“Good morning,” she greeted her, getting to her feet. “Please take a seat Mrs. Jones and I’ll fetch you a cup.”
The newcomer gave her a level look. “That’s not my name, Mina,” she said, pulling out a seat at the table. “Though Jones is my name, funny enough, it was because my father bestowed it on me, not Nat. It’s Miss Jones, but you can call me Dot,” she said handsomely.
Mina fetched her a plate, cup and saucer and made haste to pour her a cup from the silver teapot.
“You are an early riser, Miss Jones. I had thought you might sleep in after my husband told me you had manned the bar last night.”
“I couldn’t loll abed like the Quality,” said Dot agreeably. “Not for a hundred pound. My old Ma would have had a good deal to say about lying in for all hours. Never taken breakfast in bed in my life, though I keep a parlor maid now and a kitchen one too.”
Mina passed her a brimming cup which she took with murmured thanks. “Do you live in Exeter?” she asked politely, nudging the dish of kippers her way.
Dot shook her head. “London,” she said succinctly. “I don’t like to be away from the capital for more than a few days at a time. Can’t abide the backwaters, I can’t.”
Mina was unsure if she was referring to Penarth or Exeter in these disparaging terms, but Effie extended her cup hastily for a refill, so Mina was spared having to answer by her hostess duties.
“Well, well,” drawled a voice from the doorway, making the three of them turn their heads. “What a dainty gathering.”
Mina drew in a breath of surprise for it was none other than Lady Faris resplendent in a royal blue riding habit complete with whip and mannish looking hat which did nothing to detract from her blonde beauty.
“Lady Faris,” she exclaimed. “Is my brother with you?”
Jeremy’s wife had sauntered into her room as if she had every right, and Mina was tempted to point out this was a private room. However, she felt somewhat hampered from doing this as she had so recently visited Vance Park.
“Can I help you to a cup of tea, Lady Faris?” she asked instead with cool politeness.
Amanda Vance gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “I wouldn’t dream of interrupting your little tête-à-tête,” she said with a curl of her lip. Effie sucked in her cheeks and directed a wide-eyed look Mina’s way. Dottie stayed remained unperturbed by the interloper, tucking into her breakfast with relish.
“I understand my husband attended your sordid festivities last night,” Lady Faris continued, sounding nettled. “And saw fit to bring my son with him.”
“I’m afraid you will need to take it up with him, if you disapprove of prizefighting,” Mina pointed out.
Lady Faris shrugged. “Quite the contrary, I assure you. ‘Tis only that I fail entirely to see why I should be excluded from such a party. It is doubtless hard for a daughter of the middle-classes such as yourself to appreciate,” she said condescendingly. “But one who has had the benefits of a truly enlightened upbringing, can have an appreciation that you would be wholly lacking.”
Lady Faris’s eyes grew round and avid as she watched Clem and Jeb walk across the courtyard from the stables. She walked toward the window and stared out at them quite unabashed. “Magnificent specimens,” she murmured, then turned with a smug smile toward Mina. “Of course, a sheltered little schoolmistress like yourself couldn’t possibly understand the exhilaration of watching something as primal as two rough men, going at it like animals.” She gave a dramatic shiver.
Mina rolled her eyes; she could feel not only Effie but also Dot’s eyes on her, waiting for her to react. “I’m so glad you’re enjoying the view,” she said with the blandest politeness, hoping Effie would not fly out of her seat at any minute.
The blonde looked annoyed by her mild response, as though she had been hoping to shock her. “Of course,” she persisted. “The fighters would be very riled up after such a set-to. They require certain inducements to calm back down of which you would be entirely ignorant, you poor little thing.” She tapped her chin with one finger. “I remember when I travelled to Spain with my father, how the bull-fighters would send in a cow to calm the most savage bull.”
“I’m sorry,” said Mina sweetly. “Are you actually comparing yourself to a cow in this metaphorical scenario?”
Effie giggled and Dot let out a surprised gurgle of laughter.
Lady Faris gave a high, unconvincing laugh. “I must say, your attitude towards extra-marital encounters is quite refreshingly cosmopolitan for one of your ilk,” she said snidely. “Nye must be eternally grateful of the fact. I doubt very much you know in whose bed he spent the night celebrating or drowning his sorrows.”
Mina set down the milk jug she had just picked up with a thud, but even as she opened her mouth to speak Dottie forestalled her, lowering her knife.
“Every man Jack in that bar heard Nye resolve to take himself off to bed to his wife, at ten o’clock,” she said loudly. “So, there’s no mystery as to whose bed he slept in last night.”
“No one knows as well as I where my husband spent the night,” Mina said calmly, but with a hint of steel in her voice. “You have missed the mark, Lady Faris. I beg you will not embarrass yourself further in front of my guests.”
Amanda Vance’s color was exceedingly high in her cheeks. She gave an irritable shrug of her shoulder. “Oh, well, if you are resolved to be a dead bore over it, there is nothing more to be said.”
“I am not broad-minded and have never claimed to be,” Mina said as if she had not spoken. “My marriage is not a fashionable one,” she said scathingly. “Such as the ones I understand the nobility frequently partake in and neither would I want it to be.” She let that sink in a moment, pausing to see if Lady Faris would make some response, but when she only tossed her head, Mina turned back to her guests. “Is there anything I can get for anyone else. Dot – more kippers?”
“I don’t suppose you’ve any coffee?” Dot asked apologetically. “Only I’ve got in the habit of taking that of a morning rather than tea.”
“Of course!” said Mina, getting out of her chair. “Would anyone like anything?” Lady Faris only turned a cold shoulder and stared out of the window. Dot and Effie both demurred so Mina made her way through to the kitchen where she could hear someone talking in a loud jocular fashion to the accompaniment of boisterous laughter.
She had hoped to escape the tense atmosphere in the parlor for a moment to cool her heated cheeks. She had never felt so tempted to forget she was a lady and could only be grateful that she and Nye had discussed the question of remaining faithful to their marriage vows only that morning so she could answer Lady Faris with perfect composure.
As soon as she stepped over the threshold, the conversation fell quickly away, and she felt several alarmed gazes follow her as she walked to the kitchen range. She wondered what caused their expressions and could only hazard their conversation had not been fit for her ears. “Good morning, gentlemen,” she said in passing to Jeb and the Toome brothers who were stood about in various attitudes of relaxation, their shirts unbuttoned and their necks bare. Through the open door she could see Clem and Nat Jones smoking cigars.