Strange Capers Read Online Free Page B

but there was a spark of mischief in those dark eyes. He bestowed a peck on Rachel’s arid cheek and then returned his attention to me. “And this would be Miss Bethel,” he said, extending his hand.
    “Pethel,” I corrected.
    “Quite. A relative of Sir John, I believe?”
    “Yes, he was Mama’s brother.”
    “It is kind of you to bear Rachel company. Are you making a long visit?”
    “Yes, rather. I live here,” I replied.
    Aiglon seated himself on the far end of my sofa, halfway between Rachel and myself.
    “A glass of wine, Aiglon? Tell us all the news from London. How is your dear mama?” Rachel asked. She filled a glass of wine from the side table and handed it to him.
    “She was enjoying a fit of vapors when I left.”
    “She should have come with you. The sea air would do her any amount of good,” Rachel said.
    “She prefers the smoke and fog and clamor of London. I am the one who seeks respite from it.”
    “And is that why you’re here, to rest and take the sea air?” Rachel inquired politely. “You look stout enough to me, I must say. What is the trouble, Aiglon?”
    “The lungs,” he answered readily, and gave a little cough to bolster this claim to invalidism. “But I am by no means a bed-case. I’ve brought a few mounts to do some riding. In fact, I drove my curricle down, and my grooms are bringing my traveling carriage behind me. I hope my stable here can accommodate eight extra nags.”
    “Eight!” Rachel exclaimed in horror. “I thought it was only six. I mean, six,” she corrected, for she didn’t wish to give the notion that even six were acceptable.
    “Yes, only eight,” he agreed. “But you must not think I mean to be a burden to your people. I brought my own grooms and valet and footmen to attend to my needs. I shall be very little bother to you, Cousin.” He smiled blandly at the end of this awful revelation.
    “How many? Grooms and footmen, I mean?” Rachel asked, her face blanching.
    “Just a couple of grooms and two or three footmen. I hadn’t realized Thornbury was so small, or I could have made do with one groom.”
    “Yes, it is very small,” she told him, hinting that he might still return the excess staff to London.
    His next speech showed me that Rachel had met her match. “Then I shall write to Riddell and tell him not to come. I don’t want to be any trouble to you at all.”
    His expectant face said as clearly as words that he anticipated praise for his consideration, perhaps even a polite insistence that Riddell come by all means.
    “Unless your man of business enjoys sleeping in the cellar, you had best not ask him to come” was Rachel’s reply. It was delivered in faint accents. The fight had been shocked out of her for the moment.
    There was a little edge returning to her voice when she continued speaking. “I don’t want to rush you, Aiglon, but dinner has been waiting an age. We keep country hours here.”
    “Dinner? I couldn’t eat a bite. I am fagged after the trip and shall retire now for the night. Perhaps a cup of broth in my room in about an hour. I could eat no more. Tomorrow I shall look forward to trying some of the local seafood.”
    “Just as you like, Aiglon,” Rachel replied, perfectly livid around the mouth from her efforts to control her spleen.
    “Thank you so much. I don’t want you to go to any special trouble for me. Will you have the servants bring me up plenty of hot water for a bath now? Oh, and there is just one other thing. I am rather a light sleeper. If you could keep the noise down tonight and in the early morning, I would appreciate it. You don’t keep a rooster, I hope?”
    “Of course we keep a rooster! How shall we have any increase in the henhouse without a rooster?” She was vexed into replying.
    “Pity.”
    “You won’t hear it if you keep your window closed,” she said through thin lips.
    “I always sleep with my window open. I came for the sea breezes.” He arose languidly and sauntered