Read Online Springtime Pleasures by Sandra Schwab - Free Book Online

highly improper. Apparently, gently bred ladies were not meant to ask questions. All they had to do was to smile prettily.
    But then Charlie didn’t possess Emma-Lee’s dimples, and her smile was probably only adequate. Besides, Aunt Dolmore was not here to chastise her. And just look at what had happened due to Perceval’s lack of inquisitiveness! The poor Grail King had to suffer for many more months, when just the merest mention of his illness could have cured him! Over-polite behaviour was definitely misplaced in situations such as this one.
    Lady Isabella blushed prettily. Charlie had to admit that she didn’t have much similarity with the Grail King and that her affliction probably could not be cured simply by talking about it. Yet surely it was the thought that counted, was it not?
    “I can still walk… a little,” Lady Isabella said haltingly and lowered her head to stare at her intertwined hands on her lap.
    Charlie squirmed a little on her seat. Perhaps her question had been too impertinent, after all. She had just taken a deep breath to apologise, when the other girl continued, “The bones in my legs have been… smashed. Most of them anyway. So even with the crutches there is much…” She licked her lips, then turned her head to stare at the trees where the first green had begun to show. “There is much pain. Most of the times.”
    Something tugged at Charlie’s heart. Just imagine: not being able to walk, especially at a time like this, when the air was filled with the sweet smell of spring! Charlie leaned forward to lightly touch the other girl’s hand. “I’m so very sorry.”
    Lady Isabella’s head swung around. “You mustn’t pity me, Miss Stanton,” she said quickly. “You see, I have thought about this quite often and I have come to the conclusion that I am, in fact, rather lucky.”
    “Lucky?” Charlie’s brows rose.
    “Certainly.” Lady Isabella nodded. “My family is rich. They can afford a wheeling chair, a carriage and a companion—all for me. But just think of those poor veterans you sometimes see in the streets. Many of them have lost limbs in the war, and many of them don’t have families who could support them, and thus they have ended up as beggars. So yes, I consider myself very lucky indeed,” she said firmly.
    Charlie stared. “Well…” She cleared her throat, at a loss what to say.
    Lady Isabella gave an embarrassed little laugh. “How strange it is to talk to you like this.” Her cheeks turned rosy. “As I said, I have thought about this quite often, but I have never talked to anybody about it.” A frown appeared between her brows. “Nobody has ever asked , you know.”
    Charlie cleared her throat and self-consciously pushed her spectacles up her nose. “You must think me impertinent.”
    “Oh no! Never that!” Now it was Lady Isabella’s turn to touch Charlie’s hand. “I find it—” She cocked her head to the side. “—refreshing. Yes, refreshing.”
    Relief spread through Charlie, making her grin. Comparing the other girl to the Grail King hadn’t been so very stupid after all!
    “You seem to be genuinely interested,” Lady Isabella continued. “Most people are only interested in the gory details, so they have something to prattle about—and to tell my brother how irresponsible he is.” She grimaced. “I hate that!”
    “Your brother?” In front of Charlie’s inner eye rose the image of that stern-faced gentleman. Well, he hadn’t been quite so stern-faced when they had been dancing, had he? He had smelled very nice, too, and the touch of his hands… Merely thinking about his large hands made her stomach all aflutter.
    Pea-goose! Charlie scolded herself, and aloud, she asked, “Was he involved in the accident, then?”
    “Not at all. But it was his phaeton. One of those impossibly high things you see the young gentlemen drive around Town. My other brother, my eldest brother, that is, wished to prove—goodness knows what exactly