Angelina by Janet Woods Read Free Book Online Page A

brings you with honesty and courage, and count your blessings. The words came into her mind as loudly as if Aunt Alexandra was standing at the foot of her bed saying them to her. I will not have you snivelling every time something goes wrong. Do you understand, girl?
    “Yes, Aunt.”  Rising from the bed she changed into her best blue gown, the one with the lace collar. She pinned a spray of forget-me-knots she’d picked from the garden that morning to the bodice, took a deep breath and left the room.
    Angelina discovered her guests on the terrace. Facing away from her, they were discussing the grounds.
    “The trout lake is in good condition,” the earl was saying. “It must be fed naturally, but I can’t see where the water comes from.” 
    “The lake is artificial,” Angelina said quietly, not quite knowing if it was correct for a woman to admit to such knowledge. She gazed hesitatingly at James, moving to his side when she received a smile of encouragement. “Lord Pakenham discovered a lake of water in a cave and devised a series of sluices. The water is filtered through the chalk of the hills; which cleans impurity from it. When the sluice is open the water flows into the lake.”
    “Apart from natural evaporation how does the lake drain?” Lord Lynnbury’s question displayed no patronising humour, just interest.
    “In the same way. There is a sluice; the water drains underground until it joins the stream again. The system is very ingenious.” Head to one side she regarded her tall guest. “I do not pretend to understand it all, but Lord Pakenham’s plans and calculations are in the library if you are interested in studying them.”
    “You have studied them yourself, I see.” His mocking smile appeared, bringing an instant blush to her face. “An educated woman is a rarity, Lady Angelina.”
    “That’s because men will not allow them to be educated,” she rejoined. Noting his eyes widen in astonishment, she hastened to place the uttered wisdom back where it came from. “At least, that’s what Lady Alexandra used to say. Personally, I’m not schooled in what men do, or do not allow women to be, as I have known neither father brother nor husband. My maid thinks book learning gives me peculiar ideas.”
    “She could be right,” he murmured, his eyes dripping with amusement.  
    “Stop teasing her, Rafe.” A shabbily dressed woman with  blue eyes and a weary smile stepped forward. “Forgive my brother’s bad manners in not introducing us. I’m Celine Daventry. James said you’d overtired yourself. I trust you’re rested now?”
    Angelina took an instant liking to Celine, but the woman seemed in need of more sustenance and rest than herself by the look of her. She thought it best to get the niceties dispensed with as directly as possible, and said with her usual candour, “I owe both you and your brother an apology.” Her eyes flickered from James to Lord Lynnbury, then back to Celine. “It was unforgivable of me to neglect you because of a touch of the vapours. Please forgive me.” 
    Celine’s face suddenly lost all colour and she swayed. Anxiously she placed a hand on her arm. “You’re feeling unwell. James? Lord Lynnbury?” 
    It was James who caught Celine before she fell, Rafe who conveyed her to the chamber Angelina had prepared for her. He laid his burden gently on the bed. “My sister has not eaten properly for several days. She was locked in her room by my father and I should have made sure she had more sustenance on the journey here.”
    Poor Celine! The small amount of information told Angelina exactly what she suffered from. Although she wanted to know the reason why, the tone of her guest’s voice hadn’t invited the question.
    “It was not your fault, Rafe,” James murmured.
     Her fists clenched and she rounded on the two men. “Do not make excuses for Lord Lynnbury’s behaviour. It’s reprehensible of him to allow Celine to collapse from exhaustion and lack