Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 129951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
“He was just traditional,” Prudence said.
“A man had been on the moon,” Temperance retorted. “The future king got a divorce and had his dirty talk with his mistress aired all over the globe. And that talk was filthy. You could call Bangladesh from your mobile in your car. We had cars. It was no longer required for me to wear white gloves and a hat to church, or a formal gown to dinner, for God’s sake.”
Neither of her sisters had a response.
I didn’t either, and although I thought it’d be cute to see the Talyn sisters in hats and gloves, going to church, if I was a kid and that wasn’t what I wanted to do, I had to admit, it would stink.
When the silence lengthened, I carefully waded into it.
“I intend to do a pretty thorough read through of all the things Prudence has gathered for me.” I turned to Prudence. “And of course, I’m excited to meet Ravenna.”
Not really, but Prudence liked her, and outside of her family, she didn’t mention any other friends, except her bi-monthly readings with Ravenna, so I was (currently) withholding judgement.
And anyway, who was I to judge?
Even Elizabeth I hung out with and took counsel from Dr. John Dee.
I looked between the other two sisters. “And unless there’s some note of it, or it fits into the narrative, I probably won’t be mentioning the curse.”
“Well, that will be good,” Temperance murmured while she crossed her long, slender legs. “We don’t need every lunatic who shops exclusively in Glastonbury poking around and doing rituals outside the front gate.”
This made Prudence twist excitedly toward me and again with her clap.
“Oh yes, Vivi! It’s a bit of a jaunt, but while you’re here, we have to go to Glastonbury.”
“I would bypass that and go straight to Cheltenham. Better shopping,” Temperance drawled, but oddly, she did this watching Prudence closely, and, maybe I was wrong, but I could swear I read in her gaze it was hopefully.
That was strange.
Chastity nibbled at a biscuit while her bright-blue eyes darted everywhere but to a human being.
A throat was cleared.
We all looked to the doorway to see Fitzgibbons standing there.
“I hate to intrude. But Miss Dupree has a meeting with His Grace.”
“Oh,”—another clap from Prudence—“right. Be sure to tell him not to keep her too long. She’ll want to have time to change for dinner.”
Once Fitzgibbons nodded, she latched onto my arm, therefore I turned to her.
“We start cocktails around six thirty-ish, most everyone’s there by seven,” she told me. “We wander into dinner whenever Cook sends word it’s ready. Once you’ve changed, just go to your smart screen and hit the icon to call a member of staff. Someone will escort you to the parlor.” She gave me a big smile. “We’ll do the full house tour tomorrow.”
I got the sense from this that she wasn’t going to take me to her brother, Fitzgibbons was.
And the duke was calling.
Thus, I set down my teacup and moved a smile through all the ladies, saying, “Thank you so much, this was great. Looking forward to dinner.”
“I bet you are,” Temperance said in a tone that pretended she didn’t want me to hear it, but she did.
Oh, she knew they were putting on a show, and I was lapping it up.
And that begged the question of why she assumed the role of star of that show, if she didn’t want me to witness the production.
Chastity said nothing.
Prudence replied, “See you at dinner.”
I got up and followed Fitzgibbons out.
As we walked down the central wing, I looked into open doors to see a variety of rooms along the lines of what I’d already seen, with those to the front having grand views of the glory of the parkland, and those to the back having the same of the splendor of the gardens.
We turned into the south wing, and about halfway down, to the right side, the butler knocked on the only closed door we’d encountered along the way.
“Come,” a man called from inside.
All right, I had to admit, I was a little tingly.
I’d never met a real-life duke, for one.
I’d read about plenty.
Meeting one?
Nope.
Then there was the mystery. The lore. The history.
All of which, being an ex-librarian, current writer, I was super into.
And here I was, about to meet the keeper of it, a man who, no matter what he did, would not be forgotten in the annals of history just because of who he’d been born to be.
And that was all kinds of cool.
I almost rubbed my hands together like an over-excited idiot when Fitzgibbons opened the door, walked in, I followed, and the butler intoned, “Miss Dupree is here for your meeting, Your Grace.”
The man at the desk looked up from whatever he was writing.
And I froze solid.
I heard him say in a deep, lush purr, “Thank you, Fitzy.”