A Heart for the Taking by Shirlee Busbee Read Free Book Online

and with an effort tore her gaze from his. A lion indeed. She was definitely fanciful this morning.
    Forcing a bright smile, she kept her head firmly averted from the disturbing creature on the wharf and stared determinedly at Jonathan’s relatives as they started up the gangplank. Who did he think he was, looking at her in such a way? Why, she had half a mind to . . . What? Hit him with her reticule?
    A giggle threatened to escape, and forgetting for the moment the annoying man on the wharf, she was able, a few minutes later, to greet Samuel Walker and Jonathan’s mother, Constance, in her usual charming manner. She liked Sam Walker on sight, but the hard, assessing gleam in Constance’s green eyes and the slightly petulant cast to her mouth gave Fancy pause. She’d seen, upon the rare occasion, just that same expression in Jonathan’s eyes and had also idly noticed the tendency for his lips to curve in a petulant pout when events didn’t go precisely as planned. It hadn’t bothered her before now, but seeing those traits more obviously defined in his mother caused her to speculate about the true nature of the man Ellen wanted to marry.
    After the introductions had been completed and questions about their journey from England had been answered, the conversation became even more general for several moments. Fancy and Ellen were both enthusiastic about their first sights of the New World and they spoke animatedly about the small settlements and the vast green wilderness they had seen on their journey up the James River to Richmond.
    Sam Walker was obviously pleased by their reactions, and Fancy was drawn to him by his ready smile and the warm twinkle in his deep blue eyes. He might be over seventy, but he was still an extremely attractive man, his skin firm and dark, his nose straight and broad, and his mouth wide and full lipped.
    Beaming at the two younger women, Sam murmured, “Ihope that you will find your stay at Walker Ridge even more pleasant and entertaining than your journey has been so far. My wife, Letty, has been in a tizzy since she first learned that you were coming to visit. She would have been here with us this morning, but there were a few final things that she wanted to oversee before your arrival at the house. We all want you to enjoy yourselves.”
    “Of course,” Constance said airily, “you must not expect to find things as you would in England, my dear Lady Merrivale. We are
such
provincials! I only hope that during your stay we can provide you and your delightful sister with suitable amusements and that you will find things here in the colonies not
too
backward!”
    “I am certain that my sister and I will be most happy,” Fancy said gently. “Jonathan has told us a great deal about life in the Colonies and we have been looking forward to our visit at your home.”
    “Well, Walker Ridge is, even if I do say so myself, quite, quite exceptional,” Constance said proudly. “I doubt you would find a finer home, even in England.” Asuperior smile on her lips, she added, “The Viscount Darnley and his lovely wife came to visit us just last year and we had a prodigiously gay time. Do you know them? Oh, I suppose that you do. After all, your late husband was a baron, was he not?” She gave a titter of laughter. “My dear, I simply cannot tell you how
pleased
I have been since my darling Jonathan wrote and said that he was bringing home a baroness and her sister for a visit. I must tell you that all my friends have been positively
green
with envy. Of course, they will all want to meet you.”
    Fancy wasn’t quite certain how it came about, but a few minutes later, as they all walked toward the gangplank, she found herself firmly anchored to Jonathan’s arm, his mother on his other side as they followed behind an amiably chatting Sam and Ellen. Fancy was paying only half a mind to Constance’s chatter, and while she didn’t want to be too judgmental, she sincerely hoped that Letty Walker