I Shall Love the Earl by Laura A. Barnes

Author:Laura A. Barnes [Barnes, Laura A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-09T22:00:00+00:00

“THERE YOU ARE, NANNA. I have searched the house for you. Why are you sitting alone in here?”

“I needed to write some correspondence. Since you were in the garden reading, I thought to write to your mama.”

“Please do not tell her, Nanna.”

“I won’t, my dear. However, I will need to inform her of your progress this season. She will be most impressed to learn that Lord Holdenburg calls on you.”

“We are only friends.”

“Yes, but your mama has no knowledge of that, only I.”

Dallis trusted her grandmother to only tell Mama what she wanted to hear. Nanna was a grand storyteller in her own right. She would regale Mama with stories to make it appear as if Dallis was the belle of the ton. Which was far from true. Before long, Mama would catch wind of her ruination at the hands of Lord Roderick Beckwith. The rumors always reached Inverness. They took a few weeks, but nonetheless they were heard. For now Dallis was safe from her mother’s wrath, but soon Mother would order her home and force her to wed a local boy. All because Lord Roderick Beckwith found entertainment in trifling with Dallis's emotions.

Tears came to her eyes as she fought her sadness. Dallis told herself that she would forget Rory and that he no longer held her heart. Try as she might Dallis had found it enormously difficult to erase him from her mind let alone her heart. But as each minute ticked by and he didn’t show, it became easier. Before long Lord Rory Beckwith would be but a faint memory. Dallis sniffed and wiped at the tears, trying to avoid Nanna’s gaze.

Her eyes landed on a jar of fruit on her grandmother’s desk. A peculiar place for it to be. As Dallis drifted closer, she saw a note tied around the top. Before she could reach for the jar, her grandmother grabbed it and hid it behind her back. Nanna’s actions triggered her curiosity.

“Nanna, why is there a fruit jar in here?”

“A gift from an acquaintance.”

“Which acquaintance?”

“Nobody I have introduced you to. Can you call Shaw? I need help to my room. The pain of one of my headaches is coming on.”

Her nanna groaned, closing her eyes in agony. If Dallis didn’t know any better, she would think her grandmother faked her illness. But when she noticed the redness of her cheeks, and the pinch around her lips, Dallis felt poorly of her thoughts. She rushed from the room, calling for Shaw.

Soon the servants helped Nanna to bed. When Dallis offered to sit with her, her grandma assured her that she only needed to rest. Feeling a sense of rejection and not knowing what to do with herself, Dallis headed into the kitchen to bake. Perhaps Nanna would enjoy eating some cake when she awakened. When Dallis’s moods were troubled, cooking helped to relax her. She could think of no better time to cook than now. The cook helped Dallis to gather the ingredients and utensils. Soon they were baking and the cook shared secrets on how to make the cake moist.

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