He leaned against the side of the door, happy to see his sister in such a state. She normally hid in her books and replied to his inquiries in the shortest of possible conversation. Something—or someone—had brought out the silly in her and he was beyond pleased to see it.
“What should I guess about?” he teased.
“I have engaged a new cook, and she has left an excellent dinner for you below stairs.”
His brows rose. He was indeed hungry, but his spirits had been so depressed he hadn’t bothered to visit his club. “Has she really?”
Both ladies nodded, and Clara went so far as to tap her stomach.
“It’s simple fare, my lord,” Miss Rees supplied, “but hearty and well made.”
“I don’t mind simple. I am pleased that you found someone so quickly.”
“It wasn’t me,” his sister said with a laugh. “Lilah found her.”
“I asked our cook if she knew of someone. We were lucky that her niece was available for work immediately.”
Aaron frowned. “Her niece? Just how young—”
“Taste the food, my lord,” Miss Rees said. “If you like it, then that is a good beginning. She may be a tad young for the usual cook, but she can learn her other tasks quickly. Especially with the right supervision.”
The right supervision was the problem. His sister was a disaster with young, inexperienced staff, but Clara interrupted him before he could think of diplomatic way to express his concerns.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that!” his sister cried. “It shall work out. Now get us the wine, if you would.”
He bowed. “I shall if you will allow me the pleasure of joining you.” He planned to make a plate and return to eat it on his lap. It wouldn’t be the first time he had made do at his desk. He could do the same here. But Miss Rees was already pushing up to her feet.
“You cannot bring your food up here.” She waved at the cluttered room. “Wherever would you sit?”
On the settee right beside her. But he didn’t say that aloud.
“Come along, Clara,” Miss Rees said as she tugged his sister to her feet. “Let us go watch your brother enjoy his dinner.”
“Just like the servants watch me?”
“Exactly like that!” Miss Rees said with a giggle. “Then he will know how uncomfortable it is for you.”
“A capital idea!” his sister cried as she gained her feet.
Aaron worried that Clara was too inebriated to stand, but she was steady enough. Then he watched with a growing smile as Miss Rees linked arms with her. He went first, thinking he could catch them if one tumbled down the stairs.
He needn’t have worried. The ladies descended carefully and even managed to sing a little ditty as they went. It wasn’t until they were on the main floor that he realized what he’d thought of as a childhood song had different words.Scandalouswords that should not have been in their vocabulary.
And it was really quite funny.
“Miss Rees,” he said in mock reproach. “What have you been teaching my sister?”
“Unfair,” the lady responded. “I learned that from her.”
Really? “Clara?”
His sister grinned. “Do you think my friends at the lending library only talk about books?”
Well, yes, he had thought that. “Just how much wine have you had?” He wasn’t angry. In fact, he was pleased because he got to see a side of her he hadn’t witnessed in decades. Just when had she stopped being the happy girl of his childhood?
“Oh, don’t be like Mother. I have spent most of the year there with her. This is the first full breath I have taken since Papa grew ill.” To demonstrate, she leaned back and inhaled a full measure. She might have toppled, but Miss Rees set a bracing hand out just in case.
There was the answer. The minute his sister had grown into a young woman, his mother had begun putting restrictions on her. She constantly picked on Clara’s manners, interests, attire. Everything.