Wit, Wiles and Courtship (The Earl’s Sisters #3)

Chapter 1

Kington, Herefordshire

Fifteen-year-old Everard, the fifth Earl of Poole, clasped his hands behind his back and leaned over to peer at his ten-day-old niece, addressing the infant’s mother over his shoulder. “Allow me to offer my condolences, Dorry. I have never seen a more ill-favored child.”

“Tsk.” Lady Camilla Rowlandson frowned at her brother as she cradled her eldest sister’s swaddled newborn, whose tiny nose and pink bow lips would win over the most hardened of hearts even with sleepy lids covering her large blue eyes.

She knew the look on her brother’s face well enough.

Where his sisters were concerned, Evo had mastered the art of provocation.

She also knew from experience that she should ignore him, but in true sisterly exasperation, ignored her own good sense instead.

“You are wrong as usual. Little Augusta is without flaw.”

“And that’s another thing,” he continued, the look of studied cynicism belied by the impish glint in his eyes. “Augusta? Why ever did you saddle the poor child with a name like that?”

“Evo!” Lady Sophia scolded gently. It was the second-eldest sister’s turn to come to her niece’s defense. “Augusta Marie Shaw is a good, dignified name. She will grow into it beautifully.”

Camilla, third in line of the Rowlandson sisters, gazed at the sleeping baby in her arms and privately thought Evo had a point.

Augusta was a difficult name for a child to bear, especially in her tender years.

One was expected to be wise and staunch with a name like that.

Then again, as the first in what would likely be a long line of cousins, Augusta Marie would probably lead the charge, as her mother did, thereby living up to her name.

Elmscote, the estate belonging to the new parents, was situated on the outskirts of Herefordshire near Hergest Ridge, and the house was comfortable enough to accommodate the eight guests with room to spare.

Miles and Dorothea had thrown open its doors to celebrate the arrival of their first child and the occasion of the first grandchild in the Rowlandson family.

Evo had arrived that afternoon, the last of the siblings to join the house party that was expected to last into October.

At that particular moment, the widowed Lady Poole, mother to the young earl and his five sisters, was at the neighboring dower house visiting with Miles’s mother, Lady Isabelle Shaw.

And Sophia, the only other of the sisters to be married, had come with her husband, Felix Harwood.

The party was short one guest—Miles’s cousin and the baby’s godfather, Lord Pembroke, was still absent without sending word.

Which is entirely unsurprising, Camilla grumbled to herself.

He was notoriously unpredictable when it came to accepting invitations.

Not that she cared a whit about his movements.

She had come for her sister and her niece.

He could forget to show up at all, and she would be perfectly content.

After all, it was not as though she were anything to him.

Lady Matilda, their youngest sister at the age of thirteen, was knitting a second pair of booties in soft wool, the first already adorning the beloved infant’s feet.

She lifted a finished bootie and sought the new mother’s attention.

“Dorry, I made this one a little larger, but you will still be able to secure it with the ribbons until she grows into it. It will be warm enough for the winter.”

Lady Dorothea expressed her admiration and turned to the door, her smile ready, as the sound of her husband’s approach echoed in the hall. A moment later, he entered with Felix and the only Rowlandson sister as yet unassembled in the drawing room.

At seventeen, Lady Joanna fell between Camilla and Evo and was devoted to animals, the outdoors, and adventure of every kind. She had discovered a litter of kittens in the stables and could not resist going there to play with them for a “quick visit” that usually turned into hours.

“We found a stray on our way in from the stables and allowed him to enter,” Miles announced, his voice lit with humor.

Camilla kissed the baby’s forehead, then turned to Miles, expecting to see one of the kittens in Joanna’s arms. Instead, her gaze landed—and froze—on Lord Pembroke.

He had entered the room, still muddied from riding and was looking her way.

In the two months since she had seen him, his cheeks had grown tan under his dark curls, so like Miles’s, and she noticed that he had trimmed his whiskers back until he scarcely had any.

His arms seemed to have grown stronger; or perhaps he was just wearing a more tightly fitted coat. Her mouth went dry.

He greeted everyone in the room with casual grace, leaning down to take Dorothea’s hand and give his compliments, bowing before Sophia and Tilly, joking with Evo.

