Page 83 of The Queen of Roses

Adele wished to point out that, although she did not share her mother’s objections to motorcars, they did already own a carriage, a gig, her buggy, and Guy’s buggy, not to mention all the horses needed to draw them. Along with their mounts for riding and the hunters Guy kept for the occasional hunt with the Valley Hunt Club, they already had a substantial outlay on horses and transportation. Now he wished to add a motorcar to their household?

“Miss Barnes, how have you enjoyed your first weeks out in society?” asked Margot, again deftly steering the conversation to safer territory. “I remember finding it all quite exciting.”

“Tomorrow Mama is taking me to the Valley Hunt Club,” said Miss Barnes, her nose pointed a little higher in the air. “And then, on Saturday, we are attending a concert.”

“Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor,” said Mrs. Barnes.

“ ‘Death and the Maiden,’ ” said James. “A wonderful piece. I look forward to it.”

“I hope our little concert will be up to your standards, Margot and James,” said Guy.

Adele snapped her gaze to him, not liking the edge his tone had taken on.

“I cannot imagine why it wouldn’t,” said Margot. “The two we have already attended have been quite diverting.”

“Adele worried herself sick for weeks that her London cousins wouldn’t find our little provincial town good enough for them.”

“Guy, that’s ridiculous!” Adele protested as she saw Margot and James exchange looks of bewilderment out of the corner of her eye.

Thankfully, at that moment, Mrs. Jarrett arrived with Guy’s soup.

“More wine please, Mrs. Jarrett,” he instructed as soon as the soup was in front of him.

Adele wanted to order her housekeeper not to serve him anything more, but after nearly three years of marriage, she knew her husband’s moods. When he was like this, it was best not to provoke him and instead allow the storm to blow over.

“We were speaking of Mrs. Whitley’s plans for Rosewood House earlier, Mr. Whitley,” said Mrs. Barnes. “It sounds as though it will be wonderful when it is finished.”

“You should all come for a picnic,” said Adele. “I don’t believe you’ve seen the renovation of the house since it was completed, Mama and Papa.”

“Yes, you should go and see it,” said Guy. “If you like it, you could move in, and I could stop paying for your house.”

Mama gasped and Papa gave a nervous little chuckle.

“Guy,” Adele started, “I don’t think this is the place—”

“Why not?” he asked. “We are all friends and family here, aren’t we? Well, except Mrs. Barnes, who is your parents’ landlady.”

“I would hardly be a successful landlady if I wished away my tenants, now would I?” asked Mrs. Barnes over the rim of her wineglass.

That seemed to catch Guy off guard, drawing a little laugh from him. Then another. Then, like a dam breaking, he buckled over and began to shake so hard that Adele thought he might fall from his chair.

“Apparently I missed my calling. I should take my act on the stage,” said Mrs. Barnes.

Guy straightened enough to reach for his glass and, still chuckling, said, “I think a toast is in order. To Mrs. Barnes, who is always a good sport, and her beautiful daughter.”

Adele didn’t like the direction this meal was going in one bit, but what could she do when he raised his glass and everyone else followed his example? She lifted her own glass, catching Margot’s eye across the table and reading the concern so apparent there.

“To Mrs. and Miss Barnes,” said Guy.

“To Mrs. and Miss Barnes,” everyone murmured and returned their glasses to the table.

This was, Adele feared, going to be one of those evenings, and there was little she could do to stop it.

chapter thirty ADELE

Dinner was ghastly, but Adele managed to ferry them all through it by the skin of her teeth.

Just.