“She didn’t,” Luella returned. “But she did strongly suggest you procure a bride in the near future because she knows the house on the hill will never get properly furnished until you get married. She obviously thinks it needs a lady’s touch, and clearly doesn’t believe I’m qualified to pick out a few couches and chairs.”
“I’m hardly likely to make the monumental decision to get married simply because Mother is concerned the house she insisted on building before she left for Paris lacks furnishings,” Owen muttered.
“But youwouldcontemplate marriage if you thought that state would have Mother returning home, and”—Luella held up a muddy hand when Owen opened his mouth—“before you argue with that, having Mother return to the States would allow you to relinquish your guardianship of me, and bringing home a bride would also serve the purpose of having all the talk surrounding me fading into the background because everyone would become all but rabid in their quest to ferret out the juicy details regarding why you decided to marry a lady who isn’t local.”
“As you very well know, local ladies seem to find me vastly unpleasant, but that unfortunate state certainly wouldn’t cause me to look into securing a wife through the mail.” Owen shot a look at Camilla. “And, just as an aside, I wouldn’t even know how to go about procuring one of those.”
“I didn’t know you could order a bride through the mail,” Camilla admitted right as the thought struck that her day, instead of returning to any semblance of normalcy, was becoming downright peculiar. “Nevertheless, before we find ourselves engaged in a conversation revolving around what a person can actually purchase through the mail, perhaps I should explain what I’m doing here to Luella since that might expediate the matter, as well as discourage any other outlandish ideas she may soon form about me.”
Luella gave her nose another scratch. “Since you’re not a mail-order bride, I was thinking you might have arranged one of those marriages of convenience with Owen.”
“You clearly have quite the imagination, Miss Chesterfield, but no, and to be clear, I don’t have any intentions of marrying your brother. I’m merely here at your brother’s request to aid you with your Stanley situation.”
Luella took to fiddling with one of her braids before she smiled.“Ah, I see. You must owe him a favor, since it’s not exactly common for an instructor to not get paid, especially when you must be aware of the fact that the Chesterfield family is loaded.”
“I am aware that your family is wealthy—loadedbeing a word that a lady would never use—and while we’re on the topic of acceptable things to say to people, it’s never permissible for a lady to state how much money her family possesses.”
Luella crossed her arms over her chest. “We Chesterfields believe in speaking bluntly.”
“You also, at least in your case, believe in breaking gentlemen’s noses, but that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable behavior. Curtailing your tongue, as well as your fists, is going to be a must if you expect anyone to believe you’re capable of becoming a lady of refinement.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing I’ve changed my mind about that.”
Camilla stole a glance at Owen, who was now rubbing his temple, quite as if he were developing a headache.
“You no longer want to become proper so that you can attend that ball come June?” he asked.
“Why bother?” Luella shot back. “It’s not like anyone will believe I’ve changed, especially after Martha Wellington and Clarice Colleens, two of my dearest friends until two days ago, asked Stanley, along with three of his friends, to accompany them on a picnic up to McGovern Pond—where my former friends knew I was going to be swimming.”
“And they’re your former friends because they should have known you wouldn’t want to see Stanley again?” Owen asked.
“They’re no longer my friends because I think Martha might have her eye on Stanley now that I’m no longer in the picture. And before you ask if that bothers me, no, but what does bother me is that they knew I’d be swimming in the pond because I’d asked them to join me, but they told me they had other plans—plans that I now know revolved around mortifying me.”
“Should I ask what happened?”
“Since talk is rampant regarding yet another Luella incident, you’re certain to hear about it, so I might as well ’fess up.” Luella drew in a breath. “Since I was alone—well, except for Esmerelda, who always seems to know when I’m off to swim and followed me—I saw no reason to swim in a bathing costume because, again, I was alone. Imagine my dismay when a mere ten minutes after I shucked off my clothing, Martha, Clarice, Stanley, and his friends showed up.”
Camilla raised a hand to her throat. “You were ... naked?”
“Close enough,” Luella admitted. “Not that anyone saw anything because I stayed underneath the water, and then Esmerelda did me the very large favor of running everyone off about five minutes after I was discovered because she prefers lounging in the pond in silence, something all the laughter coming from everyone disrupted.”
Camilla drew herself up. “Are you telling me that Stanley and his friends didn’t immediately beg your pardon and take their leave the second they realized you were inappropriately attired in the pond?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying, and not only didn’t they leave until Esmerelda chased them off, but they also then spread the story around Wheeling. That right there is why I won’t be attending any balls in the near or distant future since I have no intention of setting myself up as a source of continuous amusement amongst the local set. It’s also why I didn’t want to accompany Meemaw to the island this morning, and you can bet your last dollar that I’ll never come here again, not when I’m sure everyone will be all aflutter to spread the tale about me running down Zane Street trying to lasso a crazy pig. I think it’ll be best all around if I just retreat to Meemaw’s cabin forever.”
“You can’t spend the rest of your life hiding out with Meemaw,” Owen pointed out.
“I don’t see why not. I adore Meemaw.”
Camilla cleared her throat. “Forgive me for interrupting, but I find I’m having a difficult time following the conversation as I don’t know who this Meemaw is.”
Luella and Owen exchanged a look before Luella frowned. “She’s our grandmother.”
“Your grandmother’s name is Meemaw?” Camilla asked.
“Of course not. It’s Beulah.”
“Then why do you call her Meemaw?”