Waltzing With The Earl. Catherine Tinley. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: Catherine Tinley
Издательство: HarperCollins
Серия: Mills & Boon Historical
Жанр произведения: Исторические любовные романы
Год издания: 0
isbn: 9781474053471
Скачать книгу
all moved to the door. At the last, the Earl turned to look at her, and his expression was strangely uncertain.

      ‘Come, Lord Shalford!’ Henrietta’s tone was imperious. ‘You shall travel in our carriage, for I must tell you more of my visit to Oxford.’

      Then they were gone.

      * * *

      Charlotte hoped they didn’t pity her. She imagined them all, travelling to Lady Cowper’s townhouse. Henrietta would be enjoying her triumph, while Aunt Buxted would be focused on gaining every possible advantage for her daughters. Mr Buxted would already be thinking of meeting his cronies in the card room, and wondering what would be offered at supper.

      Faith, with her kind heart, would not feel fully comfortable with Charlotte’s absence, but would be ably distracted by the charming Captain Fanton—and by the gentle Mr Foxley. As for the Earl—no doubt his attention would be fully claimed by the beautiful, wilful Henrietta.

      Charlotte went to the library, then to the salon. She was at a loss as to what to do. She felt strangely flat, which surprised her, for she had not thought herself so shallow that the loss of a ball should so affect her. She was not ready to sleep, and reading could not hold her attention. She tried to write a letter to Papa, but the words would not come, and she sat down her pen in frustration.

      After almost two hours of achieving nothing, she went to her room.

      Priddy helped her prepare for bed, and expressed her opinion on balls and Court presentations and on. ‘Old women who have forgotten what it is to be young. Mark my words: she only did it to keep you away from the young gentlemen!’

      ‘Oh, Priddy! You must not say such things. It will make me even more angry, for I fear you are right. But we may be wrong. Why, when Henrietta was angry about my riding with them Aunt Buxted did not support her.’

      Priddy snorted. ‘She’s a clever old bird. She has plans for her daughters and she will not brook opposition.’

      ‘But I am no opposition for her daughters. I have no wish for a husband, and I cannot match my cousins’ beauty.’

      ‘I do not understand how you can say you are not beautiful. You are no insipid yellow-haired milkmaid, it is true, but that is just a fashion. You have countenance, Miss Charlotte, and your good looks will last longer than Miss Buxted’s, mark my words.’

      ‘Oh, Priddy, I know your regard for me deceives you, but I thank you nevertheless.’

      Priddy shook her head. ‘That’s not it. And as for not wanting a husband—it is every girl’s wish to get a nice husband.’ She stared into the distance. ‘To have a proper home of your own and little ones.’

      ‘Even you, Priddy?’ Charlotte was curious.

      ‘I confess when I was young there was a man.’ Her eyes softened. ‘We were to be married. But he was carried off by a fever. It was not to be.’

      ‘Oh, Priddy! I’m so sorry.’ Impulsively, she hugged the woman who had been the closest thing to a mother to her since she had lost her own mama.

      ‘Now, now,’ said Priddy gruffly. ‘It was a long time ago. But if you get the chance at happiness you must take it. We none of us know how long we have on this earth.’

      Charlotte pondered Priddy’s words as she lay wide awake, listening to the sounds of the city at night—carriages rumbling, dogs barking, in the distance, some drunken singing. She knew better than most how easily lives could be snuffed out. Growing up as a war child, she had known many people to die—officers, foot soldiers and their wives—more often from illness and disease than from the heat of battle. She wondered if Captain Fanton, like many of the young men she had known, had felt the trauma of war and of loss.

      Her mind moved on from the Captain to his brother. The Earl had been kind tonight. Not arrogant at all. She remembered his cool grey eyes fixing upon hers and felt a strange warmth in her chest. It was altogether confusing, for he held young ladies in disdain, and the squabble between Henrietta and herself would only have strengthened his prejudice.

      Yet, surprisingly, her view of him was changing. Where she had seen arrogance and prejudice, she now saw warmth and compassion. Even more strange was this new feeling he had stirred in her. It was something like...affection, though there were other, stranger colours in it. It was a good feeling, though somewhat overshadowed by imagining them all at the ball.

