Page 25 of A Well-Trained Lady

Ruth bit at her lip, her expression apologetic. “Chocolate, also.”

I looked back to him, attempting to conceal my amusement. “There you have it, Mr. Brundage. The votes have been tallied, and it looks as though you are the clear minority.”

He bowed his shaking head in mock defeat.

“As your consolation, I promise not to scoff when you offer up your answer as to what aspect of Town has brought you the most joy.”

He moved his gaze to the fire and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I suppose if I must choose, my answer would be, without question, Lord and Lady Brimhall’s ball.”

Ruth’s brow furrowed in near unison with my own. “But you did not attend the ball with us,” she said.

Augustus gave a slow nod. “Regardless, it is the aspect of London that has brought me the most joy. For without the two of you meeting there”—his eyes slid to me, and I stiffened—“Miss Godwin would not be here with us now, discussing the menagerie and Gunter’s.”

Color filled my cheeks so immediately, I lifted my hand to see if I could feel the warmth through my glove.

Mrs. Brundage laughed. “Oh, Augustus. Look how you have made our guest blush.” Her hand covered the one I had just returned to my lap, and she gave it a gentle squeeze. “Pay him no heed, Miss Godwin. I’m afraid he has always enjoyed rattling us a bit, and it seems you are no exception to his troublesome ways.”

I sent him a pointed look. “I do recall that about him.”

He leaned into the wing-backed chair and extended his feet. “Such harsh accusations you have both laid against me.”

Mrs. Brundage wagged a playful finger at him. “Harsh, yet deserved.”

Augustus’s smile settled on me. “What are your thoughts on a mother scolding her son in front of a guest?”

My throat grew tight. “It is a mother’s role, is it not? I know my own mother has scolded me more times than I can count.”

His smile lessened, and his eyes flitted over my features, discerning too much.

“I am all astonishment that your mother could find anything to scold you for, Bella,” Ruth said lightly. “I believe you are the most well-trained lady in all of England.”

I turned toward Ruth, realizing I’d stumbled upon a viable means of introducing the notion of her training. “One must first find fault to remedy it. Surely you remember that I used to be quite the heathen, running about the woods as though I had not a care in the world.”

“I remember,” Augustus said.

The way he looked at me left me grasping for what I had wanted to say to Ruth. “Yes, well …” It didn’t come.

“Do you remember the first time you climbed that old, gnarled black poplar?” Augustus asked, stealing any opportunity I had to conjure my fading thoughts. “I had told you it would be impossible to climb wearing a dress, but you set out to prove me wrong.”

“And I did.”

He chuckled. “You certainly did.” His expression turned reminiscent. “After that, we used to climb up the tree and wait for people to pass at its base.” His eyes twinkled with mischief as they refocused on our watchful faces. “Bella had the idea to toss pebbles into nearby bushes to spook the poor souls passing by. Not that it worked, and we finally had to resort to making ghoulish noises, awful as they were.”

Overlooking the slip of my Christian name, I shook my head. “That was not my idea.”

“Was it not? I feel confident that it was.”

I shot him a disbelieving glare. “As though distressing innocents was ever done at my suggestion.”

“No, I suppose not.” He paused. “Your talent has always been distressing chaps who had recklessly become smitten with you.” Before I could voice my offense at such a brazen statement, Augustus laughed again. “Do you recall when I brought my friend, Robert, to Blacksley during a school holiday? He was so enamored with you, he could hardly speak any time you were near, poor fellow.”

With the memory of Augustus’s long-forgotten school mate, I pressed my lips together to ensure my laughter did not escape. “His visit was the first time I realized the intrinsic power that comes with being a female. It was quite eye-opening.”

Augustus furrowed his brow. “You hadn’t realized it before that?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

He glanced at his mother. “It is nothing. I don’t intend to be corrected for making you blush a second time.”