After walking for at least half an hour and having heard at least a thousand complaints from the widowed Baroness, they decided to camp in a clearing where the shadow of a huge poplar tree would shelter them from the hot sun, even though none of the ladies presents had forgotten the umbrella.
- Well, Robert? What are those toys that you talked about at home? - Audrey asked elegantly and trying to mask the emotion she felt to see something new.
The Marquis made a gesture to the footmen to bring the long wooden boxes they had been transporting from home.
-You can open them - ordered. And they pulled out some long sticks of wood with a thread that looked like very long, rolled metal.
- And that? - Bethy asked curiously - What is Lord Talbot?
- They're reeds! - he said with determination - I brought them from Scotland, where I spent the last two years in one of the properties I inherited from my father. There I learned to fish and for that suit the rods, thinking that one day I could share the hobby with someone else.
- To fish! - the widowed Baroness exclaimed indignantly as she sat on a large cushion and was served a cup of tea - Sorry to tell Marquez, but that activity is not appropriate for a gentleman of your rank that is more typical of farmers or merchants.
-Baroness note that you are not aware of the great change we are experiencing in this century, nowadays gentlemen and ladies are not only dedicated to laze as they did in their time, but we learn and enjoy these activities.
-Wild activities, you say, do not count on me for such a thing, I'm staying here sitting with Miss Worth, will not you, dear? - asked the poor governess.
-Of course Baroness- answered the girl without any other remedy.
- I want to try it! - Elizabeth said animatedly.
-Perfect, and the others? Lady Cavendish? Lord Seymour?
Audrey looked at the Duke for the first time all morning and had to admit that he looked most attractive in the field suit: a black tail suit with tight pants and high boots.
- Why not? It will be an interesting experience- answered Edwin.
-Then, since there are only two reeds, it would be impolite for me to leave my sister alone with an instrument she has never used, so I will help her while you two use the other one. - Audrey said when she saw that there were only two canes and four people.
- Is not it that he is dying to try it and use that excuse? - Edwin cynically expressed.
- Excuse me, sir, how do you say? I do not know what kind of ladies you will have known that they make excuses to carry out activities, but I am not one of them, that is the truth, I am going to participate to help my sister.
- But you know how to fish? - He added as he stared at her wanting to somehow destabilize her, challenging her to stop being so perfect and more natural.
Audrey was left unsettled, why should that unpleasant Lord Seymour always have to leave her in evidence and make her doubt? The truth is that he knew nothing about fishing and the truth was that yes, it had been an excuse to do something new without the widow, Baroness, criticizing it, would it be that he was giving too much importance to good manners? No, Mom had always taught her that a lady never expressed her true feelings, much less expressed enthusiasm for wild instruments. Luckily, his dear friend Robert intervened oblivious to the battle that was taking place between the two.
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Moon Skin (I Saga Of The Devonshire)
Historical FictionAudrey Cavendish, the first-born of the Duke of Devonshire, was a serene and strong soul, some would say of a cold and calculating nature; However, what many did not know was that from an early age she had been educated with firmness and rectitude i...
