Chapter Seventeen Philip disliked being at his mother's disposal. He was a captain, after all, and it was usually the other way around. In this case he would much rather stay, whatever Mr Cavendish would think of it. He was not courting Serena and he did not even think he was courting Selena very much; they already had some kind of understanding. To his surprise his mother was not inclined to have her way at all. "I suppose you and Alexander would enjoy staying," she whispered. "Would he?" answered Philip, who was suddenly reluctant to voice his own wishes. "I have no doubt. I shall submit and stay. I heard a lot of walking about last time. Perhaps that would not be such a good idea this time." Philip rolled his eyes. He could not think of a proper answer. He watched as his mother went to Selena and briefly spoke to her. A servant appeared fairly soon after that and was given instructions, presumably to have some more beds made up. Or sofas, Philip conceded. Then, Mr and Miss Grumbell braved the darkness to go home. They did not live far away. Mrs Cavendish made her excuses shortly after; her condition very likely fatigued her. Mr Cavendish would not be outstayed by his children, so he sent them to bed and, after hearing that the Coles had been assigned to various sofas on other floors, he retired as well. "Did you see that?" Alexander asked with some indignation. "He looked almost glad to hear I am sleeping on a sofa in the library. I do not doubt that it is comfortable, but the kind thing to do is to offer some sympathy." "Perhaps he has tried out the sofa himself and knows you do not deserve any sympathy?" Philip suggested. "It is a very comfortable sofa," Selena agreed. "Whether he has slept on it, I do not know. I do not think I gave him the opportunity. He was in danger of appropriating my library, so I made sure to mark my terrain." Philip was fascinated. "How?" "By spending a lot of time there. He is not used to females in his reading domains, I suppose, and he once or twice tried to get me out, but this is my house." She smiled. "He probably thought the library belonged to the man of the house and that in the absence of a permanent one he could claim it." "But you have two." "Do I need to keep an eye on the two of you?" Alexander inquired warily. "Because I would rather not." "Oh, no need," Selena assured him. "I shall just point Philip to his sofa and then I am off to bed." "Why can you not let a servant do that?" "Because they do not have the key," she explained, drawing a chain out of her bosom. At the end dangled a key. "You are going to lock him up?" Alexander's eyes bulged. "No. It is a room I usually keep locked. There will be no need to lock it if he is there to guard my secrets." "I...I am off to the library," Alexander said hastily. He clearly had no interest in her secrets. "Have a good night, Madam, Philip." "You will let me sleep in the tower?" Philip asked. "I will only consent to that if you provide me with a chamberpot." "Really," she said. "I am serious." "Perhaps you should not drink so much." "I did not drink after dinner. The other gentlemen were rather surprised." "Why did you not drink?" "I did not want to taste or smell of spirits." "Good reason," she acknowledged. "But you did not tell them that?" "No, I did not feel obliged to give them a reason." "Good." She led him to the door of the tower and opened it with her key. Surprisingly, she locked it behind them. "Afraid we shall be followed?" "No. You will have another exit. Into my dressing room." She climbed the stairs. He was surprised by that unexpected information. "Nice." "It is the only way to provide you with all the luxurious necessities you appear to require." "Luxurious necessities?" he spluttered. "I am sure you require them too. By the way, is there no sofa in your dressing room?" "Of course there is." They did not go all the way up, but left the tower early. The room they came into was lit and much warmer than the cold staircase. There was a sofa and it had a blanket on it. On the small table beside it was a pile of books, the books he had given her, and the small bag with his necessities. Evidently the servants had known he would not be sleeping in the tower. "Please get ready for bed. I shall be with you when you knock on the door." He did so after ten minutes. He was ready after five, but he was not sure she would be. Women always took longer. But she answered almost immediately when he knocked. "The boys are sound asleep again," she whispered and stepped into her dressing room. "One woke briefly. Let us discuss those books." Their discussion was interrupted after a few minutes by a knock on the door of the adjoining room. "What?" Selena said with a disturbed