The Substitute Bride_A historical romance with a spirited Regency heroine by Dorothy Mack

Author:Dorothy Mack [Mack, Dorothy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sapere Books
Published: 2019-08-13T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

The next few days passed without leaving any impression on Angelica, who went through the motions of daily living like a sleepwalker. If challenged, she could not have described what she was wearing without looking down, nor recalled the last mouthful of food she had swallowed. In her state of numbed misery, everything was grey and all food tasted of sawdust. Only in the classroom with Jenny did she come to life, for Jenny’s affection soothed away pain like a warm bath. In Jenny’s company, her tired brain ceased pondering ways to escape from her present situation. The child’s attitude toward her studies had improved somewhat, and this was indeed a source of satisfaction to Angelica because arousing Jenny’s interest demanded all her ingenuity and patience. The deepening warmth and intimacy between the viscount and his little daughter since his accident was another cause for gratification. She knew she should remain for Jenny’s sake, and during the peaceful hours in the schoolroom, her troubled heart would agree that this was the best course to pursue. Certainly in time she would be able to subdue the wild longing for the warmth of his rare smile directed solely toward herself. Everyone knew that time healed all hurts, and there must come a day when she could face him with a true serenity, not the stiff mask of indifference she had donned desperately to hide her inner turbulence.

Unfortunately, victories achieved in the calm of the schoolroom faltered in the arena that was the dinner table. In the presence of the cool formality the viscount had assumed since their evening of piquet, her hard-won peace of mind disintegrated like a burned-out log at the blow of the poker. The viscount did not suggest another evening of card play. Within two days of his fiancée’s visit, he had begun to take up his normal routine, although he carried a walking stick when he left the house.

In her unhappiness, Angelica could not have honestly said whether his frequent absence from the house helped or hindered her own search for tranquillity. She was miserable in his presence where his indifference acted like a whip on an open wound, and she had to exercise her own self-control to the limit to present a picture of like indifference. In his absence, she slipped into a numbed state which demanded almost as great an effort to disguise from the keen eyes of his sister and his aunt. The singular result of either situation was an emotional fatigue which welcomed bedtime while not succumbing to rest.

Lydia, totally immersed in plans for her ball, made no comments on her companion’s unusual quietness, but Lady Orbridge had no all-entrancing project to blind her. She told Angelica frankly that she looked like death and asked the reason for the shadows under her eyes. Angelica’s stumbling explanation involving headaches from sewing and restless nights resulting from the headaches left her sceptical and watchful.

On Angelica herself, the watchfulness had a salutary effect. She was filled

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