Read Online An Unusual Bequest by Mary Nichols - Free Book Online

because they reneged on the payment they promised him for ridding their town of its rats. It made him smile.

    Charlotte, who had no idea why he was smiling, felt herself blush from the roots of her rich brown hair right down to her neck, aware of the children giggling behind her. ‘Good afternoon, sir,’ she said, drawing her cloak more closely about her, a defensive gesture that added to his amusement. ‘I am surprised to find you still in the neighbourhood. Parson’s End has little to offer visitors.’

    ‘On the contrary, I am finding my stay vastly rewarding.’ His eyes twinkled again as he took in the rosy flush and the smoky blue-green eyes. She was not a seventeen-year-old débutante, but a woman of mature years with a couple of daughters, but she seemed discomforted. ‘You are still giving outdoor lessons, I see.’

    ‘I had to bring one of the children home, she was not well, and I could not leave the others.’ She gave him a smile, just to prove she was in control of the situation. ‘They would have caused mayhem left to themselves.’

    ‘Ah, so they do find mischief. And here was I thinking you had them so well under control they would not dare misbehave whether you were present or not.’

    ‘Sir, you are bamming me. Again. And we have not been introduced.’

    ‘Oh, I see you did not mean it when you denigrated the manners of polite society. Introductions are important to you. You must not speak to a man to whom you have not been introduced. But if we had been made known to each other by a third party, then one presumes it would be acceptable to tease?’

    ‘Your own good manners should tell you the answer to that one.’

    ‘So I am to be given a lesson in manners, am I?’

    ‘If you think you need one.’ She was heartily sick of self-opinionated men who thought they could treat her with disdain. Cecil Hobart and his cronies had begun it, and now this man, this very superior man whose name she did not know, was doing the same. Perhaps he was one of them, perhaps that was why he was in the village, a forerunner of the congenial company that Mr Augustus Spike had asked Cecil to send for. ‘Now, if you will stand aside and let me pass, I will be on my way.’

    ‘Back to your school?’

    ‘Is that any of your business?’ She swept past him, ushering the children before her.

    He stood a moment watching them, and then strode after them. ‘I am curious about it,’ he said, falling into step beside her. ‘At this moment there is nothing that interests me more than education.’

    ‘Then, Mr Whoever you are, I suggest you consult others better able to enlighten you.’

    ‘But I want you to.’

    ‘Just leave me alone,’ she hissed under her breath. The children were drinking in every word and none more so than Lizzie and Fanny. ‘I have nothing to say to you, or others like you. Good day, to you, sir. I suggest you leave Parson’s End and find your amusement in town, where there are those who might enjoy playing your game, for I do not.’

    The strength and vituperation of her words took him by surprise and he stopped in the middle of the road and let her go. What, in heaven’s name, had she taken him for? A rake? Oh, he realised he had not been particularly courteous, had teased and refused to give his name, but he had meant no harm. He really was interested in education and, though he knew her school would not be suitable for Julia, he had thought of asking her opinion on the education of young ladies and whether she knew of a good school, one that taught good manners and correct demeanour along with its lessons, one that had her sympathetic attitude to its pupils. He had gone about it in quite the wrong way.

    Why had he not presented himself properly? She did not seem the kind of woman to be overawed by his rank and title. Whatever her situation was now, she had been raised a gentlewoman, if not a lady, otherwise she would not have been so top-lofty or put so much store on an