Let Me Be The One by Jo Goodman Read Free Book Online

give offense."
    "That is unfair."
    "I apologize."
    "I have never been unkind to a cit."
    "I regret my wayward tongue, Louise." Elizabeth watched the baroness draw in a deep breath, her bosom visibly swelling with the effort, and waited to see if Louise had been successfully placated.
    "I cannot seem to stay angry with you," she said finally.
    Elizabeth did not respond to this. Instead, she said, "Perhaps Mr. Marchman spoke to his lordship. You did retire to your room immediately upon returning from the picnic and did not reappear for more than an hour. The baron may have accepted his regrets on leaving."
    "Yes, you're right. I am certain that's what happened. I will speak to Harrison when he comes to bed."
    Stifling a yawn by sheer force of will, Elizabeth risked a glance at the clock on the mantel. It was just minutes short of midnight. The baron might not remove himself from the card table for several more hours. Elizabeth hoped Louise did not expect her to entertain in the interim.
    "What of the others?" asked Louise. She settled comfortably into her chair, drawing her legs up and to one side. In contrast to Elizabeth's heavy-lidded expression, Louise was alert, her features showing none of the strain of playing hostess to her grand gathering. Her dark lashes fluttered as she fanned herself with one hand, feigning a sudden rise in her temperature. "I declare, that Lord Southerton is a most handsome gentleman." She treated Elizabeth to an arch look. "Did you not find the viscount so?"
    "I spent so little time in his company; I did not form an opinion."
    "It is not a matter of time," said Louise, "but of eyesight. It requires but a glance in his direction." She smiled and added coyly, "Then perhaps your mind was more engaged with the earl than you would have me believe."
    "Are you matchmaking or communicating your own designs on the viscount?"
    "Bah! I am doing neither, and shame on you for suggesting it. You will resist all efforts to the former, and as to the latter, everyone knows I remain besotted with my own dear Harrison."
    It occurred to Elizabeth to remind Louise that she was not everyone. She held her tongue, even in her weariness recognizing the comment as unnecessarily waspish and incendiary. "What of Lord Eastlyn? Was the marquess not also to your liking?"
    "Heavens, yes. What is there to find the least objectionable?"
    "Indeed," Elizabeth said wryly. "Did you know they were all Hambrick boys when you extended the invitation?"
    "Do you mean to say that Southerton and Eastlyn also attended? Why, I had no idea. So that is the source of their friendship. I knew they were acquainted, of course, but not that they shared a history at Hambrick. And Mr. Marchman as well. I suppose it is impossible for members of the ton not to live in one another's pockets. Where would one go to escape? The colonies?" She shuddered, and her nightgown shivered with her.
    "I do not believe they call themselves the colonies any longer."
    Louise's response was a dismissive wave."What of Eastlyn and his fiancée?"
    "I did not know he was engaged."
    "I understand it is all but a done thing."
    Which meant it only existed in the minds and wagging tongues of the gossipmongers. "I wonder if the marquess knows he has a fiancé?"
    * * *
    The manor at Battenburn was an imposing stone structure whose main hall had been built in the time of Henry VIII. The first baron had done the king a significant favor that ultimately led to the annulment of his marriage with Anne of Cleves. As a reward, Henry extended land and a title to an otherwise minor figure in his court. Since then Battenburn had largely prospered, and the manse had grown accordingly.
    The inside of the house did not reflect the changing architectural styles as much as the outside. While turrets and crenelated parapets gave Battenburn the cold appearance of a keep, the interior warren of rooms was surprisingly warm and inviting. The labyrinth of passages and staircases would have confounded