Free The Headstrong Ward by Jane Ashford

else.”
    The viscount ground his teeth. Mariah watched him with mild interest. Anne struggled between nervousness at the anger in his face and a desire to giggle.
    â€œThe deuce!” he burst out at last. “Leave it, then. What does it matter? My peace is entirely cut up as it is; one more annoyance will make no difference.” He glared at Mariah again. “But if I see so much as a crumb of earth anywhere else in the house…”
    â€œWe shall be very tidy,” said Mariah.
    Lord Wrenley let out an enraged breath, turned on his heel, and stalked out. They heard him say, “Get out of my way, you,” in the corridor, and then he was gone.
    â€œWhew!” breathed Laurence. “I haven’t seen Charles that angry since Edward took out his favorite gun without leave.”
    â€œA disgraceful exhibition of temper,” agreed Mariah. “And over nothing at all.”
    Laurence opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. Unable to control herself any longer, Anne started to laugh. The man turned to stare at her, even more incredulous, then slowly smiled. In another moment, he too was laughing, though with more nervousness than humor, Anne thought. “It is rather ridiculous,” he murmured.
    â€œCompletely,” agreed the girl.
    â€œBut Charles had some grounds…”
    â€œOh, yes.”
    Laurence sobered. “I wonder how we shall get through the season,” he added. Before Anne could reply, Fallow came in to announce that Edward had come to take her to Tattersall’s.
    When Edward asked her, as they drove through the busy streets in his phaeton, how her morning had been, Anne could not resist telling him the full story of Mariah’s garden. His reaction was much less cautious than Laurence’s. He threw back his head and roared with laughter until Anne had to beg him to keep a better watch for pedestrians. “If I could have seen Charles’s face,” he gasped, “I would have paid a guinea—ten guineas—to have been there.”
    Anne gazed curiously across at him. “Don’t you like your brother? You always seem so pleased when he is annoyed.”
    Captain Debenham’s grin did not fade, but he raised his blond eyebrows a little. “It’s not a question of liking. It’s just that Charles has had his own way so much, I enjoy seeing him thwarted now and then. I think it’s good for him.”
    â€œHas he?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œHad his own way?”
    â€œWell, of course he has. You know it as well as I. He took charge when Father died; Mama couldn’t manage. He has been the head of the family since then.”
    â€œI wonder if he wished to be?” Edward stared at her, and Anne flushed a little. “It is just that I met the head of Arabella’s family—her uncle Thomas—once, and he seemed to take great pleasure in his position. He meddled in everyone’s affairs and tried to tell them what profession to take up and whom to marry. Yet Charles… Did he tell you to go into the army?”
    â€œAre you joking? I have wanted that since I was in short coats.”
    â€œHave you?” Anne looked wistful. “I never knew. But you see, Charles does not act at all like Arabella’s uncle. In fact, he seems to want nothing more than to be rid of all of us. You and me and Laurence, I mean.”
    Edward considered this, then shrugged. “Well, it don’t make a particle of difference.”
    â€œBut, Edward, it is very…” She stopped abruptly.
    Her companion frowned. “Are you up to something, Anne? I know you’re all grown up, and looking fine as fivepence, but I’d swear you haven’t changed that much. I’ve seen that look in your eye—the one that means you’re plotting mischief.”
    â€œEdward!”
    â€œOh, don’t play the innocent; I know you. Indeed, Anne, I remember better than the others how