      She pictured them all, dancing, laughing, talking, and felt...alone.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEBLAEsAAD/4Rs+RXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgABwESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEaAAUA AAABAAAAYgEbAAUAAAABAAAAagEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAcAAAAcgEyAAIAAAAUAAAAjodp AAQAAAABAAAApAAAANAALcbAAAAnEAAtxsAAACcQQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTMyBXaW5kb3dz ADIwMTc6MDE6MDcgMDk6NTk6NTcAAAAAA6ABAAMAAAABAAEAAKACAAQAAAABAAAGQqADAAQAAAAB AAAKWgAAAAAAAAAGAQMAAwAAAAEABgAAARoABQAAAAEAAAEeARsABQAAAAEAAAEmASgAAwAAAAEA AgAAAgEABAAAAAEAAAEuAgIABAAAAAEAABoIAAAAAAAAAEgAAAABAAAASAAAAAH/2P/gABBKRklG AAECAABIAEgAAP/tAAxBZG9iZV9DTQAB/+4ADkFkb2JlAGSAAAAAAf/bAIQADAgICAkIDAkJDBEL CgsRFQ8MDA8VGBMTFRMTGBEMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAENCwsN Dg0QDg4QFA4ODhQUDg4ODhQRDAwMDAwREQwMDAwMDBEMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwM DAwM/8AAEQgAoABhAwEiAAIRAQMRAf/dAAQAB//EAT8AAAEFAQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAMAAQIEBQYH CAkKCwEAAQUBAQEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAQACAwQFBgcICQoLEAABBAEDAgQCBQcGCAUDDDMBAAIRAwQh EjEFQVFhEyJxgTIGFJGhsUIjJBVSwWIzNHKC0UMHJZJT8OHxY3M1FqKygyZEk1RkRcKjdDYX0lXi ZfKzhMPTdePzRieUpIW0lcTU5PSltcXV5fVWZnaGlqa2xtbm9jdHV2d3h5ent8fX5/cRAAICAQIE BAMEBQYHBwYFNQEAAhEDITESBEFRYXEiEwUygZEUobFCI8FS0fAzJGLhcoKSQ1MVY3M08SUGFqKy gwcmNcLSRJNUoxdkRVU2dGXi8rOEw9N14/NGlKSFtJXE1OT0pbXF1eX1VmZ2hpamtsbW5vYnN0dX Z3eHl6e3x//aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8A5ihl1loqx6n322e1ldYLnHv9EK1l9NzqcY+rU0lupZXZXY8E /vMqe5X/AKtW0VG172kiWnJc0SRjtLNw/lMfbZv9H/tXbXTjK9m47WGqp7Rbc2ouNjBIuY8+3Nr2 n9LXXUfRo/nb/wDB2el+hUGTKIaGJP4MtcR0IeSFBqc6tx91Z2n490+0omxjcjJqrJNdVzmsJ526 Ob/m7kpJMN4GpJ7DxUo11G1XqqwAGs8uBjiFOoFyhZfU10iLARySRP8A1KVXUw1wDsdmzuQ6P+n9 FONUizbZFRULGQZ8PKVo1Mx7mB9TmhxG4072ueB+9ta4u9qhfiGNAgN0k6OdoTGuvkFYDUnYzhr4 QURwLdO6UgqJQvkDhV/fu5lWfTstnaNB+e7RvyS+zAn6Y3fBEUN1Gzs1/Xp/dP4pIvoX+f4JI+lH qf/QxcH7djOfl9LofkY2VSD6JY9wLd7bfR9XH99WTjXM9Si5n+Y/ej09c62xgo/Yt/olxfFrcgBj j9J+Pdj11WU73N/SVsr9O7/CIX1e61l4nTam11NLK3WMqsL3sLnbhe9ns9vsnbvVh/126rZf6fot a7cXmbLIH0d+9v0XVexv6H+bUGWEuIg4hP8AR4ia4osgINEHhvX6udR0++uKXVPrdYS/a9jmbi8/ mtu9+xU+rZeTVkNoodtp2D2AAz4veCNvuXXdPot6hdV1HqNjaGP91DK53vZueGubvc5tdbb3em97 P5uv01Xy/qa1+fuZtEuDoaSWR35Ukp1GPGKJ1I3THGZXw9NHD6T0j9pMsyepZAwsOrY0Xu9m99h2 1Ma5tdnpY7f8Ld6f/pRVX9Px39Qdh1Ocx20FhdMtdqHNt2NrfZV7d7L/AEvU9P8AnV3uB0nLqfkY tzmuwsv0y/adR6RnZ9H6NrfY/a5Z2X9QjnZ78/EyGYVjbC5tT699UeGz/R/8H+4oxksmzQ6M88IE AIi5X6i8rty+nlm8+uyp8nGtEljhrvx7W/v/AJllX89/4GuhwX0dSxGZNAIa7RzHctcOW/yldzfq rkWCt3UrqccVsINtLnOaY109X3sb/Xd7FzvRuu1dKpvr9D7S1zzsLXbW/S2+pu925m3+QpMcwT+b DOBiLP0dS7B126NkwCfHwVZ2Ba6whzSGN1ef++oVv1jyrciBjY80ltjGHef7Xqbv3vz2s9itUZjr qN2PecWyoHY68hrBt/naPov22/zTMWt17/WRlKj+1ERYc7NfYyxmPj1m2+whtNVY3OM/Raytv0nO /MYur6B9QejP6czrfXs9uTW9u8+nd6WNWJ2OZdlNNdrntf8Ao7Nr6PTs/RKx9VcDp9PXHdU6hbXX kMxgay4itnqWE13XM37WssbV7Nv/AA6snP6DjZd31hO