Read Online As Luck Would Have It by Alissa Johnson - Free Book Online Page A

said, “You must understand that cultures vary so greatly from one continent to the next, and even from country to country and city to city, that I cannot possibly compare one civilization with another in any qualitative sense, but I will say that London has been all that I expected.” She topped off her speech with a shrug that hinted at indifference.
    “But surely after having spent some time in England, you cannot continue to regard your previous residences as truly civilized,” Lady Barrows whispered dramatically, as if Sophie had uttered the most shocking statement heard this last century.
    Her husband just hiccupped.
    “Oh, but they are,” Sophie insisted. “They—”
    “But they’re heathens!” Mrs. Jarles cut in.
    “True, but—”
    “Some of their practices are most barbaric,” Lady Wellinghoff told the group with relish. “I have heard that in China, young women have their feet bound to keep them from growing and it makes it quite impossible for them to move more than the tiniest step at a time.”
    Sophie nodded. “I agree, it’s a distasteful practice, but we British are slaves to our own fashions. I dare say none of us look overly comfortable to night in our respective bindings and tight cravats.”
    Sophie’s statement was met with muted gasps from the women, while several of the gentlemen cleared their throats uncomfortably. Apparently, the mention of women’s undergarmentswas not an acceptable topic of conversation at a formal dinner party. Belatedly, Sophie entertained the thought that perhaps that was why they were referred to as “unmentionables.”
    Only Alex and Mrs. Summers appeared not to be shocked. He was grinning at her with unabashed amusement while she looked disgruntled but resigned.
    Sophie was spared having to break the awkward silence by Mrs. Summers’ tactful change of subject. “I understand, Mrs. Peabody, you have done some extensive traveling yourself.”
    “A lifetime of following the drum,” Mrs. Peabody replied to the group in general. “I’ve had the opportunity to see much more of this world than most young ladies.”
    “Have you been to the Americas?” Sophie inquired, with genuine interest.
    “I have,” Mrs. Peabody replied. “I lived for several years in both Boston and Philadelphia as a small child. We left some five years before that unfortunate revolution.”
    “ Hmph , and good riddance to that godless country, I say,” Mr. Jarles snorted.
    Lord Barrows hiccupped and raised his glass in salute.
    Sophie fought the urge to roll her eyes.
    Mrs. Peabody calmly raised one eyebrow. “I presume by the strength of your opinion, Mr. Jarles, that you’ve traveled to that country yourself?”
    Sophie was surprised to hear the hint of mockery in Mrs. Peabody’s voice. She had expected Mrs. Peabody to be of the same mind as the nasty Mr. Jarles.
    “One doesn’t need to visit to know it’s populated with traitors and savages,” Mr. Jarles said.
    “History is written by the victors,” Mrs. Peabody replied. “And according to history there are no traitors in America, only brave patriots willing to fight for what they believed in, or at the very worse, rebels who opposed a tyrannical monarch.”
    “That’s treason, Mrs. Peabody.”
    She appeared unmoved. “One can only commit treason against one’s own country,” she retorted calmly.
    The colonel leveled his best commanding-officer stare at Mr. Jarles. “I do hope you were referring to the Americans when you spoke of treason, sir, and not my wife.”
    “Of course, of course,” Mr. Jarles sputtered. “The thought never occurred.”
    To accuse Mrs. Peabody of treason—a woman married to a celebrated colonel and who had spent her whole life serving her country in a capacity as close to soldiering as a woman was allowed—would not only be idiotic, but suicidal. Mr. Jarles was certainly the former, but not—and Sophie couldn’t help but think it was something of a pity—the latter.
    The colonel