When it began to move a moment later, he thought perhaps it was a delayed reaction to his miniscule kick, but his hopes were dashed when the orange cat came to settle its bottom on his boots, the very ones that Digby had polished to a mirror-like shine that very morning. The blasted cat purred so loudly Appleton was certain its owner several feet away could hear the annoying sound.
She then turned her smiling face to him. “Oh, do look! Lover Boy loves Lord Appleton.”
“Smartest cat in the bunch,” Mr. Pankhurst said. “Of course, he’s the only male. He instinctively knows when males enter our domain.”
“I think, Papa, you’re being very obtuse. Each of my kitties is highly intelligent.”
It was all Appleton could do not to contradict the lady. Cats were such inferior creatures when compared to dogs. Did not everyone know it was dogs who were highly intelligent? As besotted as Miss Pankhurst was over these feather-brained felines, even she, he would vow, would be powerless to teach them a single skill.
The lady’s attention returned to him. “You must have a special way with cats, my lord.”
She need not know of his dislike of cats. “I confess I’ve hardly ever been around them.”
Her face collapsed. “What a very great misfortune.” Then she brightened. “But Lover Boy will ensure that that changes. He obviously adores you.”
Lover Boy? That was the silliest name he’d ever heard. No one would ever saddle a dog with a ridiculous name like that. “I presume you gave your cat such a . . . an affectionate name because of his overly friendly nature?”
“Oh, yes. Just listen to him purr. Is he not a darling? Don’t you just want to cuddle with him?”
Annie started giggling. “I don’t believe my brother thinks in such terms, Miss Pankhurst, but I completely understand. Would that I had one kitten of my own, and you are fortunate to possess four! I should think I’d been transported to heaven.”
He hated like the devil that Annie was encouraging her!
“But you’re blessed with siblings,” Miss Pankhurst countered. “I had none.” Her brows lowered. “Why is it you cannot have at least one kitten of your own?”
“It’s our youngest sister, Abby,” Appleton said. “She cannot tolerate being in the same chamber with cats.”
Annie nodded. “Her eyes water like a spigot, and she sneezes uncontrollably.”
Miss Pankhurst looked stricken. “How immensely unfortunate. I should die if such a calamity befell me.” Her lips screwed up as if she were deep in thought. “Did you not just say your youngest sister is named Abby?”
“Yes.”
“Do all the girls possess names starting with the letter A?”
“Indeed they do,” he said. “A very astute observation on your part.” Once again, he counted himself fortunate she wasn’t the dimwit they’d expected.
“Thank you, my lord,” Miss Pankhurst acknowledged. “But the use of A names is not a practice, I take it, your family used with the sons?”
He shook his head. “While our parents fancied alliterative names, the Appleton males have always reused the same family names.”
Miss Pankhurst nodded. “So there’s Annie and Abby . . . What are the other sisters’ names?”
“There’s just one other. She’s Agnes,” Annie answered, petting a black and white cat. “And what’s this little one’s name?”
“Nellie.”
“You must share the evolution of Nellie’s name,” Mr. Pankhurst said from his big chair near the fire. He was powerless to stifle a chuckle.
With no more encouragement than that, Miss Pankhurst scooped up the cat, kissed it on its whiskered cheek—did cats have cheeks?—and proceeded to show the visitors that the fur around the animal’s right eye made an almost perfect black circle. “You see the patch around Nellie’s right eye?”
He and Annie nodded.
“Well, because of that, I named this kitty Lord Nelson.”
“Oh, yes,” Annie said. “Because that looks exactly like an eye patch.”
“It does.” Miss Pankhurst shrugged. “However, before Lord Nelson was a year old, it became clear to us he was a she when she presented us with a litter of kittens.” She shrugged. “Thus Lord Nelson became Nellie.”
Appleton couldn’t help himself. He chuckled. Loudly.
Miss Pankhurst readily joined in the laughter.
“What if your Lover Boy had turned out to be a lady?” he asked. “What might you have named him, er, her, then?”
“I suppose something like Sweetie Girl.”
The butler entered the chamber, cleared his throat, and said, “A Mrs. Moreland and two Mrs. Blankenships to see you, Miss Pankhurst.”
“Have them come here.” Miss Pankhurst’s gaze flicked to Annie. “Two Mrs. Blankenships?”
Annie shrugged. “There are actually three residing in Bath at present. I daresay Glee’s come with her sister-in-law Mary Blankenship, who’s married to Jonathan Blankenship.”
“Jonathan Blankenship’s the very best of friends with my friend Sir Elvin’s twin brother, who’s a scholar of some repute.”
“As is Jonathan Blankenship,” Annie added.
Miss Pankhurst’s natural smile deepened even more. “Two scholars?”
Appleton nodded.
“You say it’s Sir Elvin’s twin who is the scholar?”
Appleton laughed out loud. No one who knew Elvin would ever take him for a scholar. “Definitely his twin,” he finally said,
Miss Pankhurst’s mouth lifted to a smile, and her black eyes shone with delight. “How exciting. I do hope I will have the privilege of meeting these great minds.”
“It will be my honor to introduce you,” he said.
“I declare,” Mr. Pankhurst said, “I should be honored to meet them also.”
“Consider it done.”
Those very large, very dark eyes of Miss Pankhurst’s met Appleton’s. “I didn’t know Sir Elvin had a twin brother. Are they identical?”
He nodded. “I’ve known them almost all of my life, and I still can’t tell one from the other, at least visually. When they speak, I know which one’s intelligent about classical learning—and which one knows more about wom. . .” Appleton stopped himself. He couldn’t allow Miss Pankhurst to know
