The Rake Enraptured by Amelia Hart

Author:Amelia Hart [Hart, Amelia]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Kite Publishing
Published: 2014-04-21T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"She is in great looks tonight, is she not?" said Mrs Carstairs, sat down gracefully next to him and contemplated the tiered selection of small cakes on the side table.

"I beg your pardon?" said Colin, awaking from his reverie.

"Miss Preston. It amazes me, really, for I never saw a woman so transformed by happiness. She is so vivacious tonight. Almost a different person. It's a pleasure to see her so well matched in Mr Kingsley. You said you were friends, so I'm sure you feel it too. We expect an announcement any day now. We shall be sorry to lose her, for she manages the children so beautifully. Not every governess can, you know. I love them all dearly, but they are a handful, there's no doubt."

"The children?"

"Of course. I blush to say it but Mr Carstairs and I have raised them to be so independent and courageous there's barely any controlling them. I hope I can find another who does so well."

"Certainly Miss Preston is a marvel," he said, trying to keep bitterness from his tone. He had not imagined - while he was immured on his estates avoiding the temptations of the flesh, that she might be forming a connection with some other man. He would never have left her side if he had thought it likely. So much for unswerving devotion.

"She was such a fortunate discovery of mine. I fear she was undervalued at her last post, for they let her go when she attracted unwanted attention. I will say that sort of nonsense makes me furious. Simply beside myself." She straightened and looked very grim, as if she would like to dismember an unseen foe, an expression incongruous on such a gently pretty face.

"Nonsense?"

"When women are pursued and others make it out the unseemly attentions are the fault of the woman and not the man. It's enough to make me take up arms, I swear it is. I have a charity I foster, in London, that raises foundlings in decent circumstances, and sometimes helps their mothers, if we can find them. I cannot tell you how often I have heard that the siring of bastard children is the fault of the woman alone. Even in the case of rape. I get so angry."

He could see it was true, her small frame rigid on the seat, her delicate tart forgotten in a hand that quivered slightly. Evidently his Julia had come to represent something much larger in her mind. Or was she speaking more precisely?

"Is that the case here?" he asked with care, ready to go to war himself. What exactly had gone on in the past six months?

Mrs Carstairs came back to herself with a start, and a slightly guilty look. "Oh, no, of course not. Forgive me. I am climbing on my soap box again. No, of course in this case, luckily, it was kept innocent, whatever the objectives of the man in question. Goodness, I must not say such things to you after all, when I do not even know how closely connected you are to Miss Preston.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.