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eventually talked into believing she might not succeed in unseating the housekeeper, and began to consider ways and means of making the best of it. Some sort of alliance by marriage with the housekeeper was one possibility, before Lord Malton beat them to it. It would give Phoebe access to Wildercliffe for visits and whatever she could pick up, and put the income in the hands of the husband. The husband must, therefore, be someone she could bear-lead. She looked at Horace, who sat nursing a glass of wine. No decent lady would so much as look at him, but the housekeeper seemed fond of marriage, and would not be fussy.
    She turned to her brother. “ You must make a bid for the housekeeper, Horace, ” she announced.
    “ A pretty woman, Fay Rampling, ” Horace said, with a wobbly smile. “ I always had a fancy for her, to tell the truth. And old Pargeter had a wonderful cellar. ”
    “ There you are, then. Run a comb through your hair, put on a clean shirt, and go calling on her. She will have you, see if she don ’ t. She is so fond of marriage. ”
    “ P ’ raps I will, ” Horace said, and picked up his glass.
    “ What was the niece like? ” was Lady Sykes ’ s next question. “ I never heard of a Miss Lonsdale. ”
    Swann considered Miss Lonsdale his department and replied, “ Pretty. Funny. ”
    Lady Sykes leapt on this crumb. “ Pretty strange, was she? ”
    “ Eh? No, damme. Pretty and strange — I mean funny — amusing. ”
    “ How old? ”
    “ Youngish. ”
    “ About twenty-one, ” Fenwick added.
    “ She will freeze Horace out and have the lot to herself, ” Phoebe declared.
    “ Damme, Lady Pargeter can ’ t marry her niece, ” Swann said angrily.
    “ Idiot! She can keep Rampling from marrying Horace. Is she well spoken? ”
    “ Of course she is. She was a schoolmistress. Very genteel. ”
    “ Penniless, in other words. There is nothing so genteel as genteel poverty. A bundle of smirks and smiles, I wager. ”
    “ Not in the least. She ’ s a lively gel, a real spark. ”
    Lady Sykes frowned, deep in scheming, and turned her attention to a more credible witness. “ What was your opinion, Fenwick? ” She immediately noticed his hesitation in answering. “ Something off there, was there? ”
    “ She seemed reluctant to discuss her origins, and her recent past, ” he admitted, and told Phoebe what Jane had told him.
    “ Miss Prism ’ s is unexceptionable, ” Phoebe declared. “ Perhaps I should send for Nigel to divert Miss Lonsdale. ”
    Fenwick swallowed a grin. “ He will require a clever wife, ” he said mischievously.
    “ Nonsense, what he requires is a rich wife. I didn ’ t mean that he should offer for the schoolteacher, but only divert her attention while Horace marries the housekeeper. Mind you, I don ’ t trust this waiting a year to finish reading the will. It may very well be that the estate is entailed upon the schoolteacher. ”
    “ You missed your calling, Phoebe, ” Fenwick said with a satirical smile. “ You should have been a general. Wellington could use you in the Peninsula. ”
    Phoebe sat like a statue, staring with narrowed eyes at her fingers, which were curled into fists. “ That ’ s it! ” she exclaimed, jumping up. “ Miss Lonsdale is to be the heir. What a fool I was not to see it sooner. ”
    “ Lady Pargeter said the estate was to revert to the Pargeter family, ” Fenwick reminded her. “ Malton confirmed it, though he was reluctant to do so. ”
    “Of course he confirmed it. Are you all blind?” Phoebe asked, looking around the room. “Miss Lonsdale is Pargeter’s daughter. It’s plain as the nose on your face. She is his bastard daughter. You’re too young to recall, Fenwick, but Pargeter was running around with a Miss Emily somebody from Bath twenty-odd years ago. Now, what was her last name? I don’t think it was Lonsdale, but that is no matter. Bath, you see, where the schoolteacher comes from. He used to visit Bath regularly