Read Online Miss Carlyle's Curricle: Signet Regency Romance (InterMix) by Karen Harbaugh - Free Book Online Page A

practical if your changed estate is not a consideration.” She paused, looking at Gavin uncertainly. “However, if you are sure you wish Diana and me to stay here until you are married, I shall be happy to act as your hostess meanwhile.”
    “Perhaps even beyond that,” Gavin replied.
    Mrs. Carlyle smiled wryly. “I doubt that, my lord, unless you intend to comply with the will and ask Diana to marry you, to which—and I mean no offense, sir—she may not agree, being a headstrong young lady.”
    Diana could stand it no longer. “I have already told Gavin that I am reluctant to comply with that part of the will and am content to live with the portion already given me, rather than marry a complete stranger,” she said in a suffocated voice. “We really do not need to discuss it further.”
    Mrs. Carlyle smiled slightly, and Diana realized that she had used Lord Brisbane’s Christian name without thinking. He was, therefore, not as much of a stranger as before.
    Diana groaned. “Oh, for heaven’s sake. This is not a time to think of marriages or that silly condition in the will, and I swear I shall run away to a . . . a convent if you mention anything even close to this subject.”
    “Indeed, yes,” Lord Brisbane replied somberly. “Very inappropriate, so soon after such a terrible loss to the family.”
    Mrs. Carlyle sighed sadly. “Indeed, and you are right to say so, my lord, for though I am sure my brother-in-law would have disliked all this sad ceremony, it would not be proper to do anything less than the best for him. We shall observe the proper length of time for mourning, and then we shall think of marriages. Meanwhile . . .” She cast Diana an arch look. “Meanwhile, it would be quite appropriate to invite our neighbors to a few dinners or quiet entertainments, so that you may look about you for a prospective wife—and do I assume from your words that you are open to having a wife?”
    Diana gritted her teeth.
    “Indeed I am, Mrs. Carlyle,” his lordship said. “At the very least, it is my duty.”
    “Very proper.” She nodded approvingly. “Well, then, I shall do my best to introduce you to all the good families of our acquaintance.”
    “Thank you,” he said gravely.
    “And I,” Diana said in as sweet a voice as her vexed temper could summon, “shall make sure every mother of every eligible young lady in this county knows you are looking for a wife. Just think of the hordes and hordes of ladies who will come calling once they know the position of countess is open.”
    “Diana!” Mrs. Carlyle remonstrated.
    But Lord Brisbane merely smiled pleasantly. “I shall be very grateful, of course.”
    Diana gazed at him suspiciously. There was, she thought, just a bit of a challenge in his voice. Very well! He had said she was a formidable woman. He would see how right he was.
    ***
    Lord Brisbane said nothing more of his feelings for her in the succeeding days, and Diana became annoyed at herself for wondering if he would again. Not that she wished him to mention them again; she was not in love with him, so it did not matter. He teased by innuendo, however, gazing at her whenever anyone spoke the words “heart” or “sentiment” or any other word of that sort. It gave her the distinct feeling that he would broach the subject again sometime in the future.
    To be honest, she thought it would be pleasant to hear it again, particularly because she had never heard anything remotely close to a proposal from any man. It was a novelty, that was it.
    She was not in any way falling in love with him or even fond of him—impossible! They had nothing in common, for he was still a dandy and quite citified, arising late in the morning as was the custom in the city, rather than earlier as was the custom here. His valet, a thin whippet of a man, seemed to disdain the other servants, who were quite in awe of him. It was rumored that he shined his master’s boots with a secretly made bootblack, and