Free Fenella J Miller by A House Party Page B

This person was an
opportunist who had seen his chance and seized upon it. It was quite possible,
having failed, he wouldn’t make a further attempt;
especially as his quarry was now under the protection of a powerful local
magistrate. He frowned. Perhaps it would be better to let the matter drop; she
was in no danger now.
    No! He would find the bastard and
deal with him. No one threatened his beloved and got away with it. He had to
lure the villain out of hiding, make him show his hand again. He would hold a
party for all his tenants and villagers to celebrate his betrothal. Ducray was
booked for a month; he would arrange for an event to take place and this would
allow the man he sought to gain access to Headingly .
He would do the rest.
    His band of trained men, who
worked as grooms when he was home, would check every single gentleman that came
in. It shouldn’t be difficult to ferret out the fortune hunter. There could not
be more than a handful of single gentlemen who were unknown to him in the
county.
    There was a noise outside in the
corridor. Instantly alert, he uncoiled from the chair and, on the balls of his
feet, moved silently behind his desk. His right hand slid open a drawer and he
reached in to remove his pistol. This was already loaded; all he had to do was
cock it. He dropped his hand down, hiding the weapon from view. The handle on the
heavy door began to run and his finger closed on the trigger. He held his
breath, waiting, watching.
    ‘Good God! James! What the hell
are you doing creeping about down here at his time of night?’ Ned returned the
pistol to the drawer and pushed it closed with his hip.
    ‘Sorry, Ned. I’ve been outside to blow a cloud and seeing light coming from under your door
wanted to come in and congratulate you. I’m delighted you’ve finally found
someone that comes up to your exacting standards.’
    ‘Come in and have a drink. I must
apologize for not telling you privately, but I had no idea I was going to
propose until I did so.’
    James laughed. ‘In that case, I
forgive you. I never considered you impulsive. How can you be sure you’ve made
the right decision, if you’ve not given it your usual weighty consideration?’
    Ned’s eyes narrowed and
immediately his cousin raised his hands. ‘It’s my turn to apologize, Ned. My
remark was intended as a jest.’
    ‘Pour yourself a brandy and sit
down.’ He waited until his cousin was seated before continuing. ‘I’m intending
to hold an open day to celebrate my betrothal. I should dearly like your
assistance in the planning.’
    ‘Pleased to
help you. Why don’t you have a ball in the evening as well? I’m sure
Miss Coombs, and the other ladies, would love an excuse to don their finery.’
    ‘An excellent
notion. However, I think two occasions on the same day too much. I
rather thought I should hold the public one whilst I have Ducray here, which
means sometime in the next three and a half weeks.’
    ‘And the ball? When shall we have that? The following week? That
would mean towards the end of June. Why not have it on midsummer’s eve and then
you already have a theme for the decorations.’
    ‘Perfect. That gives us ample
time to send out invitations. I want Venetia and Elizabeth to attend - you know
how long it takes my sisters to prepare for any journey.’ He yawned hugely. ‘Sorry, James. You’re not boring me, but I think it’s time
we both retired. Can we continue this tomorrow, when Miss Coombs is present? I
wish her to be involved in the planning too.’

 
    The following day sped past.
Penny was introduced to the new arrivals but knew she would never remember all
their names. The Remingtons were a large family with
two gangly sons, who seemed in awe of their surroundings, and three giggling
daughters. They were friendly and good-humoured and as they were Headingly’s nearest neighbours she would be seeing more of
them.
    The other two couples were
aristocratic friends from London, very high in the