Tea and Scandal Read Free Page A

ninnyhammer, ” Lady Sykes translated.
    Fenwick smiled a bland smile. “ Actually, I am on my way to my hunting box. It is no matter. I am here. Let the revels begin. ” He took a seat beside Phoebe. “ What brings you to the wilds of Wildercliffe, Phoebe? Taking up hunting, are you? ”
    “ Don ’ t be ridiculous. How should I pay for a hunter? ”
    “ With money, like the rest of us. You have plenty of it. ”
    As Lady Sykes had been flaunting her imaginary poverty as a pretext for challenging Pargeter ’ s will, she replied nobly, “ I am poor as a church mouse, Fenwick. ”
    “ Ah, lost it all upon ‘ Change, did you? Pity, ” he said, with an air of utter indifference.
    “ Call for the good wine, Scawen, ” she said.
    “ You make me feel as if I were at a wedding at Cana, ” Fenwick murmured. “ Actually, I would prefer tea, if it is not too much trouble. ”
    “ Coming right up, ” Scawen said, and pulled the bell cord.
    Nothing was ever too much trouble for Scawen Swann. He was built low to the ground, like a badger. His sandy hair grew in a cowlick that no amount of brushing or water or oil could subdue. Jackets had a way of turning to wrinkles and spots as soon as they touched his back. He looked like a tramp, but his undemanding nature and generosity made him the most popular gentleman in the county.
    “ Can you stay a day or two? ” Scawen asked.
    It suited Lord Fenwick very well to remain incommunicado for a few days. A certain Lady Alice Merton was hot on his trail. He had claimed urgent business in Bath to escape her. His mama had retired there for the water. But as Lady Alice knew his mama, he had stopped at Bath only long enough to tell Lady Fenwick what he was up to.
    “ Go to your hunting lodge, ” his mama had suggested. “ She will not be brass-faced enough to follow you there uninvited. ”
    He felt Mama was a little optimistic in the matter. Lady Alice had followed him from London to Brighton, and had spoken of visiting cousins in Bath when he told her where he was going. She might very well show up at his lodge, but she could not ferret him out here as he had suppressed Swann ’ s name.
    “ Of course, Fenwick will remain a few days, ” Lady Sykes informed her host. “ Give him the Gold Suite next to mine, Scawen. The south end of the house is less drafty. ”
    Fenwick gave a mischievous smile. “ Take care, Phoebe, or our little secret will be out. ”
    She responded with a coy smirk. If any of her friends had made such a suggestive comment, she would have given him a sharp rebuke. As Fenwick was a wealthy marquess, the remark was not only tolerated but would be repeated to her friends, and especially her many enemies, when she returned to civilization.
    “ Nigel tells me your visit has to do with old Pargeter ’ s death, ” Fenwick said. “ Made you his heir, has he? I made sure Soames would be his beneficiary. ”
    It was like a spark to tinder. “What need has Harold Soames of money, I should like to know? He’s rich as Croesus. Pargeter did not leave myself or Nigel a single sou!” she announced, eyes flashing. “Within months of poor Lizzie’s death, he married his housekeeper under extremely odd circumstances and left her the lot—Wildercliffe, a fortune of at least fifty thousand, to say nothing of Lizzie’s jewelry. I should say the housekeeper claims Harold married her. No one has seen the marriage certificate. The local vicar did not marry them, for I asked him. ”
    Scawen said, “ Special license, justice of the peace. ” No one paid him any attention.
    A frown pleated Fenwick ’ s brow. “ This wants looking into, ” he said. “ You ought to hire a lawyer. ”
    “ I have already hired a fellow called Belton. ”
    “ What does he say? ”
    “ He is looking into it, ” she said unhappily. “ The whole neighborhood is up in arms against the woman. Lord Malton does not visit her, and he, you must know, was Pargeter ’ s bosom bow. She is