A Bride for the Viscount's Cold Son by Audrey Ashwood

Author:Audrey Ashwood [Ashwood, Audrey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: A Regency Romance Novel
Published: 2019-02-13T05:00:00+00:00

Mrs Applegate and her daughter, Jane, arrived just as the vicar and Mr Fletcher were leaving; an inconvenience that while slightly inopportune, Lavinia accepted with grace. She wished to speak with Charlotte and her grandmother in private regarding the new clergyman, and she was not disappointed. Jane and her mother seemed to want to discuss the exact same subject, as soon as the gentlemen were away.

“Mrs Applegate, Miss Applegate won’t you have tea? I can have a fresh pot and tarts brought from the kitchen,” Mrs Talridge said as she invited the women to be seated.

“Thank you no, there is no need to trouble yourself,” Mrs Applegate said, eyeing the empty plate where the tarts had been, now desolate with only crumbs in the place of the sweets.

Mrs Talridge acted as if she had not heard her guests. Despite their polite refusal, she summoned the footman to arrange for a fresh pot of tea and more tarts to be brought at once. As Mrs Talridge was occupied and as Mrs Applegate reiterated that there was no need to bother, Jane Applegate, who was seated in a chair next to Lavinia’s side of the couch, leaned over and whispered to her friend about the new clergyman.

“Was that Mr Fletcher at tea? Oh, he is dashing, isn’t he?” Jane said to Lavinia.

“I suppose he is, but what if he is attached? Wouldn’t it be terribly wrong to be discussing him in those terms, if he is promised to someone?” Lavinia asked.

“Wrong? I doubt we are doing anything wrong by admiring him.” Jane replied.

“Lavinia, what are you and Miss Applegate discussing in whispers? It is impolite to whisper in the drawing room at tea,” Mrs Talridge, offered her opinion.

“We weren’t whispering, we simply did not want to interrupt your discussion with Mrs Applegate,” explained Lavinia.

“And what, pray tell, were you and Miss Applegate not whispering about?” Mrs Talridge asked, as she peered at the young ladies.

“I was asking your granddaughter if that was Mr Fletcher I saw in the hall a moment ago,” Jane answered.

With a bored air, Mrs Talridge answered the question, “Yes, it was Mr Fletcher.”

“Mr Fletcher at Claxton Hall? I dare say you have received him before many of the other families in the county,” Mrs Applegate stated.

“We are fortunate that the vicar holds us in such high regard,” Mrs Talridge explained, “I was impressed by the young man and very impressed by his manners… he had a good Christian look to him. I believe he will do well in Cotes Cross, although I shall not be at all pleased to see Mr Harding retired.”

“I heard that Mr Fletcher is the son of a baronet,” Jane said, as the footman returned to the drawing room with a tray containing a pot of tea and more tarts.

“A baronet? I heard he is the son of man who made his fortune from the mines in Cornwall,” Mrs Applegate suggested.

“Is he engaged?” Charlotte asked.

“Or married?” Lavinia added.

“If he were engaged or married, I believe that Mr Harding would have told us at once,” Mrs Talridge declared.

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