Enchanting the Heiress by Kristi Ann Hunter

Author:Kristi Ann Hunter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction;FIC042110;FIC042030;FIC027070
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2022-01-07T00:00:00+00:00

Nineteen

“Grandmama and me making baskets for the village families.”

—Eight-year-old Harriet, in a description of a picture she drew for Grandmama, who had gone to bed with a terrible headache the same evening a local baron held a party

Harriet freely acknowledged herself to be a woman of faults. She was easily distracted, a dash outspoken, and far too fond of sugar in her morning tea. And yes, she was lying to her father and Jonas and now her friends, but it was all in the name of making people happier, so how much was that truly a fault?

In truth, she could make a lengthy list of things she could or should do better—the vicar’s sermons were full of such suggestions—but working on them didn’t seem to enrich anyone’s life. What was the point? If she had to twist one virtue, in this case honesty, in order to attain another, such as generosity of spirit in caring for a fellow human being, then wasn’t the gain to others worth the harm to herself?

What she’d never considered was that other people might also like to twist the world for others, and Harriet had a heavy suspicion that the recently delivered card was Adelaide attempting to help her. Why else would the woman who rarely opened her home choose to hold a ball in the middle of the quietest stretch of the year?

And without seeking Harriet’s assistance too. Since they’d met three years prior, Adelaide had recruited Harriet’s help for any event larger than an afternoon tea.

Harriet dropped the invitation—which had likely taken Adelaide and her maid the better part of the morning to create—on the desk and walked to the window.

“It was probably her husband’s idea,” Harriet murmured as she sent the card a glare over her shoulder. “He does like to stick his nose into other people’s affairs.”

Adelaide had seemed rather enamored with the idea that Harriet and Jonas might be on the path to true love, but surely she wasn’t holding this event in an effort to move that along. It was just as likely that, given time to think it over, Adelaide had joined Bianca in her wariness and hoped Harriet would find someone else.

As if Harriet hadn’t already met every soul who would attend an off-season engagement.

The question was, then, had Jonas received a similar card today?

If so, did he intend to use it?

Harriet sputtered out a laugh. She knew the answer to that one. The answer was an unequivocal no. And she wasn’t disappointed by the idea.

At least not much.

Curiosity remained. Had he received an invitation? He would probably tell her if she asked, but what if he hadn’t? Would he feel insulted? Would they have another awkward conversation about Harriet’s trying to meddle in other people’s lives?

She tossed a glance at the desk strewn with the papers he was working on. Two open books, one stacked on top of the other, sat near the quill, and another lay closed on the corner. Perhaps Elsabeth could attend a ball? That would open the subject without undue pressure.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.