The Colonel's Spinster: A Regency Romance (Tragic Characters in Classic Literature) by Audrey Harrison

Author:Audrey Harrison [Harrison, Audrey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-12-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Prudence immediately approached a Mrs. Warburton, one of the older ladies of her acquaintance and a trusted friend. “Would I ask too much if I asked you to organise the dancing once the gentlemen join the ladies? I have an unexpected visitor from my aunt’s home, and I need to speak with him,” she quietly explained.

“Of course, my dear. You do what you need to do, and I shall take control here. Will your father be joining you?”

“Not at this stage,” Prudence said. “I shall send for him if I need to.”

“I hope everything is well, but don’t worry about us. We shall entertain ourselves.”

“Thank you,” Prudence said, before unobtrusively leaving the room. She followed her butler into the small morning room where Mr. Huxley stood by a sofa, looking uncomfortable. He gripped his hat tightly in his hands, and he looked travel weary and tired.

Prudence nodded dismissal to the butler, who closed the door behind him when he left the room. Only then did Prudence break the silence.

“Mr. Huxley! Are my aunt and cousin well?”

“They are Miss Bamber. Perfectly well when I left them. Well mostly,” Mr. Huxley gabbled.

“Please. Be seated. You look fit to drop. Let me get you a glass of brandy, and you can tell me what is happening. You are clearly out of sorts.” Prudence was business-like, approaching a side cabinet and opening it to reveal glasses and three decanters of dark liquid. Filling a glass, she approached Mr. Huxley and handed him the drink.

“Thank you, Miss Bamber. It’s been a heck of a few days,” the weary man said, taking a large gulp.

“Tell me everything,” Prudence instructed, sitting opposite him.

“I have been dismissed from Rosings without a reference. Without anything apart from the clothes I stand up in actually.”

“What? No! What happened?”

“I was foolish, Miss. I’ll own my stupidity in the situation. I replaced you in taking Miss Anne out every morning through the parkland. We both enjoyed it, and one day ― I ― well, I was a little foolish. I let my feelings get the better of me,” Mr. Huxley admitted with a flush.

“Oh, dear,” Prudence said. Her hands had become a little sweaty as she anticipated what was to come.

“Yes. Exactly,” Mr. Huxley said with a grimace. “It was reported to Lady Catherine that I had been seen kissing Miss Anne’s hand.”

“With Anne’s permission?”

“She didn’t expect it but said she was glad I had done it,” he said with a wistful smile. “We didn’t know that we had been seen. Not until we returned to the house.”

“Lady Catherine was not happy, I presume?”

“No. She sent me off after screaming at me that I’d abused her trust and her daughter. I did not set-out to fall in love with Miss Anne, I assure you.”

“None of us can dictate for whom our feelings develop,” Prudence admitted.

“I tried to hide them, but recently, I had thought that perhaps Miss Anne wasn’t quite as indifferent as she should have been. Me being a servant.”

Prudence smiled.

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