beatrix

Poppy took a deep, appreciative breath. __ow bracing,_ she said. __ wonder what makes the country air smell so different?_ __t could be the pig farm we just passed,_ Leo muttered. Beatrix, who had been reading from a pamphlet describing the south of England, said cheerfully, __ampshire is known for its exceptional pigs. They__e fed on acorns and beechnut mast from the forest, and it makes the bacon quite lovely. And there__ an annual sausage competition!_ He gave her a sour look. __plendid. I certainly hope we haven__ missed it._ Win, who had been reading from a thick tome about Hampshire and its environs, volunteered, __he history of Ramsay House is impressive._ __ur house is in a history book?_ Beatrix asked in delight. __t__ only a small paragraph,_ Win said from behind the book, __ut yes, Ramsay House is mentioned. Of course, it__ nothing compared to our neighbor, the Earl of Westcliff, whose estate features one of the finest country homes in England. It dwarfs ours by comparison. And the earl__ family has been in residence for nearly five hundred years._ __e must be awfully old, then,_ Poppy commented, straight-faced. Beatrix snickered. __o on, Win._ ___amsay House,__ Win read aloud, ___tands in a small park populated with stately oaks and beeches, coverts of bracken, and surrounds of deer-cropped turf. Originally an Elizabethan manor house completed in 1594, the building boasts of many long galleries representative of the period. Alterations and additions to the house have resulted in the grafting of a Jacobean ballroom and a Georgian wing.__ __e have a ballroom!_ Poppy exclaimed. __e have deer!_ Beatrix said gleefully. Leo settled deeper into his corner. __od, I hope we have a privy.

Mr. Rohan,_ she heard Beatrix ask, __re you going to marry my sister?_ Amelia choked on her tea and set the cup down. She sputtered and coughed into her napkin. __ush, Beatrix,_ Win murmured. __ut she__ wearing his ring

Snuggling comfortably in her corner, Beatrix gave her older sister a perplexed glance. __in? You have the oddest look on your face. Is something the matter?_ Win had frozen in the act of lifting a teacup to her lips, her blue eyes round with alarm. Following her sister__ gaze, Amelia saw a small reptilian creature slithering up Beatrix__ shoulder. A sharp cry escaped her lips, and she moved forward with her hands raised. Beatrix glanced at her shoulder. __h, drat. You__e supposed to stay in my pocket._ She plucked the wriggling object from her shoulder and stroked him gently. __ spotted sand lizard,_ she said. __sn__ he adorable? I found him in my room last night._ Amelia lowered her hands and stared dumbly at her youngest sister. __ou__e made a pet of him?_ Win asked weakly. __eatrix, dear, don__ you think he would be happier in the forest where he belongs?_ Beatrix looked indignant. __ith all those predators? Spot wouldn__ last a minute._ Amelia found her voice. __e won__ last a minute with me, either. Get rid of him, Bea, or I__ going to flatten him with the nearest heavy object I can find._ __ou would murder my pet?_ __ne doesn__ murder lizards, Bea. One exterminates them._ Exasperated, Amelia turned to Merripen. __ind some cleaning women in the village, Merripen. God knows how many other unwanted creatures are lurking in the house. Not counting Leo._ Merripen disappeared at once. __pot is the perfect pet,_ Beatrix argued. __e doesn__ bite, and he__ already house-trained._ __ draw the line at pets with scales._ Beatrix stared at her mutinously. __he sand lizard is a native species of Hampshire__hich means Spot has more right to be here than we do._ __evertheless, we will not be cohabiting.