Chapter Twenty-One #2
‘Do you have an appointment?’ she asked, eyeing the gig with disdain when Farrah asked to see Mrs Armstrong.
‘Tell your mistress that Lady Farrah Dalton is here to see her,’ Farrah replied, pushing past the girl into a short entrance hall.
‘Dalton?’ The name seemed to shake the servant out of her complacency. ‘Wait here,’ she said, turning abruptly on her heel.
Farrah was more astonished than offended by the girl’s lack of respect as she loitered in the hall, idly examining the spartan artwork decorating the walls.
Now that she was actually there, she felt calm and composed and ready to get answers, even if they were not what she wanted to hear.
The truth, no matter how unpalatable, would be an improvement upon her increasingly wild speculations.
‘I am not surprised to see you here,’ Mrs Armstrong said, emerging from what was obviously her sitting room.
‘Of course you are not,’ Farrah replied in a cool tone. ‘You could not have made your wish to see me more obvious, so I came.’
‘Alone, I trust.’
‘Who else would I bring with me?’
‘There you have the advantage of me.’ Mrs Armstrong led the way back into a modest-sized sitting room and indicated a chair in front of the fire. ‘Now, how can I help you?’ she asked.
‘I have come to ask you about my father,’ Farrah replied, willing to go through the motions of a polite exchange, even though they both knew the reason for her visit very well.
Reuben drove quickly and probably reached his destination only a few minutes after Farrah.
He was relieved to see her gig in the driveway, the cob munching away at a patch of lawn and barely lifting his head when Reuben’s spritely team rattled to a halt a short distance away.
He secured their reins to a post and headed for the house.
His knock was answered by a maid.
‘The Duke of Alton to see your mistress,’ he said, thrusting his hat into her hands and striding past her, leaving her with her mouth hanging open. He heard voices coming from the room to the right and thrust the door open, Percival at his heels.
‘Ah, your grace.’ Mrs Armstrong looked up at him, a taunting smile playing about her lips. Percival growled at her. ‘I have been expecting you.’
‘Then you have the advantage of me, madam,’ Reuben replied tersely.
‘Your grace!’ Farrah rose from her chair, her eyes widening in surprise. Percival trotted over to her, his tail wagging. She bent to ruffle his ears but did not take her eyes off Reuben. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’
‘I might ask you the same question,’ Reuben replied, keeping the censure out of his tone by the sheer force of his will.
The relief he felt at seeing her looking perfectly well and unharmed was tempered by annoyance at her rash behaviour.
They neither of them knew Mrs Armstrong’s true purpose, but it was clear that she had some sort of secret interest in Farrah’s family – more specifically her father – so it was fair to assume that his daughter’s intrusion would be unwelcome.
He glanced at Mrs Armstrong, who continued to watch him with an amused smile playing about her lips.
She was enjoying the confrontation, Reuben sensed, rather than being annoyed by it, leading him to suppose that her attendance at his mother’s party the previous day had been a deliberate ploy to encourage Farrah’s curiosity.
He had never met such a conniving female before, so it was hard to be sure.
‘Lady Farrah just now arrived and has yet to explain the purpose of her visit,’ Mrs Armstrong said, indicating that Reuben should take the chair beside Farrah.
‘I have just told Mrs Armstrong that I have come to enquire after my father,’ Farrah said, her posture rigidly upright, her cultured tone crisp and devoid of any emotion.
Her expression gave nothing of her innermost feelings away, but the fact that she had linked her gloved fingers together in her lap indicated nervousness.
‘She was about to satisfy my curiosity in that regard.’
‘What makes you suppose I have anything more than a passing acquaintance with the gentleman?’
‘I would advise against playing games with me, Mrs Armstrong,’ Farrah replied, managing to look down her nose at the woman even though they were both seated and of a similar height.
Her cut glass accent emphasised her status as a lady of quality and Reuben, despite being annoyed with her, had never admired her courage more.
‘I am not in your debt financially, nor am I afraid of you.’
Reuben wanted to applaud. It was clear that Farrah’s attitude had unnerved Mrs Armstrong, whose delicate little smile finally faded, and she was the first to look away.
‘Your father and I are engaged in a joint business venture,’ she said, adopting a bored tone that belied her obvious anxiety.
In her world her word was generally law, Reuben imagined, and she had probably not been expecting a confrontation with a young woman who was willing to take the fight to her.
‘It is for him to tell you the particulars, should he wish you to know anything about them.’
‘That would suit me very well, but for the fact that I have absolutely no idea where to find him.’
‘I cannot help you there.’
‘I would prefer it if you did not treat me like a simpleton,’ Farrah replied with asperity.
‘For reasons that I have been unable to fathom, you made it very clear to me yesterday that you are acquainted with Papa. Well acquainted. You are an intelligent woman and would not have made an accidental slip of that nature. So tell me, why were you so keen for me to learn of your association?’
‘That is something that I would very much like to know.’
All heads turned towards the doorway, where a bleary-eyed, dishevelled figure stood in the aperture. Percival, laying at Farrah’s feet, got up and growled.
‘Papa!’ Farrah cried in astonishment. But she did not rush to him.
‘How long have you been here, Dalton?’ Reuben asked in a mordant tone, his expression set in stone.
‘Less than an hour. I travelled all night from Liverpool.’
‘And ran straight to the bosom of your family to ally their fears for your safety,’ Reuben said in a sarcastic tone.
‘No, your grace,’ Mrs Armstrong said, standing to join Papa and linking her arm through his. ‘He ran straight to his wife.’