Miss Culpepper’s lips tightened but Beth saw the minute nod of acknowledgement. The old lady could appreciate the truth of what Beth was saying.
She felt a little nauseous. It was the first time she had tried to sell her skills, to show why she would be the right choice of wife for Leonard Ashburton, and none of it felt right. This was what she had been preparing for her whole life; every tutor, every dinner party they’d thrown, every moment had been leading up to this.
‘Did you grow up here, Mr Ashburton?’ She turned to Leonard Ashburton, asking the question quickly to try to avoid any further probing from Miss Culpepper.
‘I spent some of my childhood here and some in the countryside.’
‘Lord Abbingdon has a number of estates and when he heard I agreed to raise Leonard he allowed us use of one of the more moderate-sized country houses in Kent,’ Miss Culpepper said briskly.
‘You are not related to Lord Abbingdon?’ For some reason Beth had thought Miss Culpepper and Lord Abbingdon must be brother and sister.
‘No. Lord Abbingdon is from Leonard’s father’s side of the family, I am from his mother’s.’
‘Our mother’s,’ Josh corrected her quietly. ‘She was my mother too.’
Miss Culpepper didn’t say anything to this, instead stood abruptly and went to pull the bell cord situated in the corner of the room. Ten seconds later a maid hurried in with a tray piled high with cups and a large pot of tea.
They all sat in silence as Miss Culpepper poured the tea. Beth knew if her mother were here she would be urging Beth to make conversation, to distract from the awkwardness in the room. It was her chance to show her skills at smoothing things over, but she found she had no desire to. Joshua Ashburton might be a successful man in his early thirties, he might have people who loved him, a business of his own and a way of seeing the world that meant opportunities were endless, but he was still being held back by the knowledge that this woman had looked at him at the age of six and decided he was not worthy of her care.
Leonard Ashburton was being his customary silent self, observing the interactions, but even though he was the figure that connected them he still seemed to be on the outside of it all.
‘Here is your tea, Lady Elizabeth. I assume you don’t take sugar. You wouldn’t be very attractive if you grew fat.’
Next to her she caught a glimpse of the movement of Joshua Ashburton’s shoulders shaking as he tried to hold in a laugh. It must have been too much effort because within seconds he let out a shout of laughter that startled Miss Culpepper into dropping the delicate silver spoon into the teacup she was holding with a rattle. Tea splashed onto the saucer.
‘Oh, I’m sorry. Did I startle you?’ Joshua Ashburton leapt forward with exaggerated concern.
‘You did.’
‘I couldn’t help myself. I think you must be one of the rudest women I’ve ever met, Great-Aunt Culpepper.’
‘Don’t call me that.’
‘You might have excluded me from the family as a child, but you still are my great-aunt.’ He seemed much more relaxed now he was actually saying what he was thinking rather than trying to hold it inside.
‘Josh,’ Leo said in a warning tone, but Beth got the impression he wasn’t going to step in, as if he realised his brother needed to get the trauma of rejection off his chest.
‘Lady Elizabeth, would you care for a spoon of sugar?’ he asked, barely taking a breath. ‘I for one think you would look most charming even if you were plump.’
‘I apologise for Mr Ashburton’s behaviour, Lady Elizabeth,’ Miss Culpepper said, standing and towering over them all. ‘Leonard, you should not have brought him.’
‘I am not his keeper,’ Leonard Ashburton said simply, and Beth found she had more respect for him in that moment than she ever had before.
‘Enough. I’ve had enough. Lady Elizabeth, despite your destitute status I suppose you will do. Leonard, hurry up and stop dawdling with your decision. And, you—’ she turned back to her other great-nephew ‘—I doubt we will ever see each other again so I will save my words.’
She left the room without a backwards glance. Beth and the two Ashburton brothers remained silent for a few seconds as if waiting to see if she would reappear before letting out the breaths they had been holding.
‘Good Lord, Leo, she’s a dragon. How on earth did you survive an upbringing by her?’
‘Shall we leave?’ Leonard Ashburton ignored his brother’s question, instead standing and motioning for Beth and Josh to precede him from the room.
Beth walked out first, hearing Leonard Ashburton lean in and murmur to his brother when he thought she was out of earshot, ‘I’m sorry, Josh. I know you wanted more from that encounter. I think she was so abrupt because she feels guilty for what she did all those years ago.’
Joshua Ashburton shrugged, but even from her position in the hall Beth could see the pain he was trying to hide in his eyes.
‘I apologise, Lady Elizabeth, that was not how I wished the afternoon to go,’ he said once they were outside. ‘I should have arranged for a separate meeting for you and Miss Culpepper, rather than combine it with taking Josh to see her.’
‘Lady Elizabeth got the dragon’s seal of approval,’ Josh said cheerfully, ‘so it wasn’t an entirely wasted afternoon.’
‘Hmm. Josh, would you be so kind as to see Lady Elizabeth home? I should go and smooth things over with our great-aunt.’
‘It would be my pleasure.’
They watched Leonard Ashburton make his way back inside the house before Josh offered her his hand to help her into the waiting carriage. Beth settled against the plush seats as he took his place opposite her,
