Read Online A Christmas Affair by Joan Overfield - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Joan Overfield
Ads: Link
angelic innocence that flashed across the lad’s face. “We were giving him medicine.”
“What medicine?” Amanda knew her younger brother too well to be taken in by his sophistry. Jeremey was aware of the fact too and hopped off Justin’s bed (where he had been sitting for the last quarter hour), obediently retrieving the bottle from the table and handing it to his sister.
She opened the bottle curiously, her nose wrinkling in distaste at the strong smell of spirits. “Where did you get this?” she asked, returning the stopper to the bottle.
“From Linsley’s room,” Joss volunteered manfully assuming his share of guilt. “It was in his cupboard, but we was able to reach it by standing on a chair.”
“I see.” Amanda was aware of the colonel’s amused stare, and she was determined not to crack so much as a smile. She repressed her natural inclination to laugh at the twins’ antics, and fixed them instead with her most reproving look. “And did Linsley give you leave to enter his room and ferret through his belongings?” she asked her slippered feet tapping out an impatient tattoo as she awaited their answer.
Twin blond heads were hung in shame. “No, ma’am.”
“I thought not. Well then, you may return Linsley’s medicine to his room, and then you are to go and apologize to him for trespassing on his privacy.”
But, Mandy—”
“And once that is done, you are to go to your rooms and remain there until dinner.” she continued, ignoring their cries for clemency. “Am I understood?”
Jeremey and Joss exchanged speaking glances with one another before shuffling away with a muttered “Yes,Amanda.”
She waited until the door had closed behind them before turning a knowing smile on Colonel Stockton. “My true name, you will note,” she said, advancing into the room and settling on the chair beside his bed. “Now I know I am in their black books. I hope they haven’t been pestering you. They are the dearest boys alive, but quite mad when it comes to the army.”
“Not at all, Miss Lawrence. In fact, I found them quite charming. A family trait, it would appear,” Justin answered, eyeing her with cool skepticism. He was unaccustomed to the presence of a lady — at least, a respectable lady — in his bed chamber and could only wonder at her lack of propriety. For a brief moment he wondered if she was attempting to compromise him.
“Cut line, sir!” Amanda laughed at his flattering words. “I saw your expression when I was giving those scamps the dressing down they deserved. You looked as if you thought me the cruelest sister alive!”
Her words reassured Justin to such a degree that he felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Well,” he conceded with a wry drawl, “perhaps I did think you a trifle hard on them. No man likes having a peal rung over him in the presence of other men, you know, especially by an older sister. And they really weren’t bothering me.”
“Perhaps not, but I left strict instructions that you were not to be disturbed, and like all good commanders, I expect my orders to be carried out without question,” Amanda answered with a ready smile. She was usually not so bold with men, but for some inexplicable reason, she found herself able to relax in his presence. Perhaps it had to do with the fact she had helped nurse him, she decided with a sudden flash of intuition. It was really rather hard to be intimidated by a man after one had spent several hours bathing his fevered brow.
She was aware that her remaining in a bachelor’s bedchamber would doubtlessly shock the local gentry senseless, but she didn’t care for what they thought. Propriety, while it was something she always tried to instill in her recalcitrant family, was something she seldom troubled herself with. Why should she? At six and twenty she was an acknowledged spinster and, as such, safely immune from the strictures that applied to marriageable females.
“But enough of that,
“What medicine?” Amanda knew her younger brother too well to be taken in by his sophistry. Jeremey was aware of the fact too and hopped off Justin’s bed (where he had been sitting for the last quarter hour), obediently retrieving the bottle from the table and handing it to his sister.
She opened the bottle curiously, her nose wrinkling in distaste at the strong smell of spirits. “Where did you get this?” she asked, returning the stopper to the bottle.
“From Linsley’s room,” Joss volunteered manfully assuming his share of guilt. “It was in his cupboard, but we was able to reach it by standing on a chair.”
“I see.” Amanda was aware of the colonel’s amused stare, and she was determined not to crack so much as a smile. She repressed her natural inclination to laugh at the twins’ antics, and fixed them instead with her most reproving look. “And did Linsley give you leave to enter his room and ferret through his belongings?” she asked her slippered feet tapping out an impatient tattoo as she awaited their answer.
Twin blond heads were hung in shame. “No, ma’am.”
“I thought not. Well then, you may return Linsley’s medicine to his room, and then you are to go and apologize to him for trespassing on his privacy.”
But, Mandy—”
“And once that is done, you are to go to your rooms and remain there until dinner.” she continued, ignoring their cries for clemency. “Am I understood?”
Jeremey and Joss exchanged speaking glances with one another before shuffling away with a muttered “Yes,Amanda.”
She waited until the door had closed behind them before turning a knowing smile on Colonel Stockton. “My true name, you will note,” she said, advancing into the room and settling on the chair beside his bed. “Now I know I am in their black books. I hope they haven’t been pestering you. They are the dearest boys alive, but quite mad when it comes to the army.”
“Not at all, Miss Lawrence. In fact, I found them quite charming. A family trait, it would appear,” Justin answered, eyeing her with cool skepticism. He was unaccustomed to the presence of a lady — at least, a respectable lady — in his bed chamber and could only wonder at her lack of propriety. For a brief moment he wondered if she was attempting to compromise him.
“Cut line, sir!” Amanda laughed at his flattering words. “I saw your expression when I was giving those scamps the dressing down they deserved. You looked as if you thought me the cruelest sister alive!”
Her words reassured Justin to such a degree that he felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Well,” he conceded with a wry drawl, “perhaps I did think you a trifle hard on them. No man likes having a peal rung over him in the presence of other men, you know, especially by an older sister. And they really weren’t bothering me.”
“Perhaps not, but I left strict instructions that you were not to be disturbed, and like all good commanders, I expect my orders to be carried out without question,” Amanda answered with a ready smile. She was usually not so bold with men, but for some inexplicable reason, she found herself able to relax in his presence. Perhaps it had to do with the fact she had helped nurse him, she decided with a sudden flash of intuition. It was really rather hard to be intimidated by a man after one had spent several hours bathing his fevered brow.
She was aware that her remaining in a bachelor’s bedchamber would doubtlessly shock the local gentry senseless, but she didn’t care for what they thought. Propriety, while it was something she always tried to instill in her recalcitrant family, was something she seldom troubled herself with. Why should she? At six and twenty she was an acknowledged spinster and, as such, safely immune from the strictures that applied to marriageable females.
“But enough of that,
Similar Books
