Kleypas, Lisa - Dreaming Of You.html by Dreaming Of You

Author:Dreaming Of You [You, Dreaming Of]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-11-25T23:57:29+00:00

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"I still can't bring myself to believe our young Mr. Kingswood finally came up to scratch." Mrs. Hodges shook her head with a smile, watching as Katie cleaned the grate for her and Sara piled kindling in her kitchen fireplace. Because Mr. and Mrs.

Hodges were elderly and Mr. Hodges had bouts of rheumatism, they sometimes required help with their household chores. Dusting her prized kitchen dresser with its display of pewter and china, Mrs. Hodges spoke in jovial tones. "Heaven's sake,

I'm surprised his mother allowed it." As she saw Katie and Sara's guarded expressions, her smile faded and her round cheeks sagged with dismay. She had meant to make them laugh. Instead she seemed to have touched on a sore point.

Sara broke the tension with a shrug. "Mrs. Kingswood had no choice in the matter. And she seems to have reconciled herself

to the idea. After all, she can hardly fault me for loving Perry."

"That's right," Mrs. Hodges agreed quickly. "It will do both the Kingswoods a world of good for Perry to take a wife of his own. Martha nearly ruined that boy with her spoiling, if you ask me."

Biting off a heartfelt agreement, Sara hung freshly scrubbed pots and kettles on the fireplace bracket. A frill of lace hovered

just above her eyebrow, and she pushed it back irritably. At Perry's urging she had gone back to wearing her lace caps, but

they no longer seemed to fit the way they once had. She walked over to the stone-paved sink in order to wash her sooty

hands and arms, shivering at the icy gush of water from the pump.

"That girl isn't afraid of work," Mrs. Hodges said to Katie. "She's nothing like the rest of these flighty village chits, with nary

a thought in their heads but how to dress their hair and make eyes at the men."

"Sara has a pair of able hands and a quick mind," Katie agreed. "She'll be a good wife to Perry. And a blessing to his mother,

if Martha will allow it."

Mrs. Hodges watched Sara closely. "Is she still insisting that you and Perry live with her after the marriage?"

Sara's back tensed. She continued to rinse her hands until they were white and numb. "I'm afraid so," she said evenly.

"We haven't resolved the issue yet."

"Oh, dear." Mrs. Hodges turned to exchange a few quiet murmurs with Katie.

Paying no attention to their exchange, Sara dried her frozen hands and thought about the past month. Martha Kingswood

had received the news of the engagement with remarkable calmness. Sara and Perry had told her together. They had been astonished by her lack of protest. "If marrying Sara will bring you happiness," Martha had said to Perry, holding his face

in her narrow hands, "then I give my blessing to the both of you." She had bent and pressed a brief kiss on her son's lips,

and then straightened to look at Sara with a slitted gaze.

Since then, Martha had interfered with and criticized every decision they made. Perry seemed oblivious of his mother's

badgering, but it never failed to send Sara's mood plummeting.

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