The Earl's Passionate Plot by Susan Gee Heino

Author:Susan Gee Heino [Heino, Susan Gee]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Laughingstock Publishing
Published: 2014-04-13T07:00:00+00:00

The earl was being especially considerate as they set up and then settled in to enjoy the picnic. Mariah didn't want to be impressed, but she was. The man was being gracious and helpful and everything gentlemanly. He spoke respectfully to the servants and was carefully tending the ladies' needs, positioning blankets and cushions and taking care that no food or drink was spilled that might spoil anyone's clothing. It appeared that even Miss Vandenhoff could find no fault and she fell into silence as conversation centered on Ella and her chalks once again.

It seemed Mr. Chadburne did, indeed, have a great interest in art and he peppered Ella with questions about her efforts. Ella, of course, was all too happy to respond. Mariah supposed she ought to interrupt them and somehow turn focus back onto Miss Vandenhoff in such a way that the earl might engage her in conversation, but her past attempts at that had been met with such failure that she was happy, for now, to allow Mr. Chadburne and Ella to carry the discourse. Sometimes concession must be made for the sake of peace. Hopefully this time of pleasantry would allow for a bit of a cooling off that might put Miss Vandenhoff more in mind to look on the earl with more tolerant eyes.

He certainly was doing his part to make himself more tolerable, she had to admit. His expression was friendly and his occasional contributions to the conversation were amiable and engaging. Oh, and the way the breezed played with his dark hair while the sunlight positively glinted in his eyes... it might be easy to forget what an ogre he truly was. If Miss Vandenhoff did not find herself softening just a bit toward the man after this, then clearly there was no hope for the girl.

Or any of them, unfortunately. Mariah would have to stop enjoying the peace and get back to the business of matching these two if she wanted Ella to be able to continue sketching this countryside or Mamma to remain in the home she had loved for twenty years now. As nice as it was to sit idly and soak in the lovely day, there was work to be done and no better time than the present to do it.

"Do you find the countryside here to be much different from rural places where you are from, Miss Vandenhoff?" she asked, convinced there could be nothing inflammatory in her words.

"The farming areas are not dramatically different," the American replied in blessedly calm, civilized tones. "Though I admit to spending most of my time in the city. When my family does leave for holiday, we usually stay at our summer home on the shore and that is, of course, very different from here."

"We are fairly near the shore here, aren't we?" Mr. Chadburne asked. "Two years ago I went to stay with friends near Portsmouth. That must be within an easy journey of here, I should think."

Ella replied before Mariah could.

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