Chapter Four #2
He expected to find Jennie in the parlor, busy at her desk.
She liked to deal with her correspondence in the mornings, before callers began knocking on her door or she went to make calls of her own.
After spending her early married life in Edinburgh, she had taken to London society like a duck to water, and seemed completely at home.
Luna, Jennie’s sister, was very different.
She and Callum’s father Maxwell had preferred a free and unfettered existence.
Maxwell might have been a gamekeeper, but he could turn his hand to many other trades, and so he had in the years the family had traveled about Scotland.
Callum had learned to love nature and to feel at one with it.
Returning to Bonnyrigg and living such a different life had been hard for them all, but it was the promise they had made to Callum’s grandfather, and so they had kept their word.
Bonnyrigg might have been a far different life from roaming the countryside, but Callum still had his freedom.
He could get up in the morning and set off to wander about all day, not returning until nightfall.
He had always thought of his growing up years as perfect, and it was only now that he realized how woefully unprepared he was for the position he would one day inherit.
How could he ever feel comfortable in the drawing rooms of aristocrats?
Now, Penelope Armstrong was a different matter.
He could imagine her at Bonnyrigg, charming the crusty old nobles who had been friends with his grandfather but looked down upon Maxwell and Luna and their children.
He could see her hosting dinner parties in the great hall where even the King wouldn’t feel out of place.
But he was getting ahead of himself.
He peeped around the door and found Jennie at her desk.
“Callum!” She smiled as she rose and stretched up to kiss his cheek. She was not like Luna, having fair hair instead of red, and grey eyes instead of blue. Not the silvery grey of Penelope Armstrong, however—again, her image popped into his head and he spent a moment admiring it.
“Do tell me how it all went,” Jennie said. “Was Miss Armstrong as clever as everyone says? I wasn’t sure at first, with her reputation, but my friends all thought she was the best option for you. She turned Mr. Hanbury’s daughters into ladies in the blink of an eye.”
Callum didn’t know who Mr. Hanbury’s daughters were, but he suspected they shared the same ambitions as himself, and were eager to enter society while being completely unsuited to do so. Just how many misfits had Penelope turned into successes?
“Miss Armstrong has agreed to take me on as her client. I start tomorrow at ten o’clock in the morning.”
Jennie clasped her hands. “Oh, that is good news!”
Callum gave her a curious look. “What do you mean with her reputation, Aunt Jennie?”
His aunt looked surprised. “I thought you knew, but of course, how could you?” She laughed a little nervously.
“Penelope Armstrong was the mistress of Lord Muir, until he died three years ago. She was never vulgar, you must not think that. She was brought up as a lady. I’m not sure why she decided to accept his lordship’s indecent proposal, but she did.
After he died, I believe she had plenty of similar offers, but instead of accepting any of them, she decided to become a teacher of manners and etiquette. ”
A wrinkle appeared between her brows. “People were a little dubious about her at first, and naturally there was some resistance amongst the more upright members of society, but she seems to have won over all but the most moral of them. Although socially, she is not invited to go amongst any but the Bohemian set; she would not be welcome.”
He was surprised by the news, and yet it explained why she was teaching rather than mingling.
Callum tried to picture Penelope Armstrong as some gentleman’s mistress and found it made him twitchy.
He reminded himself that he had wanted to know about her past, to understand her, but now he asked himself what had led such a beautiful and sophisticated woman to agree to be some man’s mistress.
And then to reject all the offers that came after he died.
Did that mean he had been the love of her life?
Callum’s spirits sank.
“But you do like her?” Jennie was eyeing him consideringly.
“She is very . . .” He changed his mind about waxing lyrical about her and stuck with a plain, “Yes, Aunt Jennie, I like her.”
But Jennie must have heard something in his voice because her eyes narrowed and she asked, “What is her appearance? I have never met her, and I am curious.”
Callum chose his words carefully. “She is about my age, I would guess, although she has the manner of someone older. Her hair is fair, very pale, and her eyes are almost silver. She reminds me of the fairytales my father sometimes tells.” He smiled.
“The sort of tales where the otherworldly creature puts a spell on the mortal, and he pines away with love for her.”
He must have gone too far because Jennie looked alarmed. “Well, that sounds a little concerning. Be careful she does not put a spell on you, Callum. Your mother would never forgive me.”
Callum laughed. “Don’t worry. I am too canny for that.”
Jennie didn’t look entirely convinced, but she moved the subject on. “I have heard her fees are quite steep. What is she asking?”
Callum had thought that most London ladies thought it vulgar to discuss anything to do with money, but his aunt was a shrewd Scotswoman.
When he told her, she seemed taken aback for a moment and then she took a breath and said, “Well, I suppose she can charge whatever she likes after the Hanbury sisters. The change in them was remarkable.”
Callum suddenly felt guilty. His aunt had offered to pay the fee as it was she who made the appointment. “Are you sure you can afford such a sum, Aunt Jennie? I can write to Father and ask him—”
“No, don’t do that. I can afford it. Strathmore’s shipping business has been very lucrative of late. And with no children of my own, I am more than happy to spend my money on my sister’s brood.”
Jennie had always been kind and generous, and they all loved her. Callum smiled warmly back. “Then thank you. I promise you it will be money well spent. In three weeks, when you hold the ball, you will not know me.”
“I hope it is not as drastic as that,” she said. “Remember, I love you as you are, nephew. But with just a wee bit of polish, you will be irresistible to all the ladies.”
Would he? Callum found himself hoping he would be irresistible to Penelope Armstrong. He sensed that beneath that cool, well-mannered exterior was a woman with hidden depths, and he was eager to plumb them.