Authors: Nichole Matthews
“
Of course
,
my l
ady
,
”
Dobbins stated drolly.
“We would hate for you all
to perish
while planning a party.”
“La,
Dobbins, you are too cheeky for your
own good.
” Poppy laughed gaily. “Luckily,
we
would not survive without you or else you would be sacked
without references
immediat
e
ly.” She chortled.
“Should
I inform
Lord Ashford?”
E
yes twinkl
ing
, “
There
is no need
. A
s
you know
I would do an
ything for you,
m
y
l
ady.
”
Dobbins inclined his head and
soundlessly
shut the door.
“Miss Harris, we must first
send notes to Chloe and Freya
.
”
Poppy
smiled as she en
u
merated. “Secondly, we must
organize some activities,
” she
said with a gleeful smile.
“I can hardly wait!”
Poppy
paced
around the brightly appointed sitting room
with
her hands
clasped
behind her. S
he
began
her list
a
gain.
“Please write this down Miss Harris. I think we should title our work today ‘
The
P
rodigious
Peregrines
P
arty
.
’
She
spun on the balls of her feet.
“Ooh, perhaps that is silly.” She laughed again.
“Oh do be seated Poppy
,
” admonished Miss Harris. “You will make yourself dizzy.”
“Oh poo
h
,” Poppy
’s
eyes danced. “I can
no
t contain myself! I am eager for this dive
r
sion.
You know
I
thrive on orchestrating
the lives of others
, because I seem to fail at orchestra
t
ing mine
.
”
S
he
wink
ed
mischievously
at Miss Ha
r
ris.
Setting aside the latest copy of
Ackermann’s
Repository
,
Piper looked
over the top of her spectacles, with her usual calmness of man
ne
r
,
“
Poppy
,
how
can any
one
be expected to co
n
centrate with you moving about?” She smiled indulgently. “Besides, you know Parker and
his friends will remain in the B
illiard
s
room their entire stay. I would not spend
a single second worrying about their entertainment. You are only wasting your time.”
“I cannot agree with you
,
”
Poppy stated with her usual vivacity. “I will make sure that they ar
e
included in all of our entertainments. How could they
possibly
refuse?
They are ge
n
tlemen.
”
“
Very e
asily
,” Piper
muttered
wryly
under her breath.
Poppy ignored
Piper’s comment
.
“I
a
m so excited that I don
’
t even care if they refuse to participate.
The fact that they will all be in our home for two whole weeks is enough.
They can be sticks
-
in
-
the
-
mud for all I care
.
”
She grinned
.
“
Why
I cannot even think about si
t
ting still
.
”
Miss Harris sighed
.
“Poppy love, you are incorrigible
.
”
“
W
e can put on a play
..
.
”
“Oh, Poppy
, y
ou know
how much I abhor
theatricals
,
”
Piper
interrupted
on a groan. “I am a horrible actres
s. I stammer, and my face turns
an unsightly shade of red.”
Piper shu
d
dered at the thought.
“I’m fully aware of your nervous impulses
,
”
Poppy acknowledged. “
Perhaps you can o
r
ganize
the rehearsal, how about that? I
promise I will not force
you stand in front of an aud
i
ence.”
“Of course I will help however I can.” Piper smiled
tolerantly
. “
But c
an we no
t just have a relaxing summer
? Must you plan all these activities? After all the parties and balls and teas, I
am exhausted.
”
“Of course there will be plenty of time
to
rest
,
” Poppy said solicitously. “
It’s not as if
I am planning every
single
second of
each
day
.
The planning itself would be exhausting
enough
.
”
“You are too much
,
”
Miss Harris state
d with a despairing sigh
hiding her
smil
e
behind her embroidery.
“Must I participate at all
?
” Piper asked.
“You are such a silly goose
,
Piper
.
”
Poppy
smiled
patiently. “Why everyone will think you were the brain child anyway
for this
.
Of course with y
ou being the intelligent one and all
,” Poppy
said with a syrupy smile. “
You and your superior
intellect and
taste
in all things
.
”
“Of course, we would not want it to slip that you have a brain in your head. Would we Pea Goose?”
Poppy crossed her eyes.
“I suppose I will let slip the names of your friends
, as
long as they are beneficial to the outcome of the party. I am not aware of you knowing any lively
women
. Did you make some new acquaintances this
past
season that I am unaware of?” She gi
g
gled at her quickness of wit.
“
Oh
,
you are a riot.
The
ton
might get the wrong idea.
”
Piper held
her hand dramatica
l
ly over her forehead
.
“
W
hy
,
two bluestockings in the Peregrine household would be just too much
for anyone to
dwell
upon
,
”
Piper
said with a laugh in her voice. “Your secret is safe with me
,
dear sister
.
”
“
G
irls
, h
ow many times
must I remind
you that
making disparaging comments about each other is not lady like?” Miss Harris
reprimanded
.
“You know we are only teasing each other, Miss Harris.” Poppy quickly hugged her companion.
“Piper likes to
make a joke
,
that’s
all.”
“Might as well give in gracefully, Piper,” Auntie Adele replied.
Poppy and Piper were as different as night and day. Piper described herself as a
‘
blu
e
stocking
’.
She maintained
that intellectual pursuits were of higher importance than social obl
i
gations. Why anyone would think that was beyond Poppy’s understanding.
Hearing the rattle of the
teacart
on the marble floor
alerted
the
women
of the
arrival of the
ir
desired
refreshments.
Dobbins
quietly
e
ntered and rolled the cart
near the settee.
“Thank you
,
Dob
bins.” Miss Harris said moving
from the escritoire
. She had proceeded to pour
the steaming brew into the gold
-
rimmed porcelain tea cups hand painted with red ro
s
es on a pink bac
k
ground.
Adding milk and
sugar to both Poppy and Pipers cups just the way they liked it.
Miss Harris sat
neatly
in one of the matching chairs, tu
rned to Piper and handed her a
cup of tea. “Have you invited anyone
in
particular to visit this summer?” She inquired
look
ing
over the rim of her cup
as she
took
a sip of her tea.
“To be sure
,
I invited Agnes
weeks ago.
”
Piper
grinned as she took a sip. “I could not man
age a whole summer without her
by my side
. She will be here in
three
weeks. Unfort
u
nate
ly she will arrive
a whole
week after t
he rest of our
guests
.”
“How
lovely
,
Agnes is such a dear sweet
, sensible girl.
”
Miss Harris praised
,
looking
at Poppy inte
ntionally with an arched brow.
“Perhaps she can
be a calming influence for you this summer
,
”
s
he smirked
at Poppy
before taking
a dainty bite of her cake
.
Adele sat back with her cup, sipped then fi
xed her gaze on her two nieces.
“You would have palpitations
Miss Harris if I were ever calm.
” Poppy giggled. “Do not wish for something you would not be able to handle.”
Piper chuckled behind the gold rim of her teacup.
“Well,
shall we
try this again
?”
Poppy’s eyes twinkled with excitement
as she took a sip of her tea
.
Poppy loved Rosebriar
, t
he seat of the Marquis of Ashford for about
three hundred
years,
built after a fire
had
destroyed the original castle. The
ruins
remained
a jumbled pile of rocks and history
where she loved to sit and daydream for hours
.
The sitting room door suddenly flew open. “I heard there were
tea and cakes
.” Peyton said
flinging himself on the settee beside
Poppy.
As he leaned over to grab a cake,
he caus
ed her tea to slosh over the rim
of her cup
nearly splashing on
to
her skirt
.