Read Online The Unofficial Suitor by Charlotte Louise Dolan - Free Book Online
Authors: Charlotte Louise Dolan
Tags: Romance
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him.
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Chapter 4
The stagecoach hit a larger bump than usual, and Cassie was thrown against the man to her left. She immediately jerked herself back into an upright position and clutched her cloak more tightly around her.
London was going to be an absolute disaster. Any slight hopes she may have had to the contrary had been dispelled virtually as soon as the trip began, and nothing that had happened during this interminably long day had given her cause to change her mind.
It had been bad enough when her brother had refused to let them travel with him in his coach. Despite her objections, he had vanished back to London, only very grudgingly parting with enough money for them to take the stage. His obvious selfishness had been almost enough to disillusion even Ellen as to Geoffrey’s near-sainthood, but in the end her step-mother had managed to justify his odious behavior as “pressing business in London, of a most urgent nature, which precludes his kicking his heels here while three giddy females make preparations to embark on the greatest adventure a woman can dream of having.”
Cassie privately suspected that the urgent business consisted of a rackety set of cronies and a deck of cards. She was, in fact, firmly convinced that it was pure meanness on Geoffrey’s part that had caused him to abandon them to their own devices.
As for London being the greatest adventure—stuff and nonsense. She was about as willing to be convinced that being thrown on the Marriage Mart was an experience greatly to be desired as Marie Antoinette would have been willing to agree that facing the guillotine was an experience she would not wish to forgo.
On the other hand, to be fair, Cassie had to admit that her present uncomfortable situation was partly her fault. Having made the acquaintance of Geoffrey’s groom and mistress, she had bitten back the arguments she might have used and had not insisted upon a place in her brother’s carriage.
She had realized her error as soon as the door to the stagecoach was thrown open for them to climb in. The coach seemed at first glance to be filled to capacity already, but a second look had shown her that it was occupied by only three men. They were such a disreputable looking trio, however, that they should not have been allowed to ride even as outside passengers. They had possession of three of the four corners of the coach, and their long legs, moreover, were taking up far more than their share of the room between the seats, leaving the three women to insert themselves carefully into the small amount of space remaining.
It would not have surprised Cassie if the three men had only bided their time until they were crossing an isolated section of moor before pulling wicked-looking pistols out from beneath the greatcoats they wore and holding them all up for their valuables. Although their pickings would be slim indeed if she and her companions were to be their intended victims.
Before the morning was over, she would have welcomed even an attempted hold-up to break the monotony. She had assumed, naturally enough, that she and Ellen and Seffie could have a comfortable coze during the trip.
The atmosphere in the coach, however, did not lend itself to the sharing of girlish confidences, and it would have taken a braver woman than Ellen to prate about dresses and balls and parties and suitors in such company.
The atmosphere, in fact, reeked of strong spirits, and the only thing Cassie could even be slightly thankful for was that the men had spent most of the day sleeping off the effects of the alcohol they had evidently imbibed freely before the trip. They had only roused themselves briefly at noon, when the stage had stopped barely long enough for the passengers to snatch a quick sandwich and a cup of hot tea—although she strongly doubted that the three scruffy men had had tea in their mugs.
Shortly after lunch, Ellen and Seffie had also settled down, being able, as they were, to lean against
----
Chapter 4
The stagecoach hit a larger bump than usual, and Cassie was thrown against the man to her left. She immediately jerked herself back into an upright position and clutched her cloak more tightly around her.
London was going to be an absolute disaster. Any slight hopes she may have had to the contrary had been dispelled virtually as soon as the trip began, and nothing that had happened during this interminably long day had given her cause to change her mind.
It had been bad enough when her brother had refused to let them travel with him in his coach. Despite her objections, he had vanished back to London, only very grudgingly parting with enough money for them to take the stage. His obvious selfishness had been almost enough to disillusion even Ellen as to Geoffrey’s near-sainthood, but in the end her step-mother had managed to justify his odious behavior as “pressing business in London, of a most urgent nature, which precludes his kicking his heels here while three giddy females make preparations to embark on the greatest adventure a woman can dream of having.”
Cassie privately suspected that the urgent business consisted of a rackety set of cronies and a deck of cards. She was, in fact, firmly convinced that it was pure meanness on Geoffrey’s part that had caused him to abandon them to their own devices.
As for London being the greatest adventure—stuff and nonsense. She was about as willing to be convinced that being thrown on the Marriage Mart was an experience greatly to be desired as Marie Antoinette would have been willing to agree that facing the guillotine was an experience she would not wish to forgo.
On the other hand, to be fair, Cassie had to admit that her present uncomfortable situation was partly her fault. Having made the acquaintance of Geoffrey’s groom and mistress, she had bitten back the arguments she might have used and had not insisted upon a place in her brother’s carriage.
She had realized her error as soon as the door to the stagecoach was thrown open for them to climb in. The coach seemed at first glance to be filled to capacity already, but a second look had shown her that it was occupied by only three men. They were such a disreputable looking trio, however, that they should not have been allowed to ride even as outside passengers. They had possession of three of the four corners of the coach, and their long legs, moreover, were taking up far more than their share of the room between the seats, leaving the three women to insert themselves carefully into the small amount of space remaining.
It would not have surprised Cassie if the three men had only bided their time until they were crossing an isolated section of moor before pulling wicked-looking pistols out from beneath the greatcoats they wore and holding them all up for their valuables. Although their pickings would be slim indeed if she and her companions were to be their intended victims.
Before the morning was over, she would have welcomed even an attempted hold-up to break the monotony. She had assumed, naturally enough, that she and Ellen and Seffie could have a comfortable coze during the trip.
The atmosphere in the coach, however, did not lend itself to the sharing of girlish confidences, and it would have taken a braver woman than Ellen to prate about dresses and balls and parties and suitors in such company.
The atmosphere, in fact, reeked of strong spirits, and the only thing Cassie could even be slightly thankful for was that the men had spent most of the day sleeping off the effects of the alcohol they had evidently imbibed freely before the trip. They had only roused themselves briefly at noon, when the stage had stopped barely long enough for the passengers to snatch a quick sandwich and a cup of hot tea—although she strongly doubted that the three scruffy men had had tea in their mugs.
Shortly after lunch, Ellen and Seffie had also settled down, being able, as they were, to lean against
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