Change of Address by Kate Dolan Read Free Book Online

slightly soggy contents and
started toward the big stone house on the hill.

Chapter Three
     
    Charlie looked up from the illegible account book he had
been attempting to decipher when the butler opened the door to the library.
“Miss Castling is here to see Miss Hilliar, sir.”
    He felt a surge of hope until he realized that Jameson had
just told him the young lady of his dreams was here to see his sister, not him .
    Jameson nevertheless waited expectantly for some sort of
answer.
    “If Miss Castling’s here to see my sister,” Charlie
observed, “then I suggest you let her see my sister.”
    “Yes, sir.” But he made no move to do so.
    Charlie waved him on. “Neither of them have any contagion
that I know of. Can’t think of a reason to keep the girls apart.”
    “Yes, sir. But I cannot find Miss Isabel, sir.”
    “Oh. Hmnn.” What did women do at this time of day? “Her maid
doesn’t—no, I suppose you already—and Mrs. Curtis—no I’m sure you—” He stopped.
“I have no idea where she might be if no one downstairs does.”
    “Very well, sir.” He bowed and made ready to depart.
    Closing the book with a determined thud, Charlie pushed back
his chair and stood. “I will talk to Miss Castling in my sister’s stead.”
    The raise of the butler’s eyebrow was just barely
perceptible.
    “We’ve been introduced. She cannot object overmuch. At the
very least I can relay a message to my sister for her.”
    “Very good, sir.”
    As Jameson led him to the small parlor where Isabel’s
pianoforte held court in the corner like a queen over her subjects, Charlie
hoped he would not go completely tongue-tied in Miss Castling’s presence.
    When they entered, she jumped up from the leather chair in
which she’d been sitting. Her blond hair was windblown and there was a becoming
flush in her cheeks as if she just stepped inside from a brisk walk.
    “I’m sorry, Miss Castling,” he explained, “my sister is
indisposed at the moment so I took the liberty of coming to speak with you.” He
nodded for Jameson to step out.
    “Oh.” She seemed a bit disappointed by the prospect, but not
frightened. He supposed that was good.
    Before closing the door, Jameson looked warily about the
room as if suspicious that intruders might be lurking behind the fire screen or
under the piano. But at last he took his dour presence from the room and left
them alone.
    She cleared her throat.
    Ah! She was probably thirsty. “Should I have asked for refreshments,”
he wondered aloud, “or will he just know to bring them, do you think?”
    Puzzlement, dismay and confusion all flashed across Miss
Castling’s features as she struggled to express that thought that she obviously
had no idea what to say.
    “That was a ridiculous question, I realize,” he apologized.
“Usually Isabel is about when we have guests and she manages the business of
tea and whatnot and I just…talk.”
    That made her smile, at least for a moment.
    He had to focus on something or he would become distracted
with the idea of trying to coax her to smile again. The simple expression
transformed her face from a mask of icy beauty to the visage of a living
goddess, but an approachable goddess, one with a tolerable sense of humor.
Maybe not even a goddess at all, but more of a—
    “Perhaps I should return to speak with her at a more
convenient time,” she suggested.
    “No, wait. I hope you will forgive the liberty I take in
speaking with you when you came to see my sister.” He focused his gaze on the
edge of a picture frame to the left of Miss Castling’s bonnet string. “But I
feel that our acquaintance began on the wrong footing and I wish to apologize
and see if it might be possible to start afresh.”
    She turned to look over her shoulder but quickly turned
back, having correctly ascertained that there was nothing there to see. “I
believe our acquaintance is just as it should be,” she said coolly. “Now if you
will excuse me, I