Amanda Scott by Lady Escapade Read Free Book Online Page A

pulled her out of the chair and gathered her into his arms, kissing her heartily.
    Diana watched them, thinking how easy it seemed for them to express their love for one another and feeling a little wistful.
    Ethelmoor set his rosy-cheeked wife back on her heels, grinned again at his sister, and strode from the room. Lydia, still blushing, smiled. “You must be famished, Diana. Shall I ring for them to serve you right here on a tray? I rarely eat a nuncheon in the country, you know, so we do not dine again until four o’clock. Or I can accompany you upstairs to the morning room, if you prefer.”
    She spoke rapidly as though her speech could cover her blushes, and Diana laughed at her. “Pray do not be so conscious, Lyddy. I promise I was not dismayed by Bruce’s unhusbandly display of affection. No one who knows him can fail to realize how very much he loves you.”
    “But ’tis prodigiously unfashionable,” Lydia protested. “A man and wife are not supposed to live in one another’s pockets, and I promise you, Diana, we shall do nothing to embarrass you or Lady Ophelia when we visit Alderwood Abbey after Christmas.”
    “Fustian. Lyddy, pray do not be such a goose, I implore you. You’ll never stop Bruce from looking at you as he does, no matter how hard you try, and no one will mind a bit. The two of you make other people feel good. Why, if Simon—” But she broke off at once, realizing that such a change of subject might well carry her into waters she had no wish at the moment to explore. “Dear me,” she said instead, laughing, “how I do carry on. I should adore to have something served to me here, Lyddy. This is quite the most charming room in your very charming house. With three sides all glass, clear from ceiling to floor, as they are, one quite has the feeling of being outdoors. And how do you contrive to keep the park and the hedgerows so green in winter. I am persuaded Alderwood and Andover Court must both be looking quite sickly by now.”
    Lydia answered glibly as she rose to ring for a servant. A few moments later, tea and a light repast having been ordered for Lady Andover, they were alone again, but Lydia made no attempt to turn their conversation back to Simon, and Diana was grateful. She was also grateful that her brother had taken her arrival in stride, but she had to admit that his amusement didn’t sit too well with her. Nor did his casually-expressed assurance that the Earl of Andover would soon find a means by which to ensure her obedience to his will.
    Her breakfast soon arrived and the conversation continued desultorily, covering a myriad of topics from Master John Sterling and his little sister, Amy, to the new dairy maid and the latest London fashions.
    “Are you certain you are not cold in that thin dress?” Lydia asked anxiously.
    “No, of course not,” Diana replied smiling her thanks to the maid who had come to remove her tray. “How could anyone be chilly, sitting in this sunny room?” But just then, as if to belie her words, goose bumps rose on her arms and a tingling chill raced up and down her spine. She froze, her lips parted slightly as she stared at Lydia. Then the sound that she had heard almost subconsciously grew louder, the sound of carriage wheels on gravel, and Lydia returned the anxious look with one just as anxious when the sound reached her ears.
    Diana had been sitting with her back to that portion of the carriage drive that swept past the east side of the house, but she turned now, nearly certain of what she would see.
    Four horses hove into view, drawing a light tan chaise, its wheels and, edgings picked out in yellow, a familiar crest emblazoned upon the door panel. A large trunk was strapped onto the front of the chaise, and a liveried footman stood up behind. The two postboys mounted on the lefthand horses wore the same blue and green livery with yellow jackets and beaver hats. As they brought their charges to a plunging halt just outside the