Camilla wondered if he would even bother to notice her above a cursory greeting.

At last, he strolled over to her with a smile that did strange things to her heart.

“Lady Camilla, you take well to your role as aunt.” His voice sounded deeper than she remembered it. His focused attention and that smile that always hovered on his lips made her forget how to respond. She steeled herself, remembering that he was nothing more than a flirt.

“I do everything well that I set my mind to,” she replied in a careless manner. Her heart was pounding from the surprise of his appearance and his prolonged attention. Fortunately, he did not seem to notice her nervousness and peered down at the baby.

“So this is Miss Augusta Shaw. A fetching little creature, I must say, and one I am proud to acknowledge as my goddaughter. Miles, you are lucky she takes after Lady Dorothea.”

His cousin smiled broadly, as if Pembroke had given him the greatest compliment. “I am fortunate indeed.” A servant entered the drawing room to announce that Lord Pembroke’s room was ready, and Miles waved his cousin over. “Come, I’ll take you there. I’ve put you in the same room as the last time.”

Augusta began to fuss, and Camilla brought her to Dorothea, who reached up for the baby. She smiled, murmuring, “Are you hungry again, dear child? How is that possible?”

Camilla watched furtively as Pembroke stopped to answer Evo’s questions about which way he had come, and where he had changed his horses.

Then he followed Miles out of the drawing room, and a blanket of stillness fell.

That was when it occurred to her how doubtful it was she looked her best and felt overcome by a desperate need to discover just how bad it was.

Miles had taken his cousin to a different wing, and she walked in the opposite direction to her room.

For some reason, Joanna had decided to follow her.

“The kittens are growing ever so precious. You ought to come and see them with me.” When Camilla didn’t respond, Joanna climbed the stairs at her side. “It will do you good to take some air.”

Camilla wondered if she intended to follow her all the way to her room. Normally, she would not mind, but she didn’t want her sister to catch her examining herself in the mirror. Unaware of her preoccupation, Joanna kept pace with her, waiting for her answer.

“I do take air when it is not too hot. I go walking,” Camilla replied. The heat of summer had stretched into the beginning of September.

That was a bit of a stretch, though. Truthfully, she easily could be lazy if she let herself.

It was much more pleasant to sit indoors and read while sipping tea and nibbling—or devouring, depending on the state of her nerves—the cakes that Miles’s cook made.

She had to push herself to go out and walk, to remember how hard she had worked to lose the extra fat that had made her gowns tight last winter.

To remember how good it felt when there was room to breathe in them, or the joy she experienced the first time she could clearly see her collar bones.

Still, it was a battle to keep to her good resolutions.

Of course, once she was outdoors, she did enjoy it.

She admired the way the sun filtered through the trees when walking along the shaded paths and liked the way the earth smelled after the rain.

They had reached her room, and Joanna followed her into it.

“I wish you would go riding with me. You are the only one I might depend upon to do so. Dorry cannot in her present state, and Sophia was never really skilled at riding. Evo is too competitive and provoking to be a pleasant companion, and Tilly is too frail.”

Camilla wondered if her sister ever wished they were closer now that their relationship was not as antagonistic as it once was.

She hadn’t considered the idea before—not when Joanna rarely sought any of her sisters’ company—but perhaps she had been unobservant.

“I suppose I can come with you one of these mornings before the day grows too hot.”

Joanna gave a little crow of delight. “Shall we go tomorrow? I’ve discovered a glade on the other side of the meadow that I wish to show you.”

“Very well,” Camilla said, resigned. “But now I want to rest before dinner.”

“How can you rest in the middle of the day?” Joanna bemoaned, but having achieved her purpose, she was already on her way out. She stopped at the door and turned to lift a finger. “Don’t think you can wriggle out of tomorrow, for I shall not hesitate to jump on you in bed to wake you.”

Camilla smiled at the image despite herself, but cocked her head and replied with feigned asperity. “If you leave me to rest now, perhaps I shall not need so much of it tomorrow morning.” Joanna chuckled and closed the door behind her.

Alone in her room at last, Camilla sank into the armchair and exhaled. She dipped her head to see whether her stomach was rounded from the extra cakes she had eaten the day before but could not tell. She jumped up again and examined her waist in the mirror.