Wingless Bird - стр. 5
– You must be my cousin? – Vivian addressed Anthony politely. – Your features are unmistakably those of my dear aunt.
– Exactly, my dear cousin," he smiled, and, taking her gloved hand, kissed it gently, causing Vivian's neck and cheeks to blush against her will.
"What impudence! Only just arrived, and already she's flirting like a skilful minx… And with whom? With my son! And Anthony himself? He keeps his eyes on her! – Lady Cranford thought angrily as she watched the young people smiling at each other. – This must stop!"
– "Vivian, let me introduce you to my youngest son Anthony," she said to her niece in a still but simply icy tone, this time not bothering to hide her true feelings behind an insincere 'darling'.
"Junior! What a pity… But the eldest must be coming to see his mother, even if he doesn't live with her," ran through Vivian's mind, and her sympathy for her young cousin immediately diminished.
– My eldest son Richard lives in a separate house. He and his wife have recently purchased an estate in the north, but they visit us quite often. Richard knows that I miss my grandchildren terribly," Lady Cranford said, as if she had read her mind, and deliberately mentioned that her eldest son was married, had children, and lived far from London.
– Oh, I shall be delighted to meet him and my little nieces and nephews! – Vivian exclaimed, folding her arms on her breast in a touching gesture, but the news that her cousin the Earl was married upset her feelings.
– My brother has been hunted to the very heart of the matter. But now he is married to a charming young woman, and is the father of a mischievous boy and two rosy-cheeked daughters," Anthony explained, admiring her beautiful face. He could have stood like that all day long, forgetting about food and water and just looking at his angelic green-eyed cousin. But when he caught himself at this thought, the young man was horrified and hastened to dismiss the obsession that had seized him: well aware of his position as the youngest son, he knew that the only way he could gain wealth was to marry one of the heiresses of a good fortune, or a girl with a rich dowry. In return, he could offer himself, his respect and his care. And after all, he was not some petty nobleman, but the son of an earl, which gave him an advantage over many potential suitors.
– They must be real angels," Vivian smiled at her cousin.
"I bet they'd be hunting him! After all, he is the owner of such a vast fortune!" – she thought. But she did not dare to say this phrase aloud, for she was afraid of offending the feelings of her aunt. And what would those pompous Cranfords think of her?
– They are angels," confirmed her aunt. – But now back to your luggage. Anthony, have the footmen take your cousin's bags up to her room…" But when she looked at the carriage in which Vivian had arrived, and saw the single suitcase tied to the roof, she asked, with difficulty suppressing the mockery in her voice: – Is that all your luggage, dear?
– Yes, auntie. I did not wish to carry many things with me: I shall order dresses after the latest London fashion, and purchase everything worthy of being worn by a true London fashionista. – Vivian understood perfectly well her aunt's allusion to her poverty, but again hid her pain behind a smile.