The Wedding Game Read Free Page B

behind her.
    “No, no, I'm fine as it is. We don't want to waste the gas,” Lord Duncan declared heavily from the depths of his armchair beside the fire. “Time enough to light them when it's dark.”
    Chastity frowned. One way her father dealt with his new knowledge of the true state of the household's finances was to insist on small and pointless economies. “Jenkins said you're not feeling too well, Father. Should we call Dr. Hastings?”
    “No, no. No need for the expense of a quack,” his lordship declared. “It's just a chill.” He reached for the whisky decanter and Chastity noticed that the level was down about two-thirds. She knew that Jenkins would have brought it in full. Her father didn't seem the worse for wear, but he had a very strong head. He probably wasn't drinking any more than usual, she reflected, it was just that he was drinking alone, whereas in the old days he would have been at his club with his cronies. She couldn't remember when he'd last gone to his club.
    “Are you dining out tonight?” she asked, forcing a cheerful note into her voice.
    “No” was the unadorned negative.
    “Why don't you go to your club?”
    “I'm not up to it, Chastity.” He took a deep draught of his whisky.
    “Well, why don't you change your mind and come with me to Prudence and Gideon's dinner party?” she coaxed.
    “I declined the invitation, my dear. I'm not going to change my mind on a whim and upset your sister's table arrangements.” He leaned forward and refilled his glass.
    Chastity gave up. Her father could never be met head-on, one had to approach obliquely. She leaned over and kissed him. “Stay in the warm, then. I'll see what Mrs. Hudson has for your supper.”
    “Oh, just some bread and cheese will do.”
    Chastity sighed, reflecting that her father's economic martyrdom was actually harder to handle than his blithe spending of the past. “I'm going to Prue's early to dress for dinner there, so I'm going to get my things together now. I'll pop in and say good-bye before I leave.”
    “Very well, my dear.”
    Chastity left the library and encountered Jenkins lighting the gas lamps in the hall. Lord Duncan, even if he could have afforded the innovation, considered electric light an abomination of the modern world. “Could you light the ones in the library?” she asked. “Father says he doesn't need them, but he can't go on sitting in the dark, it's so depressing.”
    “If you ask me, Miss Chas, his lordship needs something to take him out of himself,” Jenkins said.
    “I know. My sisters and I are racking our brains trying to come up with something,” she responded. “Maybe Christmas will cheer him up. He always likes the Boxing Day hunt.”
    “We'll hope so,” Jenkins said, sounding somewhat doubtful. “I wanted to make sure about the timing for Christmas, Miss Chas. Mrs. Hudson and I will be going down to Romsey Manor on the day before Christmas Eve.”
    “Yes, and the rest of us will come down late afternoon on Christmas Eve, after Lord Lucan and Hester Winthrop's wedding,” Chastity said. “The reception is a luncheon affair, so we should be able to catch the four o'clock and be there in time for the caroling.”
    “Very nice it will be to have a grand family Christmas again,” Jenkins said.
    Chastity smiled a little wistfully. “Yes, we haven't really had a proper one since Mother died. But with Prue and Gideon and Sarah, and Mary Winston, and Constance and Max and the aunts, it's going to be wonderful.”
    “In the old tradition,” Jenkins agreed. “I'll go and light the library lamps now. I've told Cobham you'll be needing him at six. He'll bring the carriage around. You'll be staying the night with Miss Prue . . . Lady Malvern, I should say,” he added.
    “Not to her face, she won't know you're talking to her,” Chastity said with a chuckle. “But, yes, I'm staying the night, and Sir Gideon's driver will bring me back in the morning.” She left him in the hall