Lord Barry's Dream House by Emily Hendrickson Read Free Book Online Page B

some time since he broke his fast and welcomed the thought of food. He offered his arm to his hostess and strolled along at her side in perfect amiability to the breakfast room.
    He had to admit that the young Hamilton girls were well - bred and quite charming. If he found Lady Katherine’s intent regard a trifle disconcerting, it was also flattering.
    Following the light repast, he explained his desire to return to the construction site.
    “We quite understand, dear sir,” Lady Hamilton said. “We shall expect you later.”
    Rather than take a carriage, Edmund strode to the stables and ordered his horse saddled. While he waited, he inspected the stables and surrounding area. It was well laid out and maintained in top condition. There could not be a shortage of funds here, for no reduction in staff or horses had occurred as far as he could see.
    So why, he wondered as he swung on his horse, did Lady Juliana persist with her efforts at his house? Were he a vain man, he might be tempted to think she wished to entrap him, catch him as a husband. Considering the looks she sent his way, she would be more inclined to dump a basin of water over his head, should he come too close to her. He cantered along the lane, negotiating the twists and turns of the road with absentminded skill.
    Approaching the building site, he entered the partially completed avenue to catch sight of Lady Juliana and Henry, heads together over a set of plans. As he neared, he could see the crude table also held a stack of what appeared to be drawings. The detailed working drawings he had wondered about earlier, perhaps?
    He swung himself down, tied the reins to a tree, then walked over to join them. Their start of surprise amused him. Why would they not expect his return?
    “I have a number of questions that perhaps you could answer for me—providing you have the time, of course.” He suspected his bow was a trifle mocking, but it had seemed to him that Henry had been gazing at Lady Juliana with more than a businesslike eye.
    “I shall tend to the matter we discussed at once,” Henry said, then absented himself with a polite bow.
    “You wished to discuss the stairway, as I recall,” Juliana said, promptly attacking Edmund’s concern. Her troubled gaze followed Henry until he disappeared. Then she focused her full attention on her patron. Willing herself not to chatter or annoy him with unnecessary explanations, she waited for his questions to begin.
    He strolled to the house, studying everything in sight. Once inside, he paused, looking closely at the interior.
    Juliana walked past her patron with a roll of plans in her hand. At the foot of the central part of the stairs she came to a stop, unrolled the paper, and glanced at him. She was more than a little nervous. There was something about him that fascinated her even as she was disturbed by the feelings he aroused in her. Henry did not have this effect on her at all.
    She cleared her throat, then turned to the far safer view of the staircase as it winged upward. “As you may know, this is the very latest in design for a staircase. The handrail is to be mahogany—some of the very wood you sent from your plantation. The balusters will be made in cast iron, simple uprights alternating with delicately carved panels. See, here is my ... e r, the design.” Holding out the paper for his inspection, she hoped he would concentrate on the lovely curving lines of the delicate S-shaped baluster and not what she had said.
    Wordlessly, he went over to examine the central portion of the stairs, then to study the two wings that soared on either side. “It does not seem sufficiently substantial,” he said at last.
    “They are in accordance with the finest principles of staircase design. My father consulted the works of Batty Langley and Abraham Swan, as well as the geometrical calculations by Blondel. I assure you, Lord Barry, you and your future wife will find the stairs pleasant to use as well as to look