Prudence Pursued Read Free Page B

antimony, I believe. It is my opinion he should be commended for increasing the wealth of the estate left to him by his late father.”
    “And yet Margaret doesn’t seem impressed. I’m not sure she even likes the man,” Prudence pointed out.
    “What’s not to like?” her aunt protested. “Sir James has wealth. He’s generally admired and has none of the usual vices—like gambling and excessive drink. Truly, Prudence, he has quite turned everyone’s head with his tales of dining in foreign palaces with sultans and Oriental princes. He brought back with him many curious mementos of his journey to the East. It is true he is not debonair. But he cuts quite a romantic figure nonetheless. Bath society has embraced him.”
    “Yes, but Margaret mentioned he walks with a limp and wears an eye patch.” Suppressing a smile, Prudence tried to conjure an image of the adventurous Sir James Brownell. The image portrayed by her aunt and the one provided by her young cousin merged into something of a comical figure.
    “Poor man! He was injured while fighting with Malay pirates. Why, he was actually shot in the battle! Lady Brownell saved the bullet and keeps it under glass, like some prize specimen to show to everyone who calls.” Judith shook her head, tugging impatiently at her gown. “But to his credit, Sir James is determined to take a missionary back with him the next time he journeys east. As you are a vicar’s daughter, you must approve.”
    “You are close friends with his mother, I believe?” Prudence asked, ignoring the comment.
    “Yes, Eliza and I were at school together. Bosom chums,” she added with a reminiscent smile. “We shared an infatuation for our dashing art instructor, Signore Angelo Roscetti—such a handsome man with black moustaches and flashing dark eyes.”
    Prudence gently led her aunt back on course. “Before I do what I can to convince Margaret to accept Sir James’s offer, are you quite sure she has not formed a secret passion for another?”
    Her aunt seemed bewildered by the suggestion. “No,” she insisted. She then quickly amended this declaration with, “I don’t know. Margaret has not shown a partiality to any young man I am aware of. Nor has any gentleman singled her out.”
    “Could she be meeting someone in a clandestine manner?”
    “Prudence, no!” Judith declared. One frail hand fluttered to her throat. “I’ve not heard of it. Someone would surely have noticed and informed me of it, don’t you suppose?”
    Prudence thought much went on in Bath that her reclusive aunt would not know about. She could tell by Judith’s flushed face and agitated manner the notion of Margaret meeting someone clandestinely had never occurred to her. Prudence wished she had not mentioned it. Aunt Judith would, she feared, fret about it.
    “Poor Margaret has been suffering with megrims of late. Some days, her appetite is poorly," Judith stammered. “And yet on other days, she fairly blooms with good health and high spirits. It is puzzling, of course, but I believe it is often so with the young. They can be emotionally intemperate.”
    “Don’t worry, Aunt Judith. If Margaret does have a secret tendre for some other gentleman, I will ferret it out,” Prudence promised. She felt no qualms about doing so as Margaret had not given the slightest indication she nursed a secret passion for another. “Who knows? He may even be in attendance at Lady Oldenfield’s gathering this afternoon. I shall look sharp.”
    Her aunt’s eyes widened with apprehension. She blinked. “Did she mention…?”
    “No, Aunt Judith, I do not mean to tease you,” Prudence hastened to assure her. “Meg did not confess any such secret passion to me. She is merely indifferent to Sir James—so she told me. She cannot bring herself to accept him as her husband.”
    “Do what you can to see she warms to him,” her aunt pressed. “If there is someone else, Clarissa Paige may possibly know who it might