Read Online Loving Lady Marcia by Kieran Kramer - Free Book Online

deduce that fact on their own. It wasn’t very sporting of her, perhaps, but if other women were allowed to slip into spinsterhood, why couldn’t she?
    Daddy patted her shoulder. “Perhaps Lord and Lady Davis’s card party would be more amenable then. Their gatherings tend to be dull, but I can tell my secretary to send round a note that we’ll attend that instead and send our regrets to the Livingstons.”
    “I—I don’t think so, Daddy. If you don’t mind.” She gave him a tentative smile.
    “All right. I’ll understand this time.” His tone was gently chiding. “But I won’t much longer. And that ”—he put his ring finger on the side of his nose and winked at her—“is a fact. A fact you’ll do well to remember.” He grinned and pointed that finger right at her, as if she were ten years old, not twenty.
    “Yes, Daddy.” She forced herself to smile again.
    He laughed out loud, a hearty laugh.
    But that was Daddy. He still meant what he said.

 
    Chapter Six
    Marcia was relieved when Janice and Cynthia came into the breakfast room, their faces freshly scrubbed and their gowns light and pretty. Daddy told them how lovely his three girls were—almost as lovely as their mother—and kissed them all good-bye, making the discussion about the card party thankfully moot, at least for the time being.
    Janice, eighteen, green-eyed, with shimmering blond tresses similar to Marcia’s, pulled out the chair across from her. “Kerry woke us up early. She said you’re feeling better, and we’re to go to the Tower with you.” She bit her lower lip. “I’m so sorry about what happened.”
    “Me, too,” piped up Cynthia. She was the most golden haired of them all, and at age fourteen-almost-fifteen looked the most like Mama. “But I must admit, I’m glad to have you back. I love you, Marcia, and if they don’t appreciate you at that school, then I hate it on your behalf.”
    “Oh, dear girl.” Marcia actually chuckled. “You don’t have to hate the school, although I appreciate your caring. It’s only one person who ruined things, and she doesn’t even live there. She lives here in London. But she’s our benefactress, and we need her financial support, rude as she may be.”
    “All right, then,” said Cynthia, “I won’t hate the school, but I must admit that after what happened to you, I’m doubly glad I decided to stay home with a tutor until I make my come out.”
    All the girls in the family, with the guidance of Mama and Daddy, had set their educational courses at age thirteen. No one had been surprised in the least that Cynthia, the youngest of them all, had decided to stay at home with a tutor. Janice, who’d always been the most adventurous of the three, had forged her own path and chosen to attend a Swiss boarding school, where she’d been top in her class but had come back lacking the confidence the international experience should have given her.
    They might be all sorts of different in the manner that sisters—even ones like they, who looked very much alike—should be. But they shared a love for their family and a zest for life that bonded them through thick and thin.
    On the way to the Tower, they talked animatedly of books they were reading, which led to a discussion of the Greek gods and goddesses, Cynthia’s latest obsession.
    “I prefer the Roman gods and goddesses,” Marcia said. “After all, my name comes from the god Mars.”
    “The god of war,” said Cynthia thoughtfully. “I wonder why Mama gave you that name?”
    “I’ve no idea,” said Marcia.
    But it was apt. She held tight to her anger, allowing it to embolden her thoughts even as she did her best to appear reconciled to her new situation, the one she’d tried to avoid for so long. She was once more an eligible daughter of the House of Brady with the leisure time to find a husband.
    Mama’s lady’s maid sat quietly next to her, but Marcia sensed the servant was watching her to gauge her mood. So were