Love for Lucinda by Gayle Buck Read Free Book Online Page B

approached me and offered to buy it from me.”
    “Are you divesting yourself of everything, then?” asked Lucinda, fascinated.
    “Oh, no. Just those things that don’t please me,” said Lord Mays cheerfully. “You have no notion how busy I have become. It is a plaguey nuisance at times. At least my cousin had excellent taste in horses. I shall keep most of them.”
    The door opened and Miss Blythe came in. She looked curiously at the well-dressed visitor, who had automatically risen to his feet upon her entrance. “I am sorry, my dear. I didnotrealize that you had a caller.”
    “Tibby, this is Lord Wilfred Mays. You will recall my relating to you his kindness in letting me use this house for the Season. Lord Mays, my companion, Miss Blythe,” said Lucinda.
    Miss Blythe went forward with a smile, her hand outstretched. “My lord, it is indeed a pleasure. I am certain that Lady Mays has already expressed her gratitude to you, but pray allow me to add my own. We are enjoying London.”
    Lord Mays shook hands with Miss Blythe. He cleared his throat self-consciously. The companion was just the sort of lean, grim-faced female that he was made most nervous around. Despite her pleasant words, this Miss Blythe reminded him forcibly of a rather strict nanny that he had had as a young boy. “Not at all, ma’am! The pleasure is mine entirely. As I was just telling Lady Mays a moment ago, the house is hers as long as she wants it.”
    “You are indeed kind,” said Miss Blythe, her expression mellowing yet further.
    Lord Mays looked faintly alarmed at being the object of such patent approval by the starched-up companion. It would have made more sense to him if she had displayed a stiff politeness that bordered on coldness and had sent him on his way. He had been found sitting alone with Lady Mays, after all.
    Lucinda understood with some amusement the source of Lord Mays’s obvious discomfort. She set out to rescue him.
    “I am giving a supper and ball in about a fortnight. Shall you honor me with your presence, my lord?” asked Lucinda.
    “Of a certainty, Lady Mays. I will be delighted,” said Lord Mays. He saw by the mantle clock that a quarter hour had already passed. Reluctantly, he adhered to the convention that dictated the correct length of a visit. “I should be going. I shall be looking forward to receiving an invitation, my lady.”
    Lucinda rose, giving her hand into his. “Good! I trust that it will not disappoint you. I hope for a wonderful success.”
    Lord Mays smiled at her. “Oh, I am certain of that! I am sure you are a rare hostess.”
    He glanced once more around the drawing room, but without admiration. He grimaced slightly. “I recall the affairs that you hostessed while married to my cousin. There was never anything more grand. But that was my cousin all over, wasn’t it? Grand. Abbeys, yet!”
    “Quite,” agreed Lucinda dryly. “I hope that my entertainments will not be stigmatized as ‘grand.’ I would rather hear them raved about as insufferable squeezes!”
    “That’s the ticket! I shall be certain to tell everyone I know that you mean to throw a bang-up affair,” said Lord Mays, grinning. He bowed over her fingers, nodded politely to Miss Blythe, and then took himself off.
    Miss Blythe looked after the departing peer with interest. She turned a speculative gaze on Lucinda. “That was an exceedingly presentable young buck, I thought. And you stand on such excellent terms with him. It is quite obvious that he admires you. Is he already married?”
    Astonished, Lucinda looked quickly at her companion. Miss Blythe’s expression reflected only a mild curiosity, but her former pupil knew her far too well to believe that it had been an idle question.
    Lucinda shook her head, laughing. “Do not even think it, Tibby! Wilfred and I have become friends. Neither of us is the least attracted to the other, nor do either of us wish to become riveted. Indeed, I suspect that Wilfred would be