Duel of Hearts by Elizabeth Mansfield Read Free Book Online Page B

detest so much as being plagued by an overbearing old man.”
    Sarah kept silent, but a little smile played about the corners of her mouth. If her suspicions were correct, Corianne’s “guardian” was not nearly so old as her mother believed.
    Before she went to sleep, Corianne, like Edward, penned a letter to Lord Lindsay. Dear Papa , she wrote, It is very Late, and I should be abed, but I shall take only a Moment to write a few lines to tell you that we’ve Arrived Safely. It was a most Enjoyable Trip, everyone along the way being very Kind and Attentive to me from the lowliest postboy to the very grand Gentleman who happened into our dining room at the Swan and exchanged a few Pleasantries with us. I am only sorry that we didn’t travel by Mail as you suggested, so that I could have had more People to talk to than only Edward, who was usually in the Sullens and answered my remarks with only Monosyllables. But I didn’t mind, because there was so much to See and to Think about that the time really flew. And now I am Here at last !
    Aunt Laurelia and Sarah have been most Kind and Welcoming and have given me the Rose Bedroom again, a room which I particularly like for its Ornate Furnishings and wonderful feather bed. I’m sure that they would have sent their Best if they had known I was writing you .
    Well, Papa, I shall say Goodnight, even though I don’t think I shall sleep a wink knowing that London lies right outside my window. Thank you again for Letting me Come. Your Most Loving Corianne .
    By the time Corianne climbed into bed, the clock in the hallway was striking two. She was asleep before the sound of the chimes had faded away.
    Sarah, in the bedroom down the hall, found sleep more difficult to capture. She couldn’t keep herself from wondering if Corianne’s Edward was indeed the fascinating gentleman who had come to her rescue that night two years ago and whose face was so indelibly etched on a page of her memory. Edward Middleton. If Corianne’s escort were truly the man she remembered, the name suited him. But why had she jumped to the conclusion that Edward Middleton and her erstwhile rescuer were one and the same? Just because in each case the man had been described as “a neighbor from Lincolnshire”?
    Of course, how many neighbors could one have in such a remote, thinly populated area? And of the few neighbors one might have, how many would be bachelors? (The man was obviously a bachelor if he was free to leave his home to jaunt to London in Corianne’s wake.) These were the clues that led Sarah to believe that Edward Middleton was the man.
    On the other hand, the gentleman she remembered had been completely besotted over Corianne. Would such a man be likely to escort the girl to London to help her accomplish what was obviously her purpose—to catch herself a husband? No, it was not at all reasonable to think a man would cooperate in a program designed to destroy his hopes. Therefore, it was quite possible that Sarah was lying awake and troubling her mind about nothing.
    But if Edward Middleton did turn out to be the man, it could certainly be an awkward moment for Sarah when they met again. If he remembered the humiliating situation in which they’d last met, she would be hideously embarrassed; if he did not remember it, it would be even more painful to her, for it would be devastating to realized that she’d made no impression on the man at all!
    She tossed about in bed, realizing that she was upsetting herself for very little cause. Nevertheless, if Edward Middleton should turn out to be the unknown rescuer, and if he should show signs of remembering the dreadful scene at which they’d met, Sarah felt the need to prepare herself. If she could only find the right words to say when she greeted him on the morrow—something carefree and witty and casual—she could ride smoothly over a potentially mortifying moment. But how