The Secret Hours by Santa Montefiore

Author:Santa Montefiore [Montefiore, Santa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781471169649
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

The following afternoon when Arethusa and Rupert arrived at the Sutcliffe mansion in Belgravia they found the Duchess was indisposed. The footman explained that only Lord Penrith, Lady Alexandra, Miss Margharita Stubbs and her mother, Mrs Stubbs, were in the drawing room with Mr Madison. Arethusa and Rupert were greeted by the sound of laughter that trickled into the hall with the esprit of a bubbling stream and caught each other’s eye, silently questioning the unusual sound of high spirits coming from the room upstairs. They discovered, to their delight, that without the Duchess presiding over the occasion the atmosphere had an air of festivity, which hadn’t been there before.

Mrs Stubbs had positioned herself in the middle of the sofa where the Duchess had sat the previous afternoon, sipping tea from the finest china cup and nibbling cake from the most exquisite china plate. She quivered with excitement, relishing having the Marquess of Penrith to herself – a marquess, no less, who would one day be a duke, and whom she hoped to very soon welcome into her family as the fiancé of her only daughter, Margherita. The excitement was almost too much and her cheeks glowed a vivid crimson as if they had received two healthy slaps. Squeezed into her corset and embellished with bright, ostentatious jewels, there was rather a lot more of Mrs Stubbs on view than polite London Society was accustomed to in a lady of her age. Her embonpoint was barely contained and ballooned out of the ruffles of her décolletage like a pair of soufflés that wobbled every time she laughed. Perhaps Peregrine was making her laugh on purpose, for his own amusement. However, as soon as Arethusa and Rupert entered the room he got to his feet to welcome them with a look of relief.

After the usual pleasantries Arethusa seated herself between Lady Alexandra and Margherita (both girls more interested in the trio at the other end of the room than in their music lesson) and opposite the object of her most ardent desire, Jonas Madison. Her infatuation had only swelled overnight and she felt more in love with him than ever. Without the Duchess’s incisive gaze upon her she felt braver and ready to take the odd risk.

‘I practised last night when I got home,’ she told Jonas, feeling a strange sensation in her belly as their eyes locked. ‘I was so inspired.’

‘It pleases me greatly to have inspired you,’ Jonas replied.

‘I couldn’t practise,’ added Margherita. ‘Mama drags me out every evening. She’s relentless.’ Then her gaze strayed across the room. ‘Perhaps now she will calm down a little and allow me to catch my breath.’

‘I think she’s where she wants to be now,’ agreed Arethusa and she smiled as something Peregrine said made Mrs Stubbs burst into a fit of laughter again. Rupert looked up from beneath his dark eyebrows and caught Lady Alexandra’s eye.

‘I didn’t practise either,’ said Lady Alexandra, enlivening beneath Rupert’s gaze. ‘I suppose I must if I am to play and sing.

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