Dilemma in Yellow Silk by Lynne Connolly Read Free Book Online

Stewart turned her lovely face up to Marcus. “Have you seen them all?”
    “I believe so. The larger ones, certainly, and most of the smaller holdings. There is a small estate in Devonshire I’m particularly fond of.”
    “Oh, but there’s nowhere as lovely as Yorkshire!” Miss Stewart exclaimed.
    Marcus flashed a grin. “Spoken like a true Yorkshirewoman.”
    The gravel path was doing no favors to Miss Stewart’s skirt. Her maid would curse when she saw the increasingly ragged hem and the rosebuds that had picked up tiny stones. Not that Miss Stewart appeared to notice. A lady did not deign to pay attention to such trivial matters. Viola couldn’t help thinking of the poor seamstress who’d worked through night and day to produce the pretty effect.
    They turned off on to a harder packed gravel path to stroll between the roses. Lady Stewart, leading them, paused to sniff a pink rose. She made a charming picture, the cream color of her gown setting off the velvety petals. Her fingers cupped the bloom gracefully. She stood and cast a smiling glance at her daughter, and Viola realized the mother had just demonstrated a lesson to her daughter. The older lady’s gaze passed on to Viola and hardened a fraction, although Viola retained her smiling mien. Her jaw was beginning to ache.
    The scent of the roses wove around her, soothing her. She had always enjoyed their perfume. The warm day, the roses, and the lush grass all worked their magic on her. A dreamy sense of wellbeing filled her as they slowly strolled around the lovely garden. She strove to keep their little garden pretty and neat, but it did not have the magic that this one always evoked in her. She loved to sit on the bench against the old stone wall at the side of the house with a book. A house cat would often join her and wash itself before stretching out to bask. She’d do that tomorrow, when Marcus and his father had gone. That would give her something to look forward to.
    Not that the prospect of him leaving filled her with anything but resignation. He would return in a month, in any case, with a houseful of guests for the shooting season. She would see him then, unless she could devise an absence. She was not without friends. Perhaps she could go to Harrogate and do a little shopping or visit her aunt Charlotte in York. That would keep her out of his way.
    After what she was now categorizing as The Kiss, she could not look at Marcus without recalling how she felt in his arms. He’d controlled their embrace so well without overwhelming her. She badly wanted to try it again, but she would not. As he’d said, they’d had an aberration and nearly lost what friendship they still had.
    Rather than watch him with society ladies and his friends, she’d take herself off.
    Mr. Stewart held her arm rather firmly. When she made to follow the others along another path, he led her in the opposite direction. No harm in that, so long as they kept the others in sight. “Miss Gates, I am so glad to see you again,” he said as they walked. “I trust I may bespeak a dance with you at the next assembly.”
    “If I attend, I would be delighted, thank you.” Assemblies were held once a month in York and in Scarborough. The assembly rooms in York were housed in a particularly fine building. That was her excuse. She could visit her aunt and attend an assembly. “I was thinking of going in August.”
    “During the house party?” He sounded scandalized, his voice rising in tone and pitch.
    “It has little to do with me. I am only hostess here today because nobody else may serve.”
    “But you are a relative of his lordship?”
    She waved her hand. “Only distantly. The connection is hardly worth mentioning.”
    “I don’t believe that.” He was holding her very firmly now and rather alarmingly leading her toward the maze. Ostensibly built to afford people a chance to exercise without going too far from the house, it had become a trysting place for the younger