Two in the Bush by Judith Hale Everett

Author:Judith Hale Everett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Evershire Publishing
Published: 2020-10-30T00:00:00+00:00

Having invited Elvira to spend the afternoon at Lady Cammerby’s house, ostensibly to be the first to admire a new hat, Lenora wasted no time in pouring into her friend’s ears the story of Sir Joshua’s most recent act of chivalry. Her story could not have found a more interested audience, and Elvira sat spellbound throughout.

“I do not think I will ever meet a more heroic man, Elvira!” breathed Lenora, at the close of her tale. “Such poise, and yet such passion! He was more romantic than words can describe!”

Though she wholeheartedly agreed, Elvira required some minutes to assimilate all the details of the story, and she discovered, to her chagrin, that her sensibility was ruffled. “But to take your mother to task, Lenora, and in your hearing! I should have been mortified.”

“Oh, no,” said Lenora, quick to defend her hero. “If he was strict, it was only due to his concern for our welfare, which I found unutterably moving.”

Elvira observed obliquely, “But you told me he is rather old.”

“I had not then considered! He is exactly the right age, Elvira, with such experience and knowledge to exactly suit, as evidenced by his perfect handling of the situation.”

Her friend sighed. “Then he is most assuredly not the evil Duke. As there is no hope of meeting the real evil Duke,” she said, casting a sigh heavenward, “I had hoped he might yet turn out to be just such another.”

“I told you he would not fit the role, Elvira,” Lenora said, sublimely unaware of anything but Sir Joshua’s perfections. “He is too good, too heroic!”

“Next you will be saying that he is our hero, Lenora,” Elvira chided. Her friend looked much struck by the notion, and Elvira quickly exclaimed, “But he must not be the hero, Lenora! Mr. Barnabus is secure of that role! No, Sir Joshua must be—” She bent her thoughts to the problem, but to no avail. “Oh, he must play only a supporting role.”

“Well, Elvira, Sir Joshua need not be your hero, but he most definitely deserves a heroine of his own. You will not like my mentioning it, I warrant, but even Mr. Barnabus has yet to prove himself so wholly heroic as Sir Joshua. Such a man must be rewarded.”

Elvira, though unwilling to relinquish Mr. Barnabus’s perfections, could not deny the justice of this claim, and struggled to find a compromise. Offering up several entirely unsatisfactory scenarios, she was suddenly struck with inspiration, and cried triumphantly, “He will be the foil to the evil Duke! To, oh, what’s his name—Lord Montrose!”

“Yes!” Lenora clapped her hands in delight. “Oh, Elvira, what a perfect notion! Every hero must have an ideal to follow, and though the hero must ultimately defeat the evil Duke by his own merits, it stands to reason that he would be inspired by another great man.”

Elvira perceived the very good sense of this reasoning, and entered into Lenora’s feelings on the matter. “Sir Joshua is the King Arthur to our Galahad! I see

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.