Free Sir Philip's Folly (The Poor Relation Series Book 4) by M. C. Beaton

Sinclair might oblige him by sending a note to Lady Carruthers saying that her daughter would be welcome also.
    Mrs. Sinclair smiled indulgently, assuming the earl to be smitten with Miss Carruthers, and said she would send a note right away.
    Lady Carruthers scowled down at that note. She felt she was making progress with the earl. Into every indifferent remark he had made to her she read growing passion. Then he always asked her to dance and the fact that healways asked about Arabella she considered a very hopeful sign. The earl obviously had a fatherly interest in the girl. And so she shrugged and crumpled up the note and threw it into the empty fireplace.
    Arabella found it later that day, smoothed it out and read it. She was feeling increasingly angry because her mother showed no signs of wanting to take her anywhere and doubted very much whether she would take her to this musicale. Also Arabella was weary of wandering the corridors of the hotel hoping to bump into the earl. Her mother did not even take her to the dining-room but had her meals sent in from a chop-house.
    The only thing that brightened her days was the fact that Mr. Davy’s clothes had been made at great speed and he was to arrive in his new guise the next day. Lady Fortescue had decided it would get him closer to Mrs. Budge if, instead of staying in the hotel, he stayed at the apartment next door, which would also underline the fact that he was the son of a friend of the colonel’s.
    The following evening, Arabella wistfully watched her mother getting ready to go out. Arabella was going to go up to the “staff” sitting-room the moment her mother disappeared to judge how well Mr. Davy was playing his part. It had been decided to let him keep his own name, as Sir Philip never went to the theatre and Mr. Davy had not trodden the boards for some time. Sir Philip, she knew, had gone off with Mrs. Budge to her flat which she had rented out because the tenant was behind with his payments, but Lady Fortescue had left a note for him telling him to be in the sitting-room at ten o’clock.
    As soon as her mother had left, Arabella put her hair up and took a fashionable gown out of her mother’s wardrobe and put it on. She would look like a young woman for this one evening, although the only people to appreciate the result would be the poor relations.
    The gown she had chosen was of thin white muslin ornamented with sprigs of forget-me-nots. It showed off her excellent figure to advantage, although it was slightly tight across the bosom. She had a Norfolk shawl draped around her shoulders and some of her mother’s perfume behind her ears. She had been modestly pleased with her reflection in the glass, and as she left the room she wistfully thought that it would be wonderful if the earl could meet her and see her in all her grown-up glory.
    She walked to the main staircase and met the earl, who was dressed to go out in black evening dress, sculptured cravat and hair pomaded so that it shone like gold.
    He automatically bowed and then his eyes widened. “Miss Carruthers! You look so very charming. You will break all hearts tonight.”
    Arabella laughed. “You mean Sir Philip might transfer his attentions to me?”
    He frowned. “But I understood that you were to attend Mrs. Sinclair’s musicale. In fact, Mrs. Sinclair told me that she would send a note to Lady Carruthers suggesting you attend.”
    Arabella gave a rueful little shrug. “I found that note crumpled in the fireplace and Mama said nothing of it to me, so here I am, but looking forward to the first meeting of Mr. Davy and Sir Philip.”
    He felt a sudden spasm of anger against the absent Lady Carruthers and then found he was not looking forward to the evening at all. On impulse, he said, “I would like to attend the first act of this play. Do you think Lady Fortescue would mind?”
    Her eyes lit up. “No, for Miss Tonks has already told her that you know of the plan. But Mama will be expecting