The Silver Lion by Lynn Kerstan

Author:Lynn Kerstan [Kerstan, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

The books that usually crowded the library shelves at Sothingdon House had been crated up while the floors were being refinished and the walls painted. Helena, swathed in an old apron and sitting on a low stool, rummaged through the boxes one by one, digging out the books she needed and stacking them on a large worktable. Then she began organizing the other books and returning them to the shelves, dusting each one, filling up Monday afternoon with tasks. Anything to postpone the search for Lord Varden’s bride.

Eventually, her reluctance was overtaken by her guilt. It was, after all, the last service she would do for him. She should set herself to do it well. Give to her lord a gift, as he had once set out to give his lady a restored castle. She did wish him happy, and if that required her to put a woman in his arms, then she must try to make it the right woman.

By ten o’clock she was well into a preliminary list of young ladies from good families, using information culled from Burke’s and Debrett’s. Some would have wed since publication, and she had included only the daughters of dukes, marquesses, and earls, but it was a beginning. She was sharpening her pen when a loud knock on the front door startled her.

She hurried to a window and saw in the street a single horse tethered to the wrought-iron gate. Taking up a candle, she made her way downstairs.

The young man at the door, wearing silver-and-black livery under a black cloak, swept off his hat and bowed. “I have a letter, ma’am, for Miss Helena Pryce.”

He thought her a servant, probably just come from scouring the coal bin. “I am she.”

His expression, polite from the start, didn’t alter as he removed a sealed letter, several pages long, from the pouch slung crossways over his chest. “The Duchess of Tallant bid me, if I found you at home, to wait for a reply.”

“Of course. Would you care to come inside?”

“Thank you, but I had better keep watch on my horse.”

Nodding, she closed the door and sped to the library, where she read the letter and accompanying schedule, and then read through them again. There was little enough to say in her reply, except that she would do everything she could and write again with more information when she had any. After some reflection, she added a postscript. “It is hard, I know, but you should stay at Longview for now. His Grace would tell you the same.”

When the young man was on his way with the letter, she threw off her dusty clothes, washed quickly, and made herself presentable. All the while her thoughts were tumbling like drunken acrobats, but after a while, ideas and plans would begin sorting themselves out. They always did.

To her relief, Finn was in his room over the mews stable. She paced outside while he harnessed the horses, the cold air clearing her head, and soon after, they set out for Varden’s leased house.

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