look. "Who wants me at this hour? Stay here and do not make a sound." Philip obediently sat still. He was glad they had been keeping their voices down for the sake of the boys, so whoever was knocking on the door had probably not heard them. There was some conversation in the other room, probably, because it took some time for Selena to return. "You will not believe it," she said. "It was Serena." "Was it anything important?" "Not for me. I am not responsible for either of them." "Who?" "Serena and your brother. She asked me where he was sleeping. I told her he was in the library. I did not interrogate her further." "Is she going --" He could hardly believe it. Such a thing would not occur to Miss Cavendish. And he could not believe either that she would follow a suggestion of Alexander's with her father in the house. "I did not ask. Perhaps she was simply worried he was not comfortable. I assume she is clever enough not to spend the night in the library with him. She knows her father likes to go there in the morning." "It would be a quick way out, though, being compromised," Philip remarked. "But I did not know she was capable of such manipulation." Selena settled herself on the sofa again. "She was not named after me and she does not look like me at all. Why is she doing things I would do?" "Would you?" "Where am I?" "But we are discussing something serious. What do you think?" "It might have some merit, this idea, but I am not sure. I am too afraid it will fail and then what do I do?" "I do not know. To me it does not sound as if it could fail. It sounds astonishingly simple." "Women are not simple creatures," she informed him. "Remember, this book was written by a man. He may have got it wrong or he may have simplified the matter because he could not write a hundred variations. To appear clever one must come up with a definitive theory that fits everything." Philip suddenly felt a great desire to sleep. "We are not going to solve this. Not right now. You had best sleep on it for a few months." He did not think he would be able to sleep at all, thinking about the matter. He did not know what Selena wanted. On the one hand she seemed to like him a lot and she was even going so far as to discuss very intimate subjects with him, but on the other hand it all seemed to lead to nothing. It was rather frustrating. Perhaps he should think of her as Mrs Whitby-Ross again. In the morning, however, it turned out he had slept after all. There were sounds from the room next door. The little boys were up. He dressed himself before they could see him and tell everybody. When he had finished combing his hair, Selena appeared. She was still in her nightgown, which was, to make things worse, unbuttoned a bit. "Good morning," she said briskly and she made no move to kiss him. "I want to ask you to descend through the tower. You will end up near the breakfast room, as you may recall." "And you?" "I should like to get dressed before I go downstairs." "Of course." "You had not noticed?" "Of course I had noticed. Even that you have unbuttoned a bit," he gestured. "For Ben." He did not understand that. "Have you thought about it? Will you be long?" "No more than fifteen minutes. I do not think you will be the first. Some of my guests have rather annoying breakfast habits and I try to avoid those." "Is being the first an annoying habit?" "No, but reading aloud at the breakfast table is." "I can bring..." Philip said with a mischievous glance at the books they had perused the night before. "It would be a lot more interesting than religious fare. The first day he waited for me and called my children to order when they did not enjoy the sermon, so I...er...informed him that in my house my children eat breakfast in the breakfast room, but that he was welcome to having his breakfast brought up to his room." "Poor Miss Cavendish. Someone needs to compromise her and fast."http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79102#msg-79102Sun, 19 May 2013 03:24:20 +0100 Phorum 5.2.19 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79699#msg-79699 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79699#msg-79699 Joy A Novel IdeaWed, 08 Feb 2012 01:33:56 +0000 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79684#msg-79684 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79684#msg-79684 Cathy Allen A Novel IdeaTue, 07 Feb 2012 20:44:53 +0000 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79621#msg-79621 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79621#msg-79621 Lise A Novel IdeaMon, 06 Feb 2012 18:59:08 +0000 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79239#msg-79239 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79239#msg-79239Frustration. :)

