Baroness in Buckskin by Sheri Cobb South Read Free Book Online Page A

famished.”
    “Yes, miss.” The butler bowed and, with one last dubious glance at his future mistress, betook himself from the room.
    “Here is good news,” she declared to Susannah, as if stating a falsehood with sufficient confidence might make it so. “Cousin Richard has returned early from London. He has gone upstairs at present, but you may meet him very shortly.”
    This cheerful prophecy was sufficient to make Susannah choke on the seed cake she was eating, forcing Peter to pound her on the back. Scarcely had she gained control of herself when the door opened, and she had her first glimpse of the man whom she had travelled halfway ’round the world to marry.
    He was quite tall, as Peter had said, with hair as sleek and dark as a raven’s wing. His eyes, too, were dark, just as Peter’s were, but his jaw was sharper and his chin rather stronger. Where the younger man’s expression was open and friendly, the head of the family appeared distant, perhaps even bored. A disinterested observer would have accounted Lord Ramsay the handsomer of the two men, but Susannah was far from disinterested, and she determined at once to like Peter better than his noble cousin.
    “Why, Richard, what a pleasant surprise,” Jane said, rising to greet him. “We had not thought to see you until tomorrow.”
    “As you can see, I yielded to Peter’s entreaties and hurried home immediately after the vote was taken in the Lords. But where, pray, is my affianced bride?” His dismissive gaze took in the young woman seated on the sofa, and returned to his cousin Jane. “I see her abigail has made herself quite at home, but if Miss Ramsay thinks to entertain the servants to tea on a regular basis, I must be sure to inform her that such democratic notions will not—”
    “Richard,” Jane interrupted, fixing him with a speaking look, “allow me to present Miss Susannah Ramsay. Miss Ramsay, our mutual cousin Richard, Lord Ramsay.”
    Susannah rose from the sofa with surprising grace, her heightened color the only hint that she was aware of the insult.
    “My lord.” She placed her hand in his own belatedly proffered one, and sank to the floor in a curtsy so low that the fringed hem of her buckskin coat brushed the carpet.
    “Miss Ramsay,” Richard said stiffly, bowing deeply over her hand. Jane had no difficulty in recognizing his excessive formality as an attempt to cover his embarrassment at his own glaring faux pas , but Susannah had not the advantage of long acquaintance with his lordship. To her, this overdone courtesy smacked of arrogance, with perhaps a little mockery thrown in for good measure.
    Perhaps, Jane thought later, all might have been well if she had not instructed Antoine to move dinner forward. Perhaps if they had dined at eight, as originally planned, there would have been time for Richard to apologize for his error, and the whole matter might have been laughed off. But no, Richard had scarcely released his bride’s hand when Wilson returned to announce dinner.
    “If you will do me the honour, Miss Ramsay?” Lord Ramsay asked, offering his arm.
    “With pleasure, my lord.” With a sparkling eye and a disdainful sniff, Susannah placed her hand on his.
    Behind their backs, Jane and Peter exchanged looks of mutual dismay, then followed the mismatched pair into the dining room.
     

Chapter 5
     
    Mother, may I go out to swim?
    Yes, my darling daughter:
    Hang your clothes on a hickory limb
    And don’t go near the water.
    ANONYMOUS, Rhyme
     
    “My poor Jane! Can you ever forgive me?”
    Lord Ramsay collapsed onto the sofa beside his cousin and raked long, slender fingers through his dark hair. The interminable dinner had finally come to an end, the aunts departed for the Dower House, and Peter and Susannah retired to their respective bedchambers, each professing exhaustion from their journey. His lordship had not retreated to his library, as was his usual habit after dinner, but instead had sought out his