Read Online The Hermit's Daughter by Joan Smith - Free Book Online

“Tomorrow at six, then.”He smiled to Mrs. Hermitage.
    “I hope you will join us for dinner tomorrow evening as well, Lord Monstuart,”the mother said. “We are having a few guests in—-Mr. Heppleworth and the Crosbys.”
    “I have been hoping for an opportunity to know Mr. Heppleworth better. I will be delighted to come,”Monstuart said without a trace of a smile or a blush. Sally stared at him, but he kept his head averted, talking to her mother for another moment.
    He only turned back to her when he took his leave. His satirical grin might have been caused by the invitation, or the fact that he was ushering Derwent out the door at such an early hour. It certainly did not match his polite murmurs of having had a delightful evening.
    “I don’t see why you had to include Monstuart,”Melanie scolded as soon as the ladies were alone.
    “He is reconsidering, my dear,”her mother reminded her. “It would not do to be rude at such a time. He hinted, just before he left, that if he finds you girls to behave with propriety, he will allow the match.”
    “There’s nothing improper in what we do!”Melanie exclaimed.
    It would have been difficult to level such a charge against Melanie. Sally often wished for more social awareness from her sister. She thought perhaps Monstuart wanted a more polished bride for his nephew. As a peer, he would be meeting persons from a high social level, and a wife that did no more than smile at her husband would be small asset. But her mother’s remark caused her to wonder whether it was Melanie’s manners he referred to.
    “He has the greatest dislike of pertness,”Mrs. Hermitage mentioned. To accuse Melanie of pertness was like accusing a sloth of speed. When the mother slid a questioning look at her elder daughter and said, “I hope you were not pert, Sal,”Monstuart’s meaning became perfectly clear.
    Indignation burned deep, and Sally flared up. “Is that what he was whispering in your ear, Mama?”
    “He didn’t say so, not in the least, but as he spent all his time with you, I did just wonder whether it was not you he meant. You do have a habit of saying things you ought not to, no denying.”
    “He’s a fine one to talk.”
    “Oh, Sal, you have been flirting with him,”her mother charged.
    “Flirting with that jackdaw? I’d as soon flirt with a—a weasel!”she declared, and flounced from the room. But when she was alone, she had to ask herself in good earnest whether she was not guilty. Her tongue had the habit of running free, but so far from trying to dampen it, Monstuart had egged her on at every turn. He was trying to make her behave ill, to have an excuse to find fault with the family! Knowing Melanie and Mama were unexceptionable, he had found out the weak link and concentrated his efforts on her. And how easily she had fallen into the trap. Like a Bartholomew Baby, she had been cozened into behaving with an unbecoming freedom.
    His repeatedly suggesting that she would like London—that, too, was a trick. He wanted to be able to tell Derwent she intended attaching herself to him and Melanie. He had been wise enough to see there was no love lost between Derwent and her. She could almost hear what he would say to his nephew: “A solicitor’s undowered daughter is disadvantage enough. But a pert sister who battens herself on you and leads your bride astray ...”That’s how he would twist things.
    Her blood fairly boiled when she thought of it, and she longed to retaliate. A dozen brazen speeches occurred to her. If Derwent was not led astray by a philandering uncle, it was not likely his wife would be led astray by her sister. If Melanie was so biddable as that, why had she remained unspoiled for so long? And furthermore, Sally had no intention of living with them! An occasional visit, a few weeks during the Season, was all she ever had in mind.
    After hearing Monstuart boast of his social whirl, Sally wanted those few weeks very much. And she wanted it