Lord Hawkridge's Secret by Anne Ashley

Author:Anne Ashley
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2008-04-04T04:51:33+00:00

Chapter Ten

It was hardly surprising, considering she had not climbed into the comfortable four-poster bed until the small hours, that Emily woke much later than usual the following day and, on discovering from Skinner that his lordship had already breakfasted and had left the house, she decided to break the habit of a lifetime and ordered the first meal of the day brought up to her on a tray.

Nibbling her way daintily through a hot buttered roll, Emily began to reflect on the events of the previous evening.

Extraordinarily enough she had very much enjoyed the occasion, but it had certainly left her with plenty to mull over, not least of which had been Caroline’s behaviour.

Undoubtedly the Farringtons’ marriage was an unmitigated disaster, and given Sir Courtney’s reputation where the fair sex was concerned it wasn’t too difficult to understand why. Yet Emily was forced to concede that not once throughout the entire evening had she seen Sir Courtney paying undue attention to any particular female guest, least of all his wife.

He had behaved with the utmost propriety, spending much of the evening in the room set out for cards, leaving his spouse for the most part to her own devices. Even so, on the few occasions when he had been close by, Caroline had appeared to

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withdraw completely into her shell, eyes lowered, saying not a word. Only once had she betrayed a glimmer of that old liveliness of spirit, and that had been when Mr Tobias Trevenen had escorted her in to supper.

Puzzling too had been Sebastian’s behaviour towards the great love of his life. Except on the occasions when he had welcomed her to the ball, and, later, when he had bidden the Farringtons farewell, he had not once attempted to approach Caroline.

Of course it would have caused a deal of speculation if he had singled her out for particular attention, given that he was supposed to be a newly betrothed man, and Emily was forced to own that he had maintained his role of devoted fiancé wonderfully well by never remaining for very long away from her side. All the same, she would have expected him to show at least some interest in his cousin, as he must have known, being acutely perceptive, that Caroline was not herself.

Yes, Sebastian’s attitude had been most odd, she decided, tossing the bed covers aside, and swinging her feet to the floor. ‘Do you happen to know if Lady Hester is up and about yet?’

‘Most unlikely, I should say, miss,’ the maid answered with a wry grin. ‘I cannot imagine she’ll bestir herself much before early afternoon.’

‘Yes, you’re probably right. In which case I think I shall go out for a walk. Would you care to accompany me, or would you prefer I acquire the services of one of the housemaids?’

‘I’d be delighted to come with you, miss.’

Emily suspected that Skinner’s answer derived more from tact than honesty, but later, as they set out together, she realised she had done the abigail a disservice in thinking her less than sincere.

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