The Conquest of Lady Cassandra by Madeline Hunter

Author:Madeline Hunter [Hunter, Madeline]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Regency, General, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780515151114
Google: LGoBXV4NUZgC
Amazon: 0515151114
Publisher: Jove
Published: 2013-02-25T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Cassandra faced her mother across the table that the servants had set on the terrace. Silver and crystal glittered in the sun on the linen that separated them. Refreshments arrived, coffee for her and cocoa for Mama.

They drank in silence while bees made free with flowers growing in a nearby bed. Since she spent most of her time in town, Cassandra always found the silence in the country strangely vacant. That she could hear bees only reminded her how little happened out here.

“I expect London is full of talk of nothing except the invasion.” Her mother said it like the French had landed in Ireland merely to provide an excuse for politics to bore everyone for weeks on end.

“I would not say that. Nelson’s victory on the Nile is still discussed, and there is always a spot of gossip here and there to enliven things, even in summer.”

“Anyone I know?”

Someone you know very well. “I do not think so.”

More silence. More buzzing bees. If she listened very, very hard, she was sure she would hear mice crawling and ants climbing.

“I plan to go to town in a fortnight for a few days, for my wardrobe. You could return with me.”

“I am only here for three days, as I told you. I must leave tomorrow.”

“Three days. Why even bother?”

“I bothered in order to see you, Mama. Why else?”

Mama flushed. She looked away. Plumpness had settled on Mama the last few years. That often softened an older woman’s face and made her appear amiable, but it had done the opposite with Mama.

When had they become such strangers to each other? When had silence become welcome and conversations awkward? It could probably be traced to the same event that had changed so much in her life. Mama had been even harsher than Gerald when she refused Lakewood.

“I also want to talk to you about Aunt Sophie,” she said.

“Sophie has become a trial, Cassandra. It is very unfair of her.”

“She bothers no one. She does not call on others, nor receive. She tends her garden and reads her books and exasperates the cook. How can she possibly be a trial to you?”

“Her hold on you has not loosened, I see. It was bad enough she was so reckless with her own life and reputation. It is unforgivable that she has led you to do the same.”

It was an old argument, and Cassandra did not want a row today. “It is not her life and her past that I want to talk about, but her future. You may not know of Gerald’s designs, but I believe I must share them now. He has become very direct, and I fear that only you will be able to dissuade him.”

Mama did not appear confused or curious about this little speech. She did not even look over to show attention. Instead, she concentrated on folding her napkin, pressing each step with her palms. “I am aware of his concerns regarding her. And his plans.”

“You must stop him. It is wrong for him to do this, and very unfair.

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