Lady Rose's Education by Kate Milliner Read Free Book Online Page A

day Lady Letitia would return home for her summer leave. She would be accompanied by her fiancée, Lord Alderton, and another young gentleman named John Cowley. Mr. Cowley was also a student in Cambridge and a good friend of Lord Alderton. He was inhibited from going to his own home in the north, because the area and his family were suffering from an outbreak of influenza.
    The atmosphere in the house that afternoon was twofold. Downstairs was abuzz like a wasp's nest. Upstairs was on pins and needles but doomed to the kind of painful immobility children experience on a Christmas morning. Norah was getting the worst of both worlds. Mrs. Motley kept signing her tasks that required constantly ascending and descending the stairs while carrying miscellaneous objects. Also, when she was dressing Lady Rose, the mistress was not without thorns on this day either. Lady Letitia's arrival aroused mixed feelings in her. The two sisters had not always been thick as thieves, but Lady Rose hoped that the situation might change now that they could both be characterized as adults. Lady Letitia's status had been altered even more, since she was now also a bride-to-be, which still seemed like a preposterous idea to her sister.
    ”Is there anything interesting in the paper, father?” Lady Rose asked the Earl who was sitting in an armchair with the newspaper.
    ”Apparently they are building a railway that goes across the whole Russia. 'Trans-Siberian Railway', they are calling it,” the Earl said. ”But no, I shouldn't think it interests you particularly.”
    ”Why not? Are trains not a feminine topic?”
    The Earl pulled his eyes up from the page and looked at his daughter.
    ”Well, I wouldn't have thought so,” he said, ”but please correct me, if I am mistaken.”
    Lady Rose tried to keep her mouth sealed but couldn't.
    ”Women occasionally take the train too,” she said.
    ”Yes, but they rarely participate in the building of the tracks.”
    Mercifully the second footman William came in to tell Mr. Cartwright that the carriage was approaching the Abbey, and they could all rush outside to welcome the guests.
     
    Lady Letitia was helped out of the carriage first. Once she stood outside, she wiped her skirt a few times so as to brush the travel dust off herself.
    The two gentlemen followed her out, one more agilely than the other one.
    ”Welcome to Pembrooke,” the Earl said.
    ”Mother, father, may I present Lord Alderton,” Lady Letitia said bashfully, which was not her usual manner.
    ”I am very glad to make your acquaintance, Lord Alderton,” the Countess said.
    Lord Alderton was a tall and intimidating man, especially tall and intimidating in his stately top hat. He shook hands with Lord Stowton and bowed gracefully at Lady Stowton and Lady Rose.
    ”May I, in turn, present my friend Mr. Cowley,” he said.
    Mr. Cowley was not as elegantly dressed as his friend, but his facial features were more handsome of the two. He had dark hair, almost black, and there was an intensity in his eyes that invited Lady Rose to look again. She felt strangely hesitant and tongue-tied, when it was her turn to be introduced. Luckily she got over her confusion and was able to converse normally with her sister, when they all went inside and left the footmen to cope with the mountain of luggage.
    ”How was your train trip?” Lady Rose asked and gave her father a meaningful glance.
    ”Perfectly uneventful, thank heavens”, Lady Letitia said.
    ”I congratulate you on your estate, Lord Stowton,” Lord Alderton said to his future father-in-law, gaining a grateful glance from Lady Letitia. ”It looks splendid indeed.”
    ”Thank you, Lord Alderton,” the Earl said. ”And Mr. Cowley, we are sorry about the trouble with your family. The influenza is a terrible thing. Let us hope your family members will soon be on the mend.”
    ”Thank you. I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm afraid my grandmother is not at all well,” Mr. Cowley said. ”I