The Lady of Lyon House by Jennifer Wilde

Author:Jennifer Wilde
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781497698284
Publisher: Open Road Media Romance

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE PRESENCE of Philip Ashley made itself felt very soon in the county. He was the kind of man who could never go unnoticed. He would either dazzle or terrify wherever he went. He seemed to do a combination of both in the village. He went there every day, and at first the villagers had been highly suspicious of the demonic figure who stalked down the streets. His tallness, his loose-limbed gait, the bright pink scar on the darkly tanned face all set him apart from the ordinary, and Molly said that little children had run from him at first. He bought painting supplies from the hardware store, set his easel up down by the river and began to paint. He had gone to the inn several times, and each time he had bought rounds of drinks for all the customers. He was very liberal with his money at all the stores, and this helped win the villagers over. Soon the very children who had run from him were sitting politely for him as he painted their portraits, holding the coins he gave them in their grubby hands.

Molly had seen him herself, and she was ecstatic in her descriptions of him. She claimed that the village girls were bedazzled, each trying to win his favor. Two of them had fought for the privilege of bringing his lunch from the inn to the spot where he had installed his easel. The much discussed Connie Brown, the voluptuous baker’s daughter, had offered to sit for him, and Molly suggested that merely sitting was not at all what she had in mind. The arrival of Philip Ashley was causing almost as much excitement as the county fair, which was now being set up outside the village.

His presence was strongly felt at Lyon House. I had not mentioned my encounter with him to anyone, but Corinne soon had the news that the Dower House had been rented out. She was furious, particularly when she discovered that the man who had rented it was an artist—riff-raff, no doubt. She claimed that the old harridan in London hated her and deliberately let Dower House to the most unsuitable tenants, just to spite her. She was even more furious when the man had the audacity to call on her, presenting himself at the front door as though he were a friend of the family.

We were in the parlor at the time. Agatha Crandall was with us, her face just a little flushed from the alcohol she had been consuming. When the maid came in to announce the visitor at the front door, Agatha sat up alertly, watching Corinne with sharp eyes. The maid handed Corinne a small white card with Philip Ashley’s name printed on it. She flew into a rage, telling the maid to send him away at once.

“Imagine the nerve of the fellow!” she cried.

“He says he knows you, ma’am,” the maid said timidly.

“Absurd! How could he possibly know me? Tell him to go away and not come back.

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