Read Online A Rake’s Guide to Seduction by Caroline Linden - Free Book Online

No thrill of anticipation, no sense of coming home; it was like someplace she had visited a long time ago, just for a while. Perhaps she should have suggested to Mama that they visit Ainsley Park instead of London. Perhaps at Ainsley she would truly feel at home again, and not like an outsider who was trying to go where she no longer fit.
    She followed her mother inside, past the curtsying servants. The hall looked the same, and yet different. The walls that had been white were now a soft yellow. There were lilies on the table near the door. Celia pulled loose the ribbons on her bonnet, feeling oddly like an intruder.
    “Oh, you’ve arrived!” Hannah, the duchess of Exeter, emerged from the back of the hall and hurried forward. She embraced Celia quickly, then drew back to study her. “It is so good to see you again,” she said warmly. “I hope the journey was not too difficult.”
    “No, no, we had good weather all the way,” said Rosalind. She had already removed her traveling cloak and bonnet and now came over to greet Hannah. “How was all in our absence?”
    Hannah laughed. “Impatient! All we heard was, ‘Have they come yet? When shall Grandmama and Aunt Celia return? Will it be today?’” She shook her head. “They are incorrigible, all three of them.”
    “All three?” Celia let the footman take away her cloak. An instant later she was sorry, realizing how grim she looked in her dusty, wrinkled black dress.
    “Yes, Molly has told Thomas and Edward all about you,” said Hannah with a smile. “They are wild to meet you.” Her sharp blue eyes roved over Celia’s face, but her expression didn’t alter. Celia supposed she must look different to Hannah, just as Hannah looked different to her—her sister-in-law’s dark hair was smoother than Celia remembered, no longer loose black curls, and there were fine lines around her eyes that Celia didn’t remember. But Hannah had been in London with Marcus; she had had two children. Things had happened to her in the past four years.
    Celia mustered a smile. “And I long to meet them. Mama has written quite a lot about them.”
    Hannah cast her eyes upward and laughed ruefully. “There is quite a lot to tell! You never saw two such scamps.”
    “I can hardly wait,” said Celia softly.
    “But first you must settle in after your journey.” Hannah turned, beckoning the butler forward. “Harper, arrange for tea in an hour, please.” He bowed and hurried off. “I’ve had your rooms prepared. No doubt you’re tired and would like to rest.”
    Celia nodded, not so much because she was truly tired but because she found she needed a bit of time alone. The irony was sharp; how desperately had she longed for friends and family all those months at Kenlington, and now she felt a desire just as desperate to get away from them the moment she arrived in London. She needed some time to readjust to this house, to London, like a sailor back on land after months at sea. She followed Hannah and her mother up the stairs in silence, not knowing anyone or anything they were talking about.
    Down the hallway they walked to the room that had been Celia’s since she was a child. Hannah stopped at the door. “I shan’t intrude on you right now. The children will be wild to know you’ve arrived, and I did promise to tell Molly the instant you were here. Oh, Celia, I’m so happy to see you again.” And Hannah hugged her again.
    Celia found a small smile on her face at the mention of Molly. “And I cannot wait to see Molly again. Shall she join us for tea?”
    “I will invite her now,” said Hannah with a laugh.
    “Do you need anything, my dear?” asked her mother fondly. Celia shook her head.
    “No, Mama. A little rest will do.”
    Rosalind squeezed her hand. “Then we shall leave you to it.”
    They went off down the hall together. Celia watched them a moment, then let herself into her room.
    It was like stepping back in time. Everything was just as she remembered