A Priceless Gift: A Regency Romance by May Burnett Read Free Book Online Page B

you, and I cannot feel easy at sending you to my home by yourself. You have written to your cousin, Mattie?”
    “Yes, though it is too early to hear from her. If she is agreeable, and it would greatly surprise me if she were not, she will travel directly from Liverpool to Hampshire. In another week or two, I should see her at Racking.”
    “Very well.” He explained the provisions of his will to her.
    “I see the necessity,” she said, “and I am glad you did not saddle me with some guardian or trustee other than Father. But I prefer to believe that this is merely a precaution, that you will return safely. If not, I would feel very guilty for having persuaded you to undertake the journey against your own inclinations.”
    Was she having second thoughts?
    “No need for that. Whatever happens, I am responsible for my own decisions. Your life is in greater danger than mine over the coming months, I do believe. Promise me you’ll avoid strenuous exercise, eat healthy fare, and consult the local midwife in good time.”
    “Ah, is there a midwife near Racking? I shall do so in my own interest. I have no intention of dying in childbed. What a dismal conversation we are having!”
    Lucian reflected that no woman intended it, but it still happened all too often. If Amanda died because of the child, he would avenge her and not rest until the cad responsible was dead or ruined.
    “We have not returned any of the calls here in town,” Amanda was clearly intent on changing the subject. She added a lump of sugar to her cup. “What is your advice regarding the society around Racking? I have no wish to be known as a recluse, and people will inevitably talk when I arrive all alone. What am I to tell those who ask where my husband is?”
    “I was called away to undertake an urgent mission on behalf of the government. No need to say anything more. If people persist, just look down your nose at them, as though you wondered at their lack of breeding and discretion.”
    “Like this?” She essayed a supercilious expression that looked so incongruous on her youthful face that he chuckled. “More or less. Of course, you can and should mix with the local gentry. It is my hope that you’ll find some friends among them. As for visitors from town, use your discretion. Some like to turn up merely to nose out scandal and later dine out on it in town. As you are getting closer to your confinement, there is little reason to bother with such fribbles.”
    “I see,” she murmured. “Though it might be difficult to know in advance who answers to that description.”
    He drank from his own cup, strong and unsweetened as he liked his tea. In Russia, it would be even stronger and served without milk. But better to remain in the moment while he was still in London. The picture of Amanda in that pale green dress would accompany him on his travels. The fine material clung to her form, hinting at delights as yet untasted. She was still graceful, but that would change soon enough.
    “Your aunt seems to believe that I need to have my portrait taken for my descendants to admire,” Amanda remarked as she helped herself to a small cherry tartlet. “Is it really necessary?”
    “Would you not like to have a picture of your prime, as lovely as you are right now, when you are old and white-haired? To remind everyone in the household how pretty you were as a young wife?”
    “I had never thought about it,” she said frankly. “To be honest, the prospect leaves me unmoved. It might arouse melancholy to compare the older self to the younger one, if looks are all we are measured upon.”
    “Ah, but your older self will have wisdom and experience to compensate.”
    She regarded him sceptically. “You are twenty years older. Is it sufficient compensation?”
    He fought back momentary irritation at her question. Did she regard him as an old man? “Right now, inside at least, I don’t feel much different from who I was at twenty or thirty, though that