The Linfield Ladies by Alissa Baxter

Author:Alissa Baxter [Baxter, Alissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Regency romance
Publisher: vinspirepublishing
Published: 2020-10-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Harriet had breakfast in bed the next morning and then made her way downstairs to knock on her father’s study door. He bid her enter and she hurried into the room but drew to a halt when she spotted Lord Wentford.

“Oh! Forgive me, Papa... I am disturbing you.”

Her father shook his head. “Not at all, my love. We were just speaking about you, as a matter of fact.”

“Oh?” She eyed him warily and then looked at the viscount, who had risen to his feet.

“Good morning, Miss Linfield.”

Murmuring a greeting, she sat on one of the matching leather and mahogany armchairs in front of her father’s desk. When Lord Wentford resumed his seat, her father’s brow wrinkled. “You appear agitated. Is anything amiss, my dear?”

“Um...” She clenched her fingers in her lap. “I have been wondering, Papa, if you have any further plans to seek out Mr Anderson?”

Her father pressed the tips of his fingers together. “I am convinced he must have left England by now. I received word yesterday that the ship he was sent away on was wrecked. He must have been rescued and returned to Bristol. I doubt he’s still there, though. He has probably contrived to buy his passage to America to start a new life. He wouldn’t want to remain in Britain as a fugitive.”

Harriet’s eyebrows rose. “A shipwreck, Papa? That explains it…” She frowned. “But what if he chooses to stay?”

“We’ll keep our eyes and ears open. But I’m convinced he must have left. He hasn’t attempted to approach you, after all.”

Harriet opened her mouth to speak just as her father pushed back his chair. “My love, I’ll leave you now. Lord Wentford has something of a particular nature to say to you. It was fortuitous that you arrived when you did.”

He walked around the desk and patted Harriet on the shoulder before quietly leaving the room.

Harriet’s heart thudded. Fathers never left their unmarried daughters alone with single gentlemen unless an offer of marriage was about to be made. Then they left them alone with alacrity. Twisting in her chair, she met Lord Wentford’s calm gaze.

“You look suspicious.”

“I am suspicious.”

He stretched out his hand. She studied it for a moment and then placed hers in it, allowing the viscount to pull her to her feet. He led her over to the window, where he turned to face her. “Miss Linfield...” A faint line appeared between his brows. “After consulting with my man of business, it has become evident that I need to acquire Beverton Manor to fully develop the coal seam which runs onto it from Greenacres. If I don’t, our output will be insufficient, and the venture won’t be worth my while. I’ve told your father this.”

Once, as a child, Harriet had fallen from a tree branch. She had lain on the ground for some time, winded and unable to breathe. Now she felt the same sense of having all the air knocked out of her.

The line between Lord Wentford’s brows deepened. “After

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