To please her stepfather and honor her mother, Maddie took charge of the stable, creating a job that Jim Nipper filled when he arrived at Farthingmill Abbey. She was reviewing her mother’s records of bloodlines and desired sires when the Admiral sent for her. The minute she stepped into his library, he bounced up out of his seat and grew strangely nervous.
“I have two brothers living,” he said. “Lawrence, married to the daughter of Earl Hoopeston. Lady Jane. Joseph, the youngest, married a Belgian woman. Heavily invested in mining, weaving, cotton imports.”
“I shall of course endeavor to love them as much as I love my aunts and uncles in America,” Maddie said. “They are all in good health, I hope.”
“We are blessed with sons but deficient in daughters,” he continued, as if he had not heard the question. “Except for Lucy.”
At last, the Admiral dropped into a chair and Maddie sat at his feet, to keep him still when she wanted to pepper him with questions. She leaned her head against his knee, having come to enjoy the feel of his big hand caressing her head. “Will Lucy be a friend to me, sir, or is she too different in age?”
“You do need girls of your own age for companionship, I understand that,” the Admiral said. “If I could choose for you, I would prefer someone of equal intellect. However, we cannot choose our family, can we?”
“Is Lucy dull? Of diminished capacity?” In which case, Maddie would not let her touch her beautiful French dolls. Or the rice basket. “Can she ride a horse?”
The Admiral snorted. “Of course she rides. She is the flower of British peerage, trained to dance, sing and not think. She rides just enough, embroiders just enough, and simpers beyond all imagining. I ask that you be patient with her, that you accept her shortcomings because she cannot help it. Think kindly of her, at least.” He stroked the top of her head, in a way that made the big world smaller and less lonely. “They are coming for the weekend.”