Promise Me Tomorrow by Candace Camp

Author:Candace Camp [Candace Camp]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical, General
ISBN: 9781460304488
Google: xssHXV8ImfUC
Amazon: B0098IT0RO
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-10-15T07:00:00+00:00

SHE WAS IN BETTER SPIRITS THE NEXT morning when she got up and went downstairs. There were only two women in the dining room breakfasting when she went in. Sophronia Merridale of course proceeded to explain that Lady Buckminster, accompanied by her niece Nicola and Penelope, had gone out for a day of visiting their tenants. Most of the men, including Lord Buckminster and Sophronia’s own husband, had set out early on a daylong fishing excursion on the River Teign, near Fingle Bridge.

Marianne, foreseeing a long, boring day in the company of Sophronia Merridale and Mrs. Thurston, finished her breakfast quickly and went outside for a stroll through the gardens, hoping that the other two women would remain inside most of the day. Mrs. Thurston had not seemed a great enthusiast of the outdoors; she had not even gone on the expedition the day before. Hopefully Sophronia would decide to stay and assault that lady’s ears rather than seek out Marianne.

She had not gone very far along the path before she came upon Mr. Thurston’s secretary, seated on one of the benches and enjoying the vista of the sloping lawn, and the lake and land beyond it. He jumped up politely when she approached.

“Mrs. Cotterwood! How nice to see you. Please, sit down and join me.”

Marianne did not see how she could politely refuse, so she sat down on the bench beside him. “You did not go fishing with the others, Mr. Fuquay?”

“No. I fear I am not a keen enthusiast of fishing.” He smiled, the action lightening his long, rather somber face. “Nor hunting, for that matter. I have a few duties I need to take care of, anyway—correspondence and such.”

“Mr. Thurston must be busy indeed, to need his secretary even at a social occasion.”

He made a noncommittal gesture with his hands. “There were a few loose ends of business that needed to be taken care of, because Mr. Thurston had not planned to come until the last moment. He is not a close friend of Lord Buckminster’s. However, despite the small amount of work, I suspect that he primarily brought me along as a kindness. It is more a holiday for me than work, you see.”

Marianne did see. Though, according to Mr. Westerton, Fuquay’s lineage was as good as Thurston’s, he belonged in a sort of limbo socially. Unable to afford the life-style of his peers, he was forced to work for a living, yet he was of vastly higher social status than a servant or tutor. As a result, he did not really socialize with either group. A weeklong trip to a country estate would allow him to enjoy some of the benefits others of his station enjoyed.

“He sounds like a nice man,” she commented.

“Oh, yes, he is. Mrs. Thurston, as well, of course. He is capable, too, of being a great statesman, I think.”

“Then I hope that he gets elected.”

“Yes. I hope so, as well.” He paused for a moment, then suggested, “Would you care to take a turn around the gardens, Mrs.

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