The Frog Earl Read Online Free PDF Page B

offend him.”
    “Not at the colonel's dinner party,” pleaded the Honorable Mrs. Forbes. The faded widow of the black sheep of a noble family, who had expired shortly after being exiled to join the East India Company in Calcutta, she had little expectation of being heeded. “He is not good enough for you, to be sure, and at another time it would not matter, but not at the dinner party, pray.”
    Mimi sighed. “No, you are right. I said the same to Lady Thompson yesterday.”
    “And your father wishes you to act as his hostess tomorrow. The proper arrangement of guests at the table is a most important duty of the hostess.”
    “You don't mind, do you? Not being Papa's hostess any longer?”
    “Not at all, dear. I have never been quite comfortable in the rôle, but I hope I have taught you all that you need to know.”
    “I shall do my best to be a credit to you, ma'am. Sir Wilfred shall sit next to me. But I insist that Harriet is to be beside him, and Albert Pell on her other side. Mr. Cooper will have to go next to Lady Marbury, then, with you between him and Mr. Blake. Will that be all right?”
    “So very difficult with a dearth of married couples,” Mrs. Forbes dithered.
    “At least both the baronets' widows are next to Papa, each with a parson on the other side. They cannot quarrel about that.” Mimi dipped her quill and wrote in the names on her plan. “How complicated it is! Between that and the menu, we have been at it half the afternoon.” She scowled out at the downpour which had kept her within doors.
    “Pray do not wrinkle your brow so, Mimi. You will develop lines.”
    “I don't mind wrinkles, if they will only drive Sir Wilfred back to Harriet.” Nonetheless, she hastily smoothed her forehead with one fingertip. “If it is still raining tomorrow, perhaps some of our guests will not come. I could not bear it if our numbers are upset after all the work we have done.” Hearing a deep chuckle behind her, she swung round. “Papa!”
    The colonel stepped into the ladies' sitting room. “I am come to upset your numbers, my love,” he said, a smile creasing his thin face, made leathery by the sun of India.
    “I hope you are teasing, Papa.”
    “Not I.” Taking a seat on a flowered chintz sofa by the fire, he held out his hands to the flames. A lean man in his mid forties, he was still unaccustomed to the chill of the English climate. “I have heard that Lady Thompson has a relative staying with her,” he went on, “a Mr. Hurst, who ought to be invited.”
    “Oh no!” So he was still in the neighborhood! Mimi searched for a quick excuse to avoid extending the invitation he had requested. “There are no more ladies available to make up the numbers.”
    “What of Harriet's sister?”
    “Judith is only fifteen, and besides, she has a horrid cold.” Mimi joined her father on the sofa. “I believe I saw Lady Thompson's guest yesterday, riding by the mere. He must be a very distant relative, I think. He looked quite commonplace, not at all gentlemanly.” A true gentleman, she thought with renewed indignation, would not have demanded a kiss. He did not deserve to gain any of his claimed rewards. “And she did not mention him to Harriet and me when we went to tea.” The news had doubtless reached the colonel via the network of Mere House servants who had relatives working at Salters Hall.
    “I understand he is come to learn estate management from Wickham.”
    “Then surely we need not invite him? If he is nothing but a bailiff, he will not be in the least interested in your orphanage. Indeed, Papa, Mrs. Forbes and I have worked ourselves into a decline over the seating arrangements, have we not, ma'am? It would be too bad to upset everything.”
    “Very well, my pet,” he said indulgently, patting her cheek. “After all, we have not been formally advised of his arrival. I don't wish to offend her ladyship, though. I shall tell her that the fellow is welcome to call at another