at the look of disappointment on Bridget’s face, and stinging tears threatened to spill out the sides of her eyes and roll down her cheeks. She wouldn’t do that. She would not. Someday, a handsome prince, or bear, would come to take her away and love her, just the way she was. Someday.
Bridget squatted down in front of her on the flagstone path and pushed her wet hair back out of her eyes. She peeled off Mina’s ruined dress and took a woolen shawl off her own shoulders, wrapping Mina in warmth over the wet chemise that clung to her coltish, long limbs. The warm shawl came down barely beyond her bony knees.
“You’re…you’re cross with me.” Mina croaked out the words between sobs.
“Mina, my girl, it matters not what I think. You must stop trying to seek attention with your escapades. Everyone loves you in spite of yourself.”
She made a clucking tone with her tongue. “Everyone has to love me. It’s their job.”
“Your papa loves you.” Bridget paused as if wondering whether to include Mina’s mother in the list, and then must have thought better of the idea. “Cook always sneaks you chocolate biscuits, the front hall footmen always find you when you wander off.” She stopped for a moment before continuing. “And the kitchen mouser, Tabby? She loves you best of all.”
Mina rolled her eyes. They’d climbed the steps back toward the kitchen by then, and cold water from the fountain dripped down her legs. Pretending to dance with a handsome bear didn’t seem like such a good idea now. She’d have to walk in all her sodden shame past her below-stairs friends. And they’d pity her. She hated pity above all.
Bridget steered her toward the kitchen fireplace where Tabby waited, purring and curled up on the thick, braided rug in front of the hearth. And there was a plate of ginger and chocolate biscuits next to a steaming pot of chocolate. The sun suddenly blazed down through a random hole in the clouds and lit up the interior of the vast Abbey kitchen. Maybe the day was not going to be as bad as she’d thought.
4
Julian listened to George and Wills laugh at their sister’s latest misadventure and make fun of her awkwardness. They’d been playing cards in the family sitting room which overlooked the kitchen garden when she’d spun out of control into the fountain.
“Look at her. Can you imagine if she ever has a coming out? She’ll fall down the stairs whilst entering a ballroom.” George slapped down his latest hand of cards and took the game.
“She’ll never have a coming out,” Wills said simply, without elaborating, as if they all knew the truth.
Julian had learned over the years there was no use to try to explain to the Rumsford brothers how unfeeling their attitudes toward their sister were. And so, he said nothing, but couldn’t banish the vision of Mina’s awkward walk back to the kitchen, her maid’s shawl flapping against her sodden chemise.
