Free Anything but a Gentleman by Amanda Grange

her.
    Marianne responded to Jennifer’s schoolgirl enthusiasm with an enthusiasm of her own, praising the lavish spread that had been put on for the guests.
    ‘There was going to be black butter as well,’ confided Jennifer, ‘but Jem and I ate it this morning.’
    ‘What, all of it?’ laughed Marianne.
    ‘Well, not quite. But almost!’
    ‘And what did your mother say?’ teased Marianne.
    ‘Mama was not pleased!’ said Jennifer with emphasis.
    ‘Marianne! Dance with me!’ said Jem, claiming her for the last dance of the evening. Marianne gave him her hand with a good grace and joined him on the floor to dance the boulanger . It was a rather complicated dance, and Jem, the undeniable possessor of two left feet, made rather a mull of it. Still,  Marianne managed to get through to the end in one piece.
    ‘Oh! How good it is to see the young people enjoying themselves!’ exclaimed Miss Stock as Marianne joined her once the dance was over. ‘But now, my dear, it is growing late.’
    ‘Of course. I’ll send for our cloaks,’ said Marianne.
    The ball was beginning to break up. Several guests were thanking Mr and Mrs Cosgrove for a delightful evening and taking their leave.
    ‘Thank you for  a wonderful evening,’ said Marianne to Mrs Cosgrove as she waited in the hall for Tom to bring the carriage round.
    ‘My dear, we were just glad you could come.’
     ‘Yes, thank you Elizabeth,’ said Miss Stock, adding her thanks to Marianne’s.
    And then Tom arrrived, and Marianne and Miss Stock went out of the house.    
     

Chapter Four
     
    ‘I hope you mayn’t have taken cold at the Cosgroves’ last night,’ said her father querulously as Marianne played chess with him the following morning. He picked up his bishop and moved it with shaking fingers across the board. ‘Going out in the winter is a perilous thing to do.’
    ‘No, Papa,’ Marianne reassured him, as she deliberately overlooked the fact that he had exposed his knight. She picked up one of her own pawns and moved it harmlessly up the board. ‘I’m sure I have not.’
    ‘Young people are so thoughtless,’ he complained, studying her move. ‘They open windows and let in the night air. And if you take cold I don’t know what is to become of us, for I am only a useless old man, you know.’
    ‘You are not an old man, Papa. And you are far from useless. If you would only bestir yourself, you could do everything I do.’ She put out her hand, resting it on his as she tried to recall him to the world. ‘And you would do it so much better than me. You have years of experience, Papa, whereas I am all at sea. I am trying to run the estate, but . . . ’
    She tailed away, for she could see that it was no good. Instead of bestirring himself, her father shrank back in his chair. ‘I?’ he asked anxiously. ‘Oh, no, my dear, I am too old for all of that now. Far too old. If only Christopher hadn’t disgraced himself,’ he said, his voice starting to tremble as he embarked on a familiar theme. ‘It –’
    Marianne sighed. Her efforts to rouse her papa out of his lethargy had been wasted, as they had been wasted so many times before. ‘Yes, Papa,’ she said soothingly, knowing that soothing him was now her only recourse. If she did not, he would only become more deeply embedded in his woes. Then, speaking brightly, she tried to turn the direction of his thoughts by saying, ‘I believe it is your move.’
    Bit by bit she managed to get him to focus his attention on the game once more, and when it was finished she left the stuffy room with a feeling akin to relief. It was a trial to her to see her father behaving as though he was in his dotage when he was in fact still a comparatively young man. And although she knew he had had a lot of trials to bear, she wished he could have made more of an effort, for her sake if not his own. After all, she had had the same trials to bear, and she had not become a recluse.
    After spending an hour in the