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Authors: Evelyn Richardson
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barely been listening to her idle chatter, but his ears had pricked up at this information. "And which village is that?" Undoubtedly a person as forceful as Miss Harriet would be well known in any village she frequented and, if he did not miss his guess, she was probably a member of some rather influential family whose principal seat was in the village's vicinity.
"I do not know. Fanny did not say, just that Miss Harriet knew of one. And she also has a friend who might need Violet as a nursemaid. Violet is ever so fond of children and was, I believe, a nursemaid before the master of the house got her with child. She was desperate to have the baby in spite of everything, but the poor little thing was born dead. Which is all to the good if you ask me for Violet was in dreadful condition when Bessie found her, so thin she was nothing more than a bag of bones."
"This Miss Harriet of yours seems to be nothing short of a sorceress if she can bring about all she promises," Lord Chalfont remarked idly as he shrugged into his coat which he had refused to let fit as snugly as the tailor had wished, insisting that he preferred his coats loose enough so he could don them without requiring the assistance of a valet.
"That she is." Kitty responded. "The girls fair dote on her for she is ever so quick and knows so much about everything, but she is not the least high in the instep." 64
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
"A most unusual female, in fact," the Marquess of Kidderham agreed as he glanced quickly in the looking glass to give a final twitch to his cravat.
That morning's little discussion with Kitty had only whetted his appetite for information about the fair schoolteacher and now, malingerer that he was, he had let her get away and lost his chance to discover her identity until next week. Shaking his head in disgust Adrian stepped out into St. James and headed toward his chambers. He had rather a full day in front of him what with his appointment to escort Alicia and her mother to the park and later to a performance of The School for Scandal.
Adrian sighed. His life was not his own any longer. Even as an aide-de-camp, subject as he had been to the orders of Wellington and the other commanders, he had possessed more freedom than he did now with what was expected of him as the future husband of an incomparable. Alicia was never openly demanding—she was never so ill-bred as to be that—she was merely serenely confident of the attention that was her due and expected nothing less from him. His duty was very plain however unstated. Sometimes Adrian wished she would come right out and order him around; then he would have felt at least a little freer to refuse her. As it was now, if he failed to respond with sufficient enthusiasm to some plan of hers, she merely looked pained and withdrew into a reproachful silence that made him feel a perfect beast for not leaping to fulfill her every wish. Adrian shook his head as he turned the corner into Piccadilly. It was unlike him to indulge in such an orgy of self65
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
pity. His responsibility was plain. He had a role to play that had been clearly laid out for him since infancy and now it was time to play it. He had never been under any illusions as to what was expected of him and he had always been one to honor his obligations. Buck up man, he admonished himself severely, you have never been one to complain about what life has in store for you. You will do your duty like a man. Stop dwelling on any misgivings you might have, and make the best of it.
And thus it was, fortified by this bracing little speech to himself that he was able to ride alongside the De Villiers'
barouche that afternoon with all the proper attentiveness required of a fiancé. In truth, he told himself, he was a lucky man. Alicia did look ravishing in a primrose carriage dress of jaconet muslin ornamented with bows of palest pink. A fetching Polish cap completed the ensemble
"I do not know. Fanny did not say, just that Miss Harriet knew of one. And she also has a friend who might need Violet as a nursemaid. Violet is ever so fond of children and was, I believe, a nursemaid before the master of the house got her with child. She was desperate to have the baby in spite of everything, but the poor little thing was born dead. Which is all to the good if you ask me for Violet was in dreadful condition when Bessie found her, so thin she was nothing more than a bag of bones."
"This Miss Harriet of yours seems to be nothing short of a sorceress if she can bring about all she promises," Lord Chalfont remarked idly as he shrugged into his coat which he had refused to let fit as snugly as the tailor had wished, insisting that he preferred his coats loose enough so he could don them without requiring the assistance of a valet.
"That she is." Kitty responded. "The girls fair dote on her for she is ever so quick and knows so much about everything, but she is not the least high in the instep." 64
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
"A most unusual female, in fact," the Marquess of Kidderham agreed as he glanced quickly in the looking glass to give a final twitch to his cravat.
That morning's little discussion with Kitty had only whetted his appetite for information about the fair schoolteacher and now, malingerer that he was, he had let her get away and lost his chance to discover her identity until next week. Shaking his head in disgust Adrian stepped out into St. James and headed toward his chambers. He had rather a full day in front of him what with his appointment to escort Alicia and her mother to the park and later to a performance of The School for Scandal.
Adrian sighed. His life was not his own any longer. Even as an aide-de-camp, subject as he had been to the orders of Wellington and the other commanders, he had possessed more freedom than he did now with what was expected of him as the future husband of an incomparable. Alicia was never openly demanding—she was never so ill-bred as to be that—she was merely serenely confident of the attention that was her due and expected nothing less from him. His duty was very plain however unstated. Sometimes Adrian wished she would come right out and order him around; then he would have felt at least a little freer to refuse her. As it was now, if he failed to respond with sufficient enthusiasm to some plan of hers, she merely looked pained and withdrew into a reproachful silence that made him feel a perfect beast for not leaping to fulfill her every wish. Adrian shook his head as he turned the corner into Piccadilly. It was unlike him to indulge in such an orgy of self65
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
pity. His responsibility was plain. He had a role to play that had been clearly laid out for him since infancy and now it was time to play it. He had never been under any illusions as to what was expected of him and he had always been one to honor his obligations. Buck up man, he admonished himself severely, you have never been one to complain about what life has in store for you. You will do your duty like a man. Stop dwelling on any misgivings you might have, and make the best of it.
And thus it was, fortified by this bracing little speech to himself that he was able to ride alongside the De Villiers'
barouche that afternoon with all the proper attentiveness required of a fiancé. In truth, he told himself, he was a lucky man. Alicia did look ravishing in a primrose carriage dress of jaconet muslin ornamented with bows of palest pink. A fetching Polish cap completed the ensemble
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