Page 46 of A Foolish Flirtation

“It would hardly be a handout. You were one of the original investors in my stable, don’t forget. Bucephalus is still winning cups and looks set to do so for another couple of years at least.”

“I do not forget,” Atherton said lightly. “But I do not mean to draw any money from that pot just yet.”

Jeremy picked up his watch and slipped it into his pocket while threading the chain through a buttonhole. “Well, you know it is there should you need it.”

Atherton nodded. “Besides, I mean to come and sponge off you in a month or so in the summer, so you need not imagine you will miss me.”

“You are always welcome at Vance Park, as I think you know.”

Atherton nodded. “Oh, I know. But I think you need both time and space to court your bride. Re-insinuate yourself into her good graces as it were.”

“Noticed that, did you?” Jeremy asked with a wry twist of his lips. “I have some ground to recover, it is true. Any recommendations?”

“If you have not already, I would write and have Garraway take down your previous wife’s portrait in the blue sitting room tout suite,” Atherton said promptly.

Jeremy snorted. “It was consigned to the attics months ago,” he assured his friend.

“I would have thought a bonfire more appropriate.”

Jeremy shot him a look. “She is Teddy’s mother at the end of the day,” he said mildly. “The only vestige I had of my own growing up was her portrait. It may be that someday, when I am dead and buried, Teddy or one of his offspring may want to hang it in the long gallery with the rest of their ancestors.”

“How maudlin.”

Jeremy smiled. “You might feel differently if your own title had been accompanied by such things.”

“Very likely,” Atherton agreed without rancor. “However, as it did not, we will never know. Uncle George inherited all the ancestral portraits along with the sense of familial piety. Consequently, I am entirely footloose and fancy-free.”

“Well, there are decided advantages to that, I am sure.”

“If I was you,” Atherton continued, ignoring this and picking up the previous thread, “I would offer her free rein over redecorating at Vance Park. Amanda’s tastes were rather extravagant. It may be that Emmeline would rather not write her letters in a sitting room masquerading as an Egyptian tomb.”

Jeremy winced. “It is not quite as bad as that, and besides, the décor of the viscountess’s sitting room is nothing compared to that of her bedroom.”

“Do tell.”

“Her inspiration was the seraglio in an Ottoman palace, complete with wall hangings, ceramic tiling, and Turkish carpets.”

Atherton blinked. “Good grief. Please tell me you have had the rooms stripped bare in readiness for their new occupant.”

“I have not,” Jeremy admitted. “There has hardly been time, but I am happy for my bride to redecorate at will.” He thought fleetingly of Emmeline’s rooms at Winkworth Street. Doubtless they had been furnished with thoughts of economy in mind, rather than personal taste.

Even so, he suspected that given a choice, her fancy would not run to the extravagances of the ancient world. He wondered idly what setting she would choose for herself if money was no object. He knew what he would choose for her, of course. Aphrodite’s bower, complete with attendant cupid statues, but doubtless she would think that just as opulent and inappropriate as his previous viscountess’s choice.

“What are you thinking of?” Atherton asked curiously.

“The Birth of Venus,” Jeremy answered unthinkingly.

Atherton laughed. “You mean to have her sleep in a scallop-shaped bed?” he enquired. “Dressed with sheets of seafoam green.”

“Why not? I’d rather like that.”

“I just bet you would,” Atherton said, shaking his head, “but I suspect your bride’s tastes run along more conventional lines.”

The same suspicion had crossed Jeremy’s mind, but it annoyed him hearing his friend say so. “You scarcely know her,” he pointed out irritably. “She is a great reader of novels and likes a good many fanciful things.”

A bookroom, he thought suddenly. That was what he should have installed at Vance Park. A bookroom which he could fill with all the latest novels so she would not miss the lending library here in Bath. His mood lightened. He would do it. It would be one way to woo and win her over, and he would think of several more.

“I take it inspiration has struck,” Atherton said dryly as Jeremy strode to the doorway and called for Colfax.