The Pretenders by Joan Wolf

Author:Joan Wolf [Wolf, Joan]
Language: por
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON WAS QUIET. SALLY and Mary Ann walked in the garden, no doubt feeling a little letdown after the excitement of the ball. Lady Sophia and Mama and Mrs.

Norton disappeared upstairs to take naps. Harry went out with a gun, and Lord Brad-ford and Robert were nowhere to be seen. I was sitting in the library, idly looking through a book about the Ital-ian Renaissance, when Reeve came in and suggested that we go out for a drive.

I agreed. After my conversation with Mama, it seemed to me that we had a few things we ought to dis-cuss.

Reeve went to order the horses put to, and I went upstairs to get a hat. I was waiting at the front door when Reeve pulled up, driving Lord Bradford’s curricle with a pair of his own carriage horses pulling it.

We drove eastward, along a path that went through the beech woods of the Downs, to a place called Old-timber Hill. I had not been there before, and Reeve said he wanted to show it to me. The beeches that climbed the north side of the hill provided a shady walk to the top, and Reeve halted the curricle and left the groom we had brought holding the horses at the bottom while we took the long, winding path upward through the trees.

There was a wide expanse of turf along the top of the hill, and the views were well worth the climb. I feasted my eyes on an outstanding panorama of the Channel as well as views of the surrounding valleys and large downland estates of the local gentry.

Reeve and I stood side by side in the wind that was blowing off the Channel, while he pointed out the vari-ous local landmarks to me.

“And that is Crendon Abbey, the home of Lord Swale,” he said, pointing to a great rambling stone house that lay about three miles from the place where we were standing.

I looked down at the immense building, the many outbuildings, and the sprawling park. “It looks almost as impressive as Ambersley,” I said.

“Swale is plump in the pocket, no doubt about that,” Reeve said. ”Your brother made a good catch when he landed Charlotte.”

“A lot better catch than you will have made,” I re-turned a little grimly.

He made an impatient noise. “I thought we had covered that ground, Deb. I don’t need a wife with money.”

I stared down at Crendon Abbey and did not look at him. “Perhaps you don’t. But I had a talk with Mama, Reeve, and she pointed out a few other things that I don’t think either of us have taken into account”

He swung around to face me. “Such as?”

I bit my lip and continued to look at Crendon Abbey while I tried to find a way to say what had to be said delicately. “You can’t deny that there was a great deal of gossip in London when you produced me as your fiancée,” I began.

I shot a glance at him out of the side of my eyes and found him looking at me speculatively.

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