Glad to see more of this.]]> Joy A Novel IdeaSat, 28 Jan 2012 06:21:21 +0000 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79185#msg-79185 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79185#msg-79185I do wonder however what Serena is up to asking after Alexander's sleeping arrangements...]]> Trinity A Novel IdeaFri, 27 Jan 2012 04:29:06 +0000 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79177#msg-79177 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79177#msg-79177Looking forward to more.]]> Elise A Novel IdeaFri, 27 Jan 2012 01:21:04 +0000 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79174#msg-79174 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79174#msg-79174way with words, Lise! Thanks.]]> Cathy Allen A Novel IdeaFri, 27 Jan 2012 01:09:55 +0000 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79152#msg-79152 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79152#msg-79152 Katharine T A Novel IdeaThu, 26 Jan 2012 22:03:56 +0000 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79140#msg-79140 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79140#msg-79140 ConnieR A Novel IdeaThu, 26 Jan 2012 18:50:19 +0000 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79102#msg-79102 http://www.dwiggie.com/phorum/read.php?6,79102,79102#msg-79102 Chapter Seventeen

---

Philip disliked being at his mother's disposal. He was a captain, after all, and it was usually the other way around. In this case he would much rather stay, whatever Mr Cavendish would think of it. He was not courting Serena and he did not even think he was courting Selena very much; they already had some kind of understanding.

To his surprise his mother was not inclined to have her way at all. "I suppose you and Alexander would enjoy staying," she whispered.

"Would he?" answered Philip, who was suddenly reluctant to voice his own wishes.

"I have no doubt. I shall submit and stay. I heard a lot of walking about last time. Perhaps that would not be such a good idea this time."

Philip rolled his eyes. He could not think of a proper answer. He watched as his mother went to Selena and briefly spoke to her. A servant appeared fairly soon after that and was given instructions, presumably to have some more beds made up. Or sofas, Philip conceded.

Then, Mr and Miss Grumbell braved the darkness to go home. They did not live far away. Mrs Cavendish made her excuses shortly after; her condition very likely fatigued her. Mr Cavendish would not be outstayed by his children, so he sent them to bed and, after hearing that the Coles had been assigned to various sofas on other floors, he retired as well.

"Did you see that?" Alexander asked with some indignation. "He looked almost glad to hear I am sleeping on a sofa in the library. I do not doubt that it is comfortable, but the kind thing to do is to offer some sympathy."

"Perhaps he has tried out the sofa himself and knows you do not deserve any sympathy?" Philip suggested.

"It is a very comfortable sofa," Selena agreed. "Whether he has slept on it, I do not know. I do not think I gave him the opportunity. He was in danger of appropriating my library, so I made sure to mark my terrain."

Philip was fascinated. "How?"

"By spending a lot of time there. He is not used to females in his reading domains, I suppose, and he once or twice tried to get me out, but this is my house." She smiled. "He probably thought the library belonged to the man of the house and that in the absence of a permanent one he could claim it."

"But you have two."

"Do I need to keep an eye on the two of you?" Alexander inquired warily. "Because I would rather not."

"Oh, no need," Selena assured him. "I shall just point Philip to his sofa and then I am off to bed."

"Why can you not let a servant do that?"

"Because they do not have the key," she explained, drawing a chain out of her bosom. At the end dangled a key.

"You are going to lock him up?" Alexander's eyes bulged.

"No. It is a room I usually keep locked. There will be no need to lock it if he is there to guard my secrets."

"I...I am off to the library," Alexander said hastily. He clearly had no interest in her secrets. "Have a good night, Madam, Philip."

"You will let me sleep in the tower?" Philip asked. "I will only consent to that if you provide me with a chamberpot."

"Really," she said.

"I am serious."

"Perhaps you should not drink so much."

"I did not drink after dinner. The other gentlemen were rather surprised."

"Why did you not drink?"

"I did not want to taste or smell of spirits."

"Good reason," she acknowledged. "But you did not tell them that?"

"No, I did not feel obliged to give them a reason."

"Good." She led him to the door of the tower and opened it with her key. Surprisingly, she locked it behind them.

"Afraid we shall be followed?"

"No. You will have another exit. Into my dressing room." She climbed the stairs.

He was surprised by that unexpected information. "Nice."

"It is the only way to provide you with all the luxurious necessities you appear to require."

"Luxurious necessities?" he spluttered. "I am sure you require them too. By the way, is there no sofa in your dressing room?"

