Amberley Chronicles Boxset II (Amberley Chronicles Box Sets Book 2) by Burnett May

Author:Burnett, May [Burnett, May]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Mind Games Publications
Published: 2015-12-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 31

Never let your elders manoeuvre you into the role of petulant child. Surpass their reasonableness and serenity with yours.

Maxims for Young Gentlewomen, by A Lady, London 1823

Anthea woke to the news, relayed by her excited maid, that Orator, the horse on which Lord Winstanton had left the previous night, had ambled back to the stables in the middle of the night, covered in bruises and abrasions. The grooms were sent out as soon as it was light enough, looking for its rider.

“Is the horse all right?”

“Yes, my lady, though they are applying remedies, and he may retain scars.”

As she had anticipated, Anthea was summoned to her father’s study as soon as she was dressed. She carefully marshalled her arguments.

Not only her father but her mother also waited for her with grim expressions. She steeled herself for battle, breathing deeply. Her heart beat fast in her throat. Why was it so much harder to face down her beloved parents, than Silas last night?

“Are you aware of what you have done with that vulgar display yesterday?” Her mother went right to the charge.

“Vulgar display? You meant that woman and her mother? That had nothing to do with me.” With luck, they would never find out that it had been Cherry’s doing.

“A lady of your breeding should not have taken any notice of such uncouth and possibly unfounded allegations.” Anthea had rarely heard her mother speak with such passion. “To throw the Goffroys’ emerald ring on the carpet! In front of all those witnesses, who will lose no time to write about it to their friends and relatives all over England! I am ashamed of your behaviour, Anthea. This is not how I trained you.”

Anthea took a deep breath. She had to remain in control, no matter how difficult. “I do not see that I had any other choice. I could not continue with a betrothal to a man I had come to hate and despise.”

“But who will have you now? Don’t you realise your position, after …,” the Countess’s voice trailed off. Even now, she could not bring herself to refer to intimacy between men and women.

“Indeed, you should have thought of the consequences before acting so rashly,” Lord Desborough said with a grave look. “You will not easily find another suitor if it leaks out that Winstanton and you went too far. And there will be gossip, I fear. He is unlikely to keep such a titbit to himself after the way you humiliated him last night. If he has not broken his neck, which I do hope is not the case; that too would probably be laid at your door.”

Anthea supposed she should feel sympathy for Silas’s likely accident, but while she did not want him dead, anything short of his demise left her unmoved.

“From what you are telling me, Father, it is clear that you have no trust in his honour – a gentleman would never spread such rumours, surely? If you think him so base, why did

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