Wyndcross (The Families 0f Dorset Book 1) by Martha Keyes

Author:Martha Keyes [Keyes, Martha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Romance, Women's Fiction, Victorian Era, 19th Century, Forever Love, Bachelor, Single Woman, Love Possibility, Hearts Desire, Clean & Wholesome, Christian Stories, Inspirational Reads, Love Inspired, Life-Changes, Second Chance Reunion, Honesty & Trust, Home & Family, Lifetime Love, Romantic Schemes, Love-Family & Forever, Action & Adventure, Families 0f Dorset Series, Beautiful & Feisty
Publisher: Martha Keyes
Published: 2019-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

16

Kate entered the breakfast parlor the following morning with only a slight favoring of her ankle. Her boot was beginning to go on with greater ease, as the swelling had almost completely disappeared.

Lady Crofte was already partaking of her breakfast. It was unusual to see her at the breakfast table—she normally took it abed. But this day and the one following were bound to be full of tasks to be accomplished before the guests arrived for the party.

She and Kate exchanged greetings, and Lady Crofte inquired civilly about the time Kate and the others had spent in Weymouth the day before. Kate recounted some aspects she thought Lady Crofte would find interesting or entertaining, as Lady Crofte sipped her chocolate.

“...after which,” Kate recounted, “we dropped Mr. Bradbury at Hookham and returned to Wyndcross. It was all very lovely, and everyone was very kind to adapt to my limitations.”

Lady Crofte, who had been listening to Kate with an expression of polite interest, paused for a moment in the act of buttering her roll.

“Mr. Bradbury, you say?” She reached for the preserves. “I was not aware that he was one of the party.”

Lady Crofte’s words and tone were devoid of any blame, but Kate had the sense that she had made a misstep in mentioning Mr. Bradbury at all.

“Oh, he was not,” she imbued her voice with as much casual indifference as she could muster, adding more sugar to her already-sweet chocolate for an excuse not to meet Lady Crofte’s gaze. “We happened upon both him and another gentleman—Mr. Chapman, I believe—in town, and he requested that we take him as far as Hookham rather than waiting for Mr. Chapman to finish his commissions.”

“I see.” Lady Crofte was silent for a moment before donning a smile which had the effect of making Kate feel quite tense. “Mr. Bradbury is thought to have quite amusing conversation, as I understand. Did he manage to divert you and Lady Anne during the ride home?”

Kate had felt somewhat diverted during the journey home, but that it was intentional on Mr. Bradbury’s part was doubtful. The mutual attraction between Clara and Mr. Bradbury had been obvious. The looks passing between the two were entirely out of place for people professing only friendship. Their verbal interaction, on the other hand, had been innocuously and painstakingly polite.

Kate cleared her throat and placed a serviette in her lap, smoothing it over several times as she spoke. Lady Crofte was clearly more interested in Kate’s recounting since Mr. Bradbury’s presence had been made known.

“In fact,” said Kate in as light a voice as she could muster, “Lady Anne sat up beside her brother for the ride home. Clara was not feeling entirely well after the ride to Weymouth in the phaeton. I must say that I sympathize with her after having ridden in Fanny’s phaeton. Fashionable they may be, but comfortable they most assuredly are not. Mr. Bradbury was a very pleasant and attentive companion to us in the landau, though.”

Lady Crofte widened her smile so that creases formed at the corners of her eyes.

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.