A Rake's Reward by Meredith Bond

Author:Meredith Bond
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: england, regency, treasure, 19th century
Publisher: Meredith Bond

Chapter Fifteen

Three days later, Sara had her first big test. She and her aunt were to pay a morning call at Lady Merrick’s.

“Are you certain…?” Lord Alton asked the evening before.

“Absolutely,” her aunt responded with a bright smile for Sara. “Sara has been working very hard. I believe she is ready to take the next step.”

Sara could only hope that her aunt was right. She felt ready, but she’d felt certain she could dance too and that hadn’t turned out well at all.

Despite all of her lessons, she was almost as nervous now as she had been the day she’d arrived at her aunt’s home for the first time. Unlike that day, when she had Abigail’s support, today she would have none. Her aunt wouldn’t be able to poke her with her fan, or signal her in any other way, when she strayed on to some unacceptable topic as she had at Lady Bantam’s ball. Lord Reath probably wouldn’t be there either to stop her from saying anything she ought not to say. No, it would be entirely up to her to do and say the right thing—and so she would, she decided.

Lady Merrick’s classically decorated drawing room was only slightly overcrowded, but not so much that it was uncomfortable. As Sara and her aunt were greeted by their hostess, she was surprised to see the viscount leaning against the mantelpiece beside Lord Merrick. She supposed his good friend had been called upon by his mother to be present and Lord Reath was here to keep him company amongst all the ladies.

After three days of not seeing the virile viscount, Sara was struck once again at how incredibly handsome he was. He quite stood out from the rest of the gentlemen present. Even Lord Merrick, was not nearly as good-looking and she’d heard from her aunt that he was considered one of the most handsome men of the ton—along with his cousin Mr. Fotheringay-Phipps.

When he wasn’t smiling, Lord Reath had a look of the stern, forbidding aristocrat, with his slashing eyebrows, straight mouth, and steel gray eyes. But then he would smile and laugh and his entire face would change. A dimple appeared in his cheek and his eyes crinkled just a little at the corners and exuded a warmth and cheer that sent Sara’s heart fluttering.

“My dear Lady Darlington, it has been an age!” Lady Merrick said, drawing Sara’s attention away from Lord Reath. “And this must be your cousin, of whom I have heard so much.”

“Indeed, Lady Merrick, may I present Miss Sara Whately?”

Sara smiled and said all that was proper, as her aunt had taught her.

A small nod from Aunt Deanna, and Sara knew that she had done well.

“Lady Merrick, do you know of any dancing instructors for hire?” her aunt asked. “It was quite a shock to realize that dear Sara has not learned how to dance. I cannot for the world imagine what my bro... cousin has been about, to raise his daughter this way!”

“Indeed, I know of the most marvelous dancing instructor.

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