A Gentleman Says "I Do" by Amelia Grey Read Free Book Online

possible—as soon as her father returned and decided to write again. Though right now, she had no idea when that would be. Her father had already been gone longer than usual. She had no choice but to believe Mr. Brentwood when he said he’d harm her father if more stories about his family were printed.
    She turned to her aunt and said, “I need your help.”
    Aunt Elle rose to a sitting position and put her hand to her head as if she was dizzy. “You just tell me what. You know I’ll do anything for you.”
    “I need to see Mr. Frederick at The Daily Herald first thing tomorrow morning. I don’t want to wait until afternoon. Can you rise and be ready to go with me by noon?”
    “Of course, dearest, of course. I’ll have my maid wake me so I’ll be ready before noon.”
    “Thank you, Auntie,” Catalina said, making a mental note to tell Sylvia herself. In her aunt’s current condition, Catalina couldn’t trust Aunt Elle to remember to tell her maid.
    Catalina rose. “Now, you lie back down for a little while. I’m going to take this tray to the kitchen and ask Nancy to make you some hot tea. How does that sound?”
    “Wonderful.”
    Aunt Elle sighed and covered her face once again with her handkerchief.
    Catalina picked up the tray and headed toward the kitchen, her thoughts drifting back to Mr. Brentwood. What an impression he had made on her. He was so commanding, so confident, and so angered by what she and her father had written. It surprised her she wasn’t more offended by his harsh manner and tone. She understood his feelings. To him, his family had been wronged, and he was looking for revenge.
    But she couldn’t comprehend the reason she was so enamored of him. Just thinking about him made her breathless with unexpected pleasure. Of all the gentlemen she’d met at parties during the past year, not a one had mentioned poetry to her, even though her father was a poet. But Mr. Brentwood admitted to reading it. He even knew about Lord Byron’s slight against Keats. How many gentlemen would know so much about the men who filled their days with songs of the heart?
    It was no wonder Mr. Brentwood fascinated her.
    Catalina loved to read, and all her favorite stories, poetry, and plays were about love. She knew a hero when she saw one, and there were many things about Mr. Brentwood that reminded her of the hero of her dreams.
    She wondered if she would ever see the intriguing man again. And as much as she hated to admit it to herself, she knew for certain she wanted to see him again.

Three
    Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
    —St. Francis of Assisi
    Catalina felt restless.
    It was the sunniest day they’d had in weeks, and she wished she could close up her parasol and throw it down. Even though there was a cool breeze, she wanted to unbutton her pelisse, take off her bonnet, and let the sunshine drench her. She wanted its calming warmth, shining from a cloudless blue sky, to heat her back and shoulders as the carriage rolled along. But she couldn’t do that. Her aunt, not to mention anyone else who might see her, would be horrified to see a hatless young lady riding down the crowded streets of London.
    Aunt Elle was just as eager as Catalina for their first outing in the landau without the top since last autumn, and apparently all of London felt the same eagerness to enjoy some of the first sunbeams of spring. The roads were jammed with rigs, coaches, curricles, and high-perch phaetons, which made the ride to The Daily Herald building longer than usual. But Catalina didn’t mind. It gave her time to think.
    She had slept fitfully, knowing what was before her today. Mr. Frederick wasn’t an easy man to deal with on a good day, and she had no idea how he was going to react to what she had to ask him this morning. But if she were honest with herself, she had to admit that most of her fretfulness while she lay in the darkness of her