Read Online Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid by Maureen Driscoll - Free Book Online Page B

found himself on a branch moments later, coaxing the fattest cat
he’d ever seen to get out of the tree.  In response, the improbably named
Titania simply stared at him.
    “Vi!  Where are you?  Vi!”  A woman who wasn’t at all happy
with Ned’s new friend was calling from somewhere near.
    “I’m in for it, now,” said the little girl.  “I’ve got to
go.  What about Titania?”
    “I promise I’ll get her out of the tree.”
    “Thank you!  It was a pleasure meeting you, Ned.”  She
curtsied again.
    “You, too.”  He waved at her, almost losing his balance.
    The girl turned and ran toward the unseen woman.  Ned turned
back to the problem at hand, only to see Titania blithely hop from branch to
branch before hitting the ground and running after Vi, leaving Ned to wonder just
how he was going to get out of the damned tree.
    *                    *                    *
    “Where is he?” Miss Merriman screeched at her mama, after
waiting long enough to make an entrance at breakfast, only to find their
houseguest was not at the table.  Or in the manor itself.  A quick search of
the grounds by the servants – Miss Merriman couldn’t do the searching herself
because she didn’t want to look like she was chasing the man – had revealed no
Lord Edward.
    “He couldn’t have gone off to London, could he?” wailed the
girl.
    “Heaven forefend!” said Lady Barrington, who was on the
verge of hysterics herself.  “But if Lord Edward has gone back to town, it
could be because you frightened him off by not acting like the lady you were
raised to be.  You almost told him about Jane Wetherby, didn’t you?”
    “I did no such thing,” Miss Merriman said, trying and
failing to look the offended innocent.
    “Don’t try to bam me.  I know it was on the tip of your
tongue.  A properly bred lady shouldn’t even know about such things and should
certainly never speak of them, except in the company of trusted lady friends.”
    “So what if I wanted to talk of Jane and that brat?  She has
no shame – parading the girl around and not appearing the least bit embarrassed. 
I cannot believe Jane and I were ever friends, she’s changed so completely.   She
likes to mingle with the tenants!  And to think that was Lord Edward’s first
impression of Marston Vale.  It’s enough to scare him away completely.”
    “That would never do,” said Lady Barrington.  “We must find
a way to keep Lord Edward occupied.”
    “Don’t worry, Mama,” said Madeline.  “I have several ideas
to accomplish that.”

CHAPTER FIVE
     
     
     
     
     
     
    “And that, Lord Edward, is the sketch I did of the view from
the folly at noon,” said Madeleine, as she showed Ned her sketchbook, leaning unnecessarily
close to him to do so.  They were in the back garden, well within view of her
mama and sisters, but Ned still wished the chit would move just a bit further
away.  He hadn’t wanted to look at the sketches in the first place, but Miss
Merriman had made such a fuss when he’d returned to the house after his walk
that he’d looked for the first diversion he could find.  Unfortunately, it was
turning out to be a most boring one.
    She turned the page.  “And this is the sketch I did of the
view from the folly at dusk.”
    “Yes, I can see the nuances,” said Ned, although he could
see no such thing.  The drawing looked just as bland as the last one, but it
seemed like a believable compliment.  Of course, he wasn’t sure why he was
trying to sound realistic since he suspected Madeleine Merriman believed all
compliments, no matter how farfetched.
    “Lord Edward, you really should accompany me to the folly
some time.  You’d find the view quite spectacular, particularly at dusk,” said Madeleine,
looking at him from beneath her lashes and brushing her breast against his arm.
    Good God, thought Ned, what has happened to country-bred
virgins? 
    He was temporarily