A Chance Encounter by Gayle Buck Read Free Book Online Page A

said firmly. She inclined her head in acceptance and they shared another smile, this one more open than the one before. “Right. Since that is settled, we must now decide what our course shall be. I thought last night that I would simply take you back to my estates, accompanied by that dratted abigail, of course; but I see now that won’t quite do.”
    “Won’t it?”
    Lord Humphrey shook his head. “It would seem far more respectable if you were introduced to the household in a less shag-bag manner. The servants will talk regardless, of course, and will pass the tale to members of my parents’ household. I’d rather they talk about something else than your lack of baggage and whatnot.”
    “Oh, I see.” Joan bit her lip. She had not thought of that, though it had not been many minutes earlier that she had longed for a change of dress. “I must write the Percys about my clothes and belongings. I suppose that we could not remain here at the inn until my things arrive?”
    “Decidedly not,” said Lord Humphrey, aghast. “I do not intend to remain in this dismal place a moment longer than necessary.”
    “Well, then, we must go someplace else. I am open to suggestions, my lord, for I am left totally without family and I have no particularly close friends. At least, none that I would wish to trust to this imbroglio,” Joan said. She eyed him hopefully. “Surely you have someone that you may trust? A sister, perhaps, or—”
    “You have hit upon it, Joan,” exclaimed Lord Humphrey.
    He had noticed that she had not made use of his Christian name as he had bade her, but he thought he understood. He was himself experiencing difficulty in adjusting to his status as a married gentleman and the end of his bachelorhood. Already he felt the weight of his new responsibility. It would naturally take time for her to become comfortable with her own changed circumstances. Of course, he had the advantage of her in that he had been prepared that very weekend to wed in any event, he thought with irony.
    “I shall take you to my grandmother,” he said. “Blackhedge Manor is not far from here and I rather suspect that she will be most happy to take us under her wing. She is a wicked old woman, whose greatest pleasure is pricking the pretensions of others, I think.”
    “Shall I like her ladyship?” Joan asked, a faint smile curling her lips. The question that had most readily come to mind was whether the viscount’s grandmother would like her, but one could not ask that, of course.
    “Oh, I don’t know. I suspect that you might. She is not given much to airs and talks most readily to nearly everyone. But you shall judge for yourself.” He spoke cheerfully and with a note of affection in his voice.
    Joan realized that he had a real regard for his grandmother, and that heartened her. She had not understood before how very bereft she was feeling. She had only the viscount’s goodwill to rely upon, to guide her and sustain her when she would meet his family, and possibly Miss Ratcliffe.
    She suspected that she would not be allowed to forgo the latter doubtful pleasure if matters were indeed as the viscount had related to her. She had gathered a fair notion of both Miss Ratcliffe’s physical attributes and her character from what the viscount had said of the lady: She was beautiful, arrogant, spoiled, and willful. Joan did not think that she would care for the lady and she knew with certainty that Miss Ratcliffe would despise her.
    Joan had also formed a guarded opinion about the Earl and Countess of Dewesbury. She hoped that the viscount’s inebriation and his natural depression had misled him in explaining his parents to her; otherwise, she had a shrewd notion that her own addition to the family would never be quite accepted.
    As for the viscount’s grandmother, she rather liked what his lordship had said about the lady. She was herself of a quiet and, on occasion, of a retiring nature. Joan had always admired the