Just to Have You (Blackwood & Friends #3)

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Ben, annoyed and impressed: "I am not sure it warrants a noteworthy accomplishment of a lady if she is able to belch louder and longer than her male best friend."

Griff: "Well, it should."

(B & G conversation on the topic of Female Accomplishments 12 years prior)

Laughter lingered under the branches of an apple tree where they sat on a blanket, enjoying the spread that Oliver had prepared. They were deep into the orchard, part of the property owned by the Stuart family who grew these particular apples for the cider Haventry was renowned for, albeit not prolifically considering cider was only moderately favoured in polite society. The trees spanned in neat rows for what seemed like endlessly.

It had rained the previous day and the ground had not yet dried adequately, but neither Amy nor Oliver seemed to mind. He had provided a substantial lunch for them of bread and fruits, a few sweet pastries, as well as chicken- an abundance of pies and roasted poultry as a nod to the grudge he still harboured for Henivieve- and a good quantity of wine that they were sharing between them.

"It was your fault, you know," Oliver told her, arching his brows high. Amy always found it peculiar that his eyebrows were a shade darker than the stubborn shock of auburn hair atop his head.

"Now you are being unfair," she said. "I had no hand in the poor girl's incident. That was all on you!"

"Griff, you showed me the scoresheet. I never asked."

She squirmed at the small amount of guilt for ever having shown Oliver what she had found in the archives of Mr Coppinger's bookstore. Amongst tomes of literature comprised of science, history, arithmetic and the arts, there had also been pamphlets and old reports of famous musical composers and their notable works and... less notable works.

The future Earl of Gravewood was prone to bouts of misconduct and unfortunately she had provided him with the perfect introduction to one.

For Amy had inadvertently stumbled across a publication of one of Mozart's canons that had added notes of the originally intended lyrics of the score. It had taken some time for her to decipher the German used in the texts, but once she had shown Oliver- who was clearly more adept at languages than she- the difference between the two became clear. The first was published as "Laßt froh uns sein" and translated as Let us be glad- a harmless melody she had heard sung before though not as frequently as other canons. However, it was the amended notes of the publication that claimed the original lyrics of the canon were in actual fact "Leck mich im Arsch".

Amy should never have shown the incorrigible man her findings because he had immediately taken them with him to London and subjected them on his would-be intended, Augusta Fleetwood. Even though, from what Oliver had confided in Amy during their brief and disastrous courtship, the young girl did not aspire to marry him, her father had been enforcing the match since Miss Augusta had been in her leading strings. And Oliver held no intention to marry her either though he had hoped by behaving deplorably in polite company would compel her to cry off and thus save her reputation rather than he refusing to marry her.

However, it was with the finding of the obscene (Amy found it hilarious but she only ever admitted it to Oliver) canon that Miss Augusta's tether to Lord Oliver Hollingsworth had been severed. Thankfully the evening that the young, pretty London miss had chosen to sing the 'original' canon at Oliver's mild insistence had only a few acquaintances in attendance who were all duly horrified while Miss Augusta's pretty voice held notes perfectly to a most inappropriate song.