Tangled Web by Lee Rowan

Author:Lee Rowan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Running Press

CHAPTER 10

Brendan woke with a ridiculous thrill of anticipation. The knowledge that he would be spending the next few days at Major Carlisle’s home should not have filled him with the same excitement as Christmas morning had inspired when he was a child, but try as he might, he could not entirely suppress the feeling. He had not looked forward to anything so much in ages.

Mindful of his duties, he made certain that his social calendar was clear for the day. At the breakfast table his mother informed him that the nonpariel Mr. Edrington—he really had to stop thinking of the poor chap as the Honorable Harry, if he was going to become a member of the family—was invited for luncheon and might reasonably be expected to take advantage of the opportunity to make an offer for Elspeth.

“Your sister means to go walking with him in the park afterwards,” his mother said, “and if they are engaged at that point, your presence would be somewhat superfluous.”

“What if he loses his nerve?”

“Then she will probably find she has the headache and does not care to go out in the bright sunshine,” his mother said. “But I had a note from him this morning asking what color dress she meant to wear, so that he might bring her a posy to match.”

Brendan was impressed. “Thorough, is he not? What did you tell him?”

His mother laughed. “Oh, bless the boy—I told him to choose something white, with fragrance, and she would be happy. I don’t know what my girl means to wear to receive his proposal, and at this moment, neither does she. She had a muffin and a cup of tea and ran back upstairs to consider her momentous decision. I believe she has scattered every dress she owns about her room. I think she should wear her pink promenade ensemble with the matching pelisse.”

“But, Mama—what difference does it make what dress she wears?”

“To Harry, not a whit. To Elspeth…” His mother bestowed upon him that fond smile that meant she thought the had the perspicacity of a pilchard. “Son, when a young lady receives an offer that she means to accept, every detail of the event is important. It is her first truly adult decision, and it will change her life forever. To have everything just so…” She sighed. “Your father made a sad botch of the matter, you know. We had just returned from a lovely stroll, and he said, out of the blue, ‘I wish you will marry me so I do not have to go home all alone.’”

“That does not sound objectionable at all!”

“Yes, but he said it as though he meant to wed me on the spot. Besides that, I had a pebble in my shoe and it was such a warm day. I was exceedingly uncomfortable! Oh, you laugh, but it would have been so lovely if I had been cool, and sitting gracefully in the shade.”

“Oh, poor Mama,” he said, stifling his laughter.

“Off with you,

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