One Good Turn by Carla Kelly

Author:Carla Kelly
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2012-11-12T16:00:00+00:00

If he had thought to spend a peaceful afternoon drinking tea in Miss St. John's sitting room, he was sorely mistaken. In his effort to make conversation, he mentioned Amos Yore's proposal to Betty Gilbert over breakfast. Audrey stared at him, laughed, and asked, "Why on earth are you so interested in your servants, Benedict?"

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He felt his face go hot with embarrassment. "I care about them, Audrey," he said, and it sounded monumentally lame to his own ears. "You should have seen Juan last night, so concerned about his shoes, and sad because he didn't want to put away the broken-down pair that Sergeant Carr had given him. He misses the sergeant." He stopped. Spoken out loud in the sitting room, the whole matter seemed stupid.

She shook her head and picked up her tatting shuttle again. "Why is it your concern? It's well and good to give deserving servants every suitable kindness, and an extra fine dinner at harvest, Christmas, and Easter, but beyond that, Benedict, I think you would be interfering." She looked at him over the spectacles she wore while doing close work. "Perhaps this might be a good time for you to acquaint yourself with the workings of your estate."

"Too bad it is so infernally well run," he told her.

He must have sounded petulant, because Audrey set down her tatting. "Have you ever considered a good hobby, like riding to the hounds?" she asked in such kindly tones that he wanted to growl at her and repeat some choice phrases best left in the army.

Lord, woman, how trivial all this is, he thought in irritation, even as he smiled and sipped his tea. "I'm not overly fond of dogs, Audrey. You know that."

"Ah, yes, and more's the pity. Perhaps you will be able to overlook your dislike when we…" She paused. "I like dogs, Benedict. Horses, too." She picked up her tatting again and returned her attention to her tatting. He looked up when Sir Michael entered the room unannounced, then rose to his feet to shake his neighbor's hand.

Sir Michael nudged his shoulder. "Benedict, I stayed out of here as long as I could. Have you proposed yet, lad?"

Nez winced, and Audrey laughed. "Really, Papa, I think you can leave the matter to Benedict. He will have my leave to do so, when I think he is fully reformed!"

"I beg your pardon?" he asked without thinking.

"You know I am quizzing you, Benedict," Audrey said.

He couldn't argue with that. It seemed most likely, considering her cheerful nature, but something about her words struck him hard. "How will you know, Audrey?" he asked, keeping his tone light.

She laughed, stood up in that quick way of hers, and sat next to him on the sofa. "You have already abandoned alcohol, which shows such strength of character. Yet, my dear friend, it is a bit extreme to give away your entire wine cellar. Why could you not just eliminate some of your drinking? People will think you are a Methodist. Well, never mind," she continued when he opened his mouth to reply.

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