Read Online An Impetuous Miss by Mary Chase Comstock - Free Book Online
Authors: Mary Chase Comstock
Ads: Link
that's just not to be appreciated. No, indeed. If they come after your walls with sledgehammers, why next time, I'll invite them to sit down to tea. I don't like to give offense, not at all.”
“ There's no need to be facetious, Snagworth. I think we understand each other quite well. That will be all,” Cat dismissed him in an even tone. As Snagworth backed out of the room, bowing and smiling all the while, Cat felt a chill go up her spine. She had the feeling that something was very wrong, but what? Once again, Snagworth had done nothing she could pinpoint to justify her anxiety. She hoped with all her heart that she was mistaken.
Chapter Five
Between Eveline's surprisingly entertaining de portment lessons and taking care of details for their stay in London, the days that followed passed quickly. Each morning began with Cat and Eveline's practicing a different dialogue: table talk with a tedious dinner partner; polite chitchat with a nosy matron who could not be offended; managing importunate rakes on and off the dance floor. These lessons soon became Cat's favorite portion of the day, for, as often as not, the two women found themselves overcome by the hilarity of their fictional situations. Cat found herself greatly diverted in Eveline's company, particularly when she contrasted the latter's current lightheartedness with the solemnity with which she had conducted the schoolroom only a few years earlier.
“ What a time you must have had to maintain your composure with Cecily and me,” Cat exclaimed one day during their exercises.
“ Indeed,” Eveline replied with a laugh, “it would have done my classroom's discipline little good had the two of you realized how often I was forced to retreat to my chamber convulsed in laughter. How liberating it is to at last acknowledge that life is a very amusing endeavor!”
“ You mean you were not departing in a fury?” Cat exclaimed.
“ Quite the opposite, I assure you,” Eveline laughed, her brown eyes now sparkling merrily. “Do you recall the time you dipped the kitten's paws in the inkwell so you could trace its movements?”
“ Well, if it had not chosen to walk across my Latin conjugations I doubt you would ever have known!”
“ Very likely not, except for the fact that it also made its way up the skirt of Cecily's new lawn dress without her knowing. She was always so particular about her appearance that the sight was doubly amusing”
“ It's a little embarrassing to own that I was up to such tricks at the age of sixteen!”
“ I shouldn't be a bit surprised if you were to try it again tomorrow,” Eveline laughed. “Oh dear! Do you think we need add some polite explanations to your repertoire to account for such doings?”
“ Very likely,” Cat admitted, only a little facetiously.
For the most part, though, their lessons were more than merely diverting, and, as a result. Cat was ulti mately in possession of a variety of courteous evasions and the mistress of polite prattle. These verbal formulas would do very nicely, she felt sure, to guarantee her entrance to, and continued acceptance in, society.
Cat was determined, of course, to act and speak with greater honesty to those men whose romantic interest she engaged. It would be fair to no one to present an entirely false front, nor could she con sider marriage to anyone who did not know her true personality. She felt certain that there must be someone who, beneath the false front enforced by society, shared her tastes and views. If she had to continue her visits to London for the next two or three years to find him, then so be it. It was not a terribly palatable prospect, she sniffed to herself, but there seemed to be little way around it.
Cat was too stubborn to admit even to herself that the excitement she felt rising daily was the result of anticipation rather than a case of nerves. Neither would Cat have been pleased were it generally known how often her thoughts were occupied by one
“ There's no need to be facetious, Snagworth. I think we understand each other quite well. That will be all,” Cat dismissed him in an even tone. As Snagworth backed out of the room, bowing and smiling all the while, Cat felt a chill go up her spine. She had the feeling that something was very wrong, but what? Once again, Snagworth had done nothing she could pinpoint to justify her anxiety. She hoped with all her heart that she was mistaken.
Chapter Five
Between Eveline's surprisingly entertaining de portment lessons and taking care of details for their stay in London, the days that followed passed quickly. Each morning began with Cat and Eveline's practicing a different dialogue: table talk with a tedious dinner partner; polite chitchat with a nosy matron who could not be offended; managing importunate rakes on and off the dance floor. These lessons soon became Cat's favorite portion of the day, for, as often as not, the two women found themselves overcome by the hilarity of their fictional situations. Cat found herself greatly diverted in Eveline's company, particularly when she contrasted the latter's current lightheartedness with the solemnity with which she had conducted the schoolroom only a few years earlier.
“ What a time you must have had to maintain your composure with Cecily and me,” Cat exclaimed one day during their exercises.
“ Indeed,” Eveline replied with a laugh, “it would have done my classroom's discipline little good had the two of you realized how often I was forced to retreat to my chamber convulsed in laughter. How liberating it is to at last acknowledge that life is a very amusing endeavor!”
“ You mean you were not departing in a fury?” Cat exclaimed.
“ Quite the opposite, I assure you,” Eveline laughed, her brown eyes now sparkling merrily. “Do you recall the time you dipped the kitten's paws in the inkwell so you could trace its movements?”
“ Well, if it had not chosen to walk across my Latin conjugations I doubt you would ever have known!”
“ Very likely not, except for the fact that it also made its way up the skirt of Cecily's new lawn dress without her knowing. She was always so particular about her appearance that the sight was doubly amusing”
“ It's a little embarrassing to own that I was up to such tricks at the age of sixteen!”
“ I shouldn't be a bit surprised if you were to try it again tomorrow,” Eveline laughed. “Oh dear! Do you think we need add some polite explanations to your repertoire to account for such doings?”
“ Very likely,” Cat admitted, only a little facetiously.
For the most part, though, their lessons were more than merely diverting, and, as a result. Cat was ulti mately in possession of a variety of courteous evasions and the mistress of polite prattle. These verbal formulas would do very nicely, she felt sure, to guarantee her entrance to, and continued acceptance in, society.
Cat was determined, of course, to act and speak with greater honesty to those men whose romantic interest she engaged. It would be fair to no one to present an entirely false front, nor could she con sider marriage to anyone who did not know her true personality. She felt certain that there must be someone who, beneath the false front enforced by society, shared her tastes and views. If she had to continue her visits to London for the next two or three years to find him, then so be it. It was not a terribly palatable prospect, she sniffed to herself, but there seemed to be little way around it.
Cat was too stubborn to admit even to herself that the excitement she felt rising daily was the result of anticipation rather than a case of nerves. Neither would Cat have been pleased were it generally known how often her thoughts were occupied by one
Similar Books
