Free Kathryn Caskie by Love Is in the Heir Page A

he said to Griffin, “sit down and tell me all about your young lady.”
    “He can
tell
you about her, my lord, but if you wish, you may meet her yourself—this very eve.” Garnet removed a lavender-edged card from his pocket and waved it teasingly in the air.
    Griffin snatched the card from his brother’s hand. “’Tis an invitation to the Featherton ladies’ house on Royal Crescent—for a precomet soiree.”
    The earl cleared his throat. “Precomet soiree? What sort of nonsense is this?”
    Griffin, who only a moment before had been of like mind with the earl about the nonsensical nature of such a party, read on, and as he did his heart began to pound inside his chest. He lifted his chin and stared directly at Garnet.
    “
Miss Caroline Herschel
—why, she’s England’s foremost authority on comets—will be in attendance? Here, in Bath?”
    Garnet nodded in that bored way of his when a topic of discussion did not revolve around him. “Yes, I believe that is right. Some astronomer of note will be the Feathertons’ honored guest this eve.”
    Griffin stuffed the invitation into his own pocket. “Thank you, Garnet, I shall be delighted to attend.”
    The comment snared his brother’s full attention. “No, no, no. ’Tis a
party
, a social gathering—which means . . . my territory. The invitation is clearly inscribed to Mr. St. Albans and guest.”
    The earl’s tiny blue eyes took on a keen focus. “I will be the guest.”
    “Absolutely, my lord. I would consider no other for such an occasion.” Garnet turned from the earl and lifted an eyebrow as he addressed Griffin. “Surely it must be clear to you that only
one
of us may attend the soiree. And you do not wish to jeopardize your budding relationship with Miss Chillton by making some social faux pas, do you?”
    “Of course not.”
    “Well, then,
I
should be the one to attend.” Garnet shot a smile to the earl. “We should leave the house before eight o’clock, my lord. Can you dress so quickly?”
    “Can you not see that I
am
dressed, boy?” The earl shook his head, which, to his fortune, turned his wig perfectly back into place.
    “Yes, eight o’clock. But
I
will be the St. Albans in attendance, Garnet. The house is to be full of astronomers and members of Bath’s philosophical society eager to discuss the comet—something you know nothing of. I, on the other hand will be able to attend to such discussions with expertise.” Griffin clicked his heels. “Do excuse me, my lord. Garnet will see to your lodgings above stairs. I must dress if we are to depart by eight.”

    “Did you see what he just did?” Garnet asked the earl with incredulity.
    “Yes, I did, boy.” The earl leaned back on the settee and considered the exchange he’d just witnessed between the lionhearted Griffin and the highly polished Garnet.
    Yes, coming to Bath had been a very good decision indeed.

    Hannah followed her duennas and their esteemed guest, the diminutive Miss Caroline Herschel, into the candlelit drawing room. Viewing her from behind, as Hannah was, it was nearly inconceivable that Miss Herschel was a woman grown.
    And yet, she was.
    Still, at two-and-seventy years, the frail Miss Herschel stood barely over four feet tall. Her impeded growth, she unabashedly had admitted to them at dinner, had been the result of typhus when she was but a girl of ten.
    Her ailment did nothing to contain her spirit or her mind, however, for Miss Caroline Herschel was by many accounts the most brilliant astronomer and mathematician of the day—man or woman.
    And as their private dinner progressed, Hannah found the elderly woman to possess a singularly wicked sense of humor as well. What a contrary little package this woman was.
    An hour later, the expansive candlelit drawing room was filled with members of Bath society and the international scientific world. As cordial, brandy, and sherry were served to the guests, Hannah sat before the forte-piano, regaling the