Cotillion by Georgette Heyer

Author:Georgette Heyer
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Published: 2010-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

Twelve

Kitty, however much Mr Westruther might disconcert her, was not ill-pleased by the results of her strategy. She had certainly arrested his attention. If he disbelieved the story of the engagement (and he gave every sign of disbelieving it), the tacit refusal of both parties to it to own the truth, coupled with Kitty’s apparent lack of interest in his activities, compelled him to alter his tactics. He did not doubt his ability to put an end to the comedy at any moment of his own choosing, for he was well aware that she had adored him for years; but he did not mean to let her, or his Great-uncle Matthew, dictate terms, or force his hand. Nothing in his life had annoyed him more than Mr Penicuik’s ultimatum. He certainly meant to marry one day; he as certainly meant country-bred, innocent Kitty to be his wife, believing that either to him or to her would Mr Penicuik’s fortune be bequeathed; but he was not a pawn on any chessboard of Mr Penicuik’s making; and, for he was a gamester, he would have forgone every penny of that considerable fortune rather than have obeyed such a summons as he had received. Moreover, he was betting upon a certainty: Kitty was his for the lifting of a finger. He feared no competition from any one of his cousins, and if he had been surprised to learn of her engagement to Freddy it had been momentarily: an instant’s reflection showed him what must have been her reason. He was amused by it; he could even appreciate it; and although he meant to punish her a little, he bore her no ill-will for such a flash of spirit. But however negligible a rival Freddy might be, Mr Westruther was not so lost in self-esteem that he did not recognize the danger of Kitty’s succumbing to the flattery of other and more personable suitors. A pretty girl—and Mr Westruther had been surprised to discover how very pretty Kitty could be when she was tricked out in all the elegancies of fashion—presented to society by the Standens, carrying with her the aura of large expectations, would not lack admirers. However much Mr Penicuik might pride himself on abiding by his pledged word, Jack would not have wagered any considerable sum on the chance of his abiding by it, were Kitty to present herself at Arnside on the arm of a really brilliant suitor. Mr Westruther, introducing the Chevalier d’Evron to her in a spirit of pure mischief, had his own reasons for discounting danger from that quarter; her encouragement of Dolphinton’s absurd attentions he did not understand but was able to shrug away; there were other bachelors, by far more eligible, whom it would be unwise to despise. One, in particular, a youthful peer, had shown unmistakeable signs of developing a tendre for so lively and unaffected a damsel; and a noted connoisseur, not indeed in the first blush of his youth but none the

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