Pendragon (Sherbrooke Brides 7)

Tysen said easily, “Now, Meggie, Leo knows quite a lot, that’s true, but he doesn’t yet have Jeremy’s years of experience.”

“Does Charlotte think Leo will do well too?” Meggie asked.

Jeremy leaned back against the sofa back, smiling. “My dearest Charlotte has no idea what Leo will do since she is a woman and can’t really understand the needs and requirements for someone to succeed at building a successful stud.”

More nausea. How could he be so utterly obtuse? She couldn’t believe the nonsense flowing from his mouth. Why hadn’t Uncle Ryder beaten that out of him? Surely after four hours of it, he would have realized a good blow would do the trick.

Meggie nodded ever so pleasantly and said, “Oh yes indeed. How true. I, myself, have often wondered how God could have been so remiss as to have made women, when they are so very useless. He wasted his time.”

“But Charlotte is pregnant,” Jeremy said, looking at her, blinking, confused.

Meggie said, “Surely God could have found an easier way to provide boy children for men rather than forcing them to have to deal with women, don’t you think? Imagine, Charlotte hasn’t the brains to even understand how horses mate. Imagine, you have to tell her even when she should no longer ride a horse. Imagine, she will welcome Leo with no idea what he will do.”

“Meggie.” This from her father, who knew from her tone of voice that she’d gone too far. “Jeremy didn’t mean that. You are misunderstanding him.”

Of course her father doubtless wondered why she was quite ready to clout Jeremy in the head. Oh goodness, she had to stop being such a shrew. Her feelings for Jeremy—this was something Meggie never wanted either him or Mary Rose to know. It was too humiliating.

But something she couldn’t control made her ignore her father and say, “I believe he said that Charlotte is stupid, unlike him or Leo since they are men and seem to know what’s what.” She looked at Jeremy straight in the face. “When I met Charlotte, I never thought she was stupid. Indeed, if I’d had the opportunity, I would have asked her if she had any ideas about training racing cats.”

Jeremy looked like a calm, reasoned man who suddenly had an eccentric cousin on his hands. He said easily, “Meggie, you played a lovely song. Why don’t you play another?”

“It was a Scarlatti sonata, not a song. It has no words. Oh goodness, how foolish of me. You, a man, would know that even without being told, wouldn’t you?”

“Scarlatti was a man, dammit!”

“Wouldn’t you say that perhaps dear Scarlatti had ample time to do his composing since he didn’t have to birth children, wash clothes, scrub floors, or pander endlessly to all the males around him?”

“Hmmm,” Mary Rose said, leaping to her feet. “Do you know, I have a headache. It started a good while ago. Meggie, would you please press a rosewater cloth to my forehead? You do it so very well. Come along.”

Mary Rose held out her hand. Meggie had no choice. She said as she walked to her stepmother, “Shouldn’t you ask Papa how it is best done? Or is that one of the very simplest of tasks to accomplish—like birthing children—so that I have a chance of learning to do it?”

“Meggie, my headache is going to split my brow apart.”

“Good night, Mary Rose, Meggie,” said Tysen. “Ah, my dearest daughter, I hope you will apologize to Jeremy before you bid us a pleasant good night.”

“I apologize, Jeremy. Surely you can forgive me. I am much too stupid to understand my own insults.”

Mary Rose had hauled her out of the drawing room, even pausing to shut the door behind her.

Tysen said to Jeremy, “Although Meggie was rude to you, my boy, your opinion of women would raise most female’s hackles. I believe you should think about this.”

Jeremy, however, was grinning, a thoroughly wicked grin. He said, very quietly, because Meggie was known to eavesdrop, “Do you think I baited her too much, Uncle Tysen?”

“You were acting like a jackass to make her lose her head, which she, naturally, did. It was well done.”

“Not at first, but then she was so appalled, so furious at me, I couldn’t help myself.”

Suddenly Meggie appeared in the doorway. Jeremy said without pause, “I don’t understand, Uncle Tysen. I am a man and Charlotte is a woman. We each have our own roles, our own responsibilities. Is Meggie feeling ill? Perhaps in her head?”

Meggie, no matter how important her reason for coming back, now turned on her heel, cursed under her breath, but not under enough for the two gentlemen, one of them her father and a vicar, and ran up the stairs.

Tysen just shook his head. “Do tell me more about this Arabian stallion you wish to buy from Spain.”

Jeremy said, “Meggie is growing up fast.”

“No. Actually, she’s already well grown. She has very firm ideas about things.”

“She always has. What a joy to tease her until the smoke came out of her ears.” And he grinned again. “Now, about that Arabian. The fellow’s nasty as a cock who’s been kicked out of the hen yard. He’s also as fast as the fox who managed to break in just last week and eat one of our best setters. He made a big mistake, however.” Jeremy laughed.