"Of course there is."

They did not go all the way up, but left the tower early. The room they came into was lit and much warmer than the cold staircase. There was a sofa and it had a blanket on it. On the small table beside it was a pile of books, the books he had given her, and the small bag with his necessities. Evidently the servants had known he would not be sleeping in the tower.

"Please get ready for bed. I shall be with you when you knock on the door."

He did so after ten minutes. He was ready after five, but he was not sure she would be. Women always took longer. But she answered almost immediately when he knocked.

"The boys are sound asleep again," she whispered and stepped into her dressing room. "One woke briefly. Let us discuss those books."

---

Their discussion was interrupted after a few minutes by a knock on the door of the adjoining room. "What?" Selena said with a disturbed look. "Who wants me at this hour? Stay here and do not make a sound."

Philip obediently sat still. He was glad they had been keeping their voices down for the sake of the boys, so whoever was knocking on the door had probably not heard them. There was some conversation in the other room, probably, because it took some time for Selena to return.

"You will not believe it," she said. "It was Serena."

"Was it anything important?"

"Not for me. I am not responsible for either of them."

"Who?"

"Serena and your brother. She asked me where he was sleeping. I told her he was in the library. I did not interrogate her further."

"Is she going --" He could hardly believe it. Such a thing would not occur to Miss Cavendish. And he could not believe either that she would follow a suggestion of Alexander's with her father in the house.

"I did not ask. Perhaps she was simply worried he was not comfortable. I assume she is clever enough not to spend the night in the library with him. She knows her father likes to go there in the morning."

"It would be a quick way out, though, being compromised," Philip remarked. "But I did not know she was capable of such manipulation."

Selena settled herself on the sofa again. "She was not named after me and she does not look like me at all. Why is she doing things I would do?"

"Would you?"

"Where am I?"

"But we are discussing something serious. What do you think?"

"It might have some merit, this idea, but I am not sure. I am too afraid it will fail and then what do I do?"

"I do not know. To me it does not sound as if it could fail. It sounds astonishingly simple."

"Women are not simple creatures," she informed him. "Remember, this book was written by a man. He may have got it wrong or he may have simplified the matter because he could not write a hundred variations. To appear clever one must come up with a definitive theory that fits everything."

Philip suddenly felt a great desire to sleep. "We are not going to solve this. Not right now. You had best sleep on it for a few months."

---

He did not think he would be able to sleep at all, thinking about the matter. He did not know what Selena wanted. On the one hand she seemed to like him a lot and she was even going so far as to discuss very intimate subjects with him, but on the other hand it all seemed to lead to nothing. It was rather frustrating. Perhaps he should think of her as Mrs Whitby-Ross again.

In the morning, however, it turned out he had slept after all. There were sounds from the room next door. The little boys were up. He dressed himself before they could see him and tell everybody. When he had finished combing his hair, Selena appeared. She was still in her nightgown, which was, to make things worse, unbuttoned a bit.

"Good morning," she said briskly and she made no move to kiss him. "I want to ask you to descend through the tower. You will end up near the breakfast room, as you may recall."

"And you?"

"I should like to get dressed before I go downstairs."

"Of course."

"You had not noticed?"

"Of course I had noticed. Even that you have unbuttoned a bit," he gestured.

"For Ben."

He did not understand that. "Have you thought about it? Will you be long?"

"No more than fifteen minutes. I do not think you will be the first. Some of my guests have rather annoying breakfast habits and I try to avoid those."

"Is being the first an annoying habit?"

"No, but reading aloud at the breakfast table is."

"I can bring..." Philip said with a mischievous glance at the books they had perused the night before.

"It would be a lot more interesting than religious fare. The first day he waited for me and called my children to order when they did not enjoy the sermon, so I...er...informed him that in my house my children eat breakfast in the breakfast room, but that he was welcome to having his breakfast brought up to his room."

"Poor Miss Cavendish. Someone needs to compromise her and fast."]]> Lise A Novel IdeaThu, 26 Jan 2012 08:28:04 +0000