To Catch the Candid Earl: Regency Historical Romance by Eleanor Keating

Author:Eleanor Keating [Keating, Eleanor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-12-09T18:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Edmund arrived one afternoon at the Earl of Langford's residence to pick Lucy up for a fun outing which he'd informed her about by letter the day before. He was surprised to see Lady Agnes propped up on a divan in the front parlor; this being an unlikely place due to her illness.

"My lady," he greeted as he approached and bowed with a smile. "It's so wonderful to see you up and about."

Lady Agnes laughed a rich tinkling sound which reminded him of the bustling, fresh-faced woman she'd always been. Although the malady had wreaked havoc on her body, and she'd lost weight and was thin and pale, a sparkle was still evident in her eyes.

"I'm hardly up and about, if you've had the perspicacity to notice, young man."

Edmund grinned. "You've not lost your mettle, madam."

Lady Agnes answered with a laugh which was inadvertently followed by a rapid cough. Edmund rushed to attend to her as a maid hurried through the door, but the older woman waved him off with her handkerchief as the cough subsided.

"Do not fret, dear boy, for there is really no use. There is only one way this dance can go and, frankly, it's getting tiring."

Although the woman's words were said mirthfully with tell-tale humor in her eyes, Edmund couldn't help feeling saddened at the bleakness of their meaning.

She was one of those rare ones, and it was heartbreaking to see her suffer. He wished there was something he could do about it. But there was nothing. There usually wasn't anything possible with sweet, kind-hearted people like Lady Agnes. They simply left the world earlier than they should, leaving their loved ones bereft and broken.

He'd seen it happen with his cousin, Judith, and that pain was still as fresh as yesterday.

Edmund found Lady Agnes studying him speculatively when he managed to drag himself from the depth of the haunting memories. Suddenly, she raised her frail hand and beckoned him closer.

"Come sit by me, Edmund. I would like to ask you some questions."

Edmund wasted no time in crossing the short distance between them, and assuming the chair to her right.

He didn't know why, but he suspected he knew what their tete a tete was going to be about.

"Bless your heart, young man. I'd like to say that I've been aware of the events of the past few weeks." There was a small smile at the corner of her lips. "It has come to my knowledge that you've been seen in company of my lady companion quite often in the past few days, am I right?"

Edmund had been right in his assumptions. He smiled at the woman whose expression looked jovial but firm.

"Yes I've been, my lady," he replied in all seriousness. "Miss Lucy is a delightful young woman and I find her company refreshing, enlightening, and relaxing.."

Lady Agnes' gaze pierced him sharply for a few seconds before she succumbed to a smile. "You are a fine young man, and I'm sure you wouldn't take advantage of her like some brainless buck.

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