A Soldier's Heart by Sherrill Bodine Read Free Book Online Page A

unorthodox.
    “Buckle, no one does my hair as well as you. Please.” She offered the roses to Buckle. Spreading her dress out around her, Serena slipped onto a low stool next to the chair. It brought back fond memories of the rectory and her childhood sitting like this before Buckle, and in a trice having her ribbons and flowers perfectly settled among her curls.
    “There! It’s perfect. You look lovely today, dear child,” Buckle sighed, dropping her hands so Serena could clasp them fondly.
    “Buckle, it’s so wonderful you are here. Things have been happening so quickly, I’ve been at sixes and sevens. The city is such a wondrous place. There’s an excitement in the air which gets inside one’s blood and does the oddest things to normally sensible persons.”
    “And who might that just be, I wonder,” Buckle teased, her rosebud mouth curling deeper at the corners. “I was afraid the city might frighten you—you being so sheltered and living such a simple country life.”
    Serena lowered her eyes, studying the sturdy brown cloth of Buckle’s skirt. “I have something quite shocking to confess to you. You know Papa dislikes the city, so never speaks of it. And … Aunt Lavinia, well … you know Aunt Lavinia.” She shrugged, finally finding the courage to meet Buckle’s steady gaze. “The short of it, dear Buckle, is I would have been utterly terrified if a package hadn’t arrived from the squire’s niece six weeks before I left. That in itself was surprising, since I hadn’t met with her after her travels abroad, but the note said the books were a gift from London for my kindnesses to her. Which I recall were nothing more than nudging her awake a few times during Papa’s sermons.”
    Buckle stifled a chuckle, her apple red cheeks glowing. “Did you enjoy the books, dear child?”
    “They were novels!” Serena was unable to restrain her own gurgle of laughter. “Quite shocking stories about life in the city. They were much truer than my imagination. I hadn’t a clue how to go on until I read them.”
    “Well, how could you know!” Buckle snorted. “You with no mother, rest her soul, stuck away in the wilds of York in a tiny village. And the squire not doing his duty, only inviting you to the manor once a year on Boxing Day. And the present baron’s wife too busy with her own children to have time for you. And your aunt only writing twice a year on your birthday and Christmas—sending gifts more suitable to a child than a growing woman. And me not a lady, so never having a Season. And your sainted papa so unworldly, he never thought what needed to be done to prepare you for the temptations of the
ton
. What was I to do?”
    The new, rare, insight she’d first experienced with Lord Blackwood brought Serena to her feet. “Buckle, you sent me the novels?”
    Bustling up, the former nursemaid fussed with Serena’s dress as she’d done for years. “Well, not precisely. I asked my cousin, Miss Dunnforth, who lives here in the city, to send them. I added the note.” As she peered up through short gray lashes, twinkling lights filled Buckle’s eyes. “It would cause a scandal the length and breadth of Market Weighton if I’m found out. Shall we keep this our secret?”
    Such a rush of affection overwhelmed her that, disregarding her elegant gown, Serena cast herself into Buckle’s arms. “I love you!”
    Laughing, she pressed a kiss on Serena’s cheek before stepping back. “And I, you. But no more foolishness. We must be ready to leave for the church. Now, are we ready?” Squinting, she fussed at the flowers, tugged ever so gently upon the neckline of the gown, and settled the gossamer veil over all. Then she nodded, apparently satisfied.
    “All is in order. Except one thing I must ask.” The apple cheeks shone bright red. “Has your Aunt Lavinia spoken to you about tonight with your husband?”
    Serena turned to hide her own embarrassment by fussing with her long gloves. “Aunt