Lucy Muir by The Imprudent Wager Read Free Book Online Page A

arrived.
    “What a beautiful room!” Melissa exclaimed, bringing a pleased smile to Mrs. Halcott’s face.
    Anne agreed as she looked around the tastefully decorated room. White plasterwork in the form of graceful arches adorned the doorways and the edges of the ceilings, contrasting with the blue of the walls. Matching arches were also displayed on the backs of the chairs and other furniture, giving an overall effect of delicacy and lightness.
    Mrs. Halcott presented Anne and Melissa to the other guests as they arrived. Her small party consisted of eighteen persons, most of them older, but her son, Lieutenant Halcott, and his friend, Captain Leslie, provided companionship for Anne and Melissa. At supper, Anne found herself seated between the captain and an older officer of the Hussars. Melissa and Lieutenant Halcott were seated across from her.
    Lieutenant Halcott, a well-favoured young man with brown hair and eyes, was instantly and obviously smitten with Melissa. Anne was vastly entertained by his attentions to her cousin at the supper table. He continually plied Melissa with those dishes he thought she would prefer, not hesitating to call down the table for a particular delicacy he wished to offer her.
    “I see your cousin has made a conquest already,” said Captain Leslie from Anne’s left, and Anne was recalled to her manners. She smiled at the handsome fair captain in the uniform of a Rifles officer.
    “Yes, I only hope that Mrs. Halcott will forgive us if some of her guests go hungry,” she said, looking at the array of dishes the lieutenant had placed before Melissa.
    “Never fear, you may be sure the other guests will help themselves quickly when the second remove is placed on the table,” the captain said, his blue eyes twinkling.
    “I understand you are Major Southwell’s daughter,” he continued. “It may be of interest to you to know that I served under him in Egypt. If I am not bringing back unhappy memories,” he added contritely.
    “Oh, no, Captain Leslie,” Anne assured him. “It is quite all right. Indeed, I should enjoy conversing with someone who served with him there.”
    “Then I hope you will allow me to call upon you one morning that I may do so.”
    “Certainly. I shall look forward to it,” returned Anne, pleased to be making a new friend.
    The Hussars officer on her other side addressed a remark to Anne, and she turned to him. The rest of the supper passed very pleasantly, and it seemed no time at all before coffee was served. After the coffee, Mrs. Halcott rose, indicating it was time for the fairer sex to retire and leave the gentlemen to their port.
    The women conversed amicably in the blue drawing room while they waited for the gentlemen to rejoin them. Anne chose a seat in a corner of the room, intending to watch Melissa and see how she conducted herself, but she was foiled in her plans by another guest. Mrs. Singleton, a garrulous elderly widow, seated herself next to Anne and proceeded to describe in great detail the many illnesses from which she suffered.
    Anne was relieved when the gentlemen rejoined the women, hoping for rescue from Mrs. Singleton. She had not long to wait, for Captain Leslie caught the desperate plea in Anne’s eyes and gallantly came to her aid. He neatly steered the conversation into a different direction, freeing Anne to observe the other guests.
    Lieutenant Halcott had once again attached himself to Melissa, oblivious to his social duties. Mrs. Halcott, apparently not wishing her son’s lack of attention to the other guests to draw more attention than it already had, requested that Anne and Melissa entertain the company with music. Happy to escape Mrs. Singleton entirely, Anne willingly seated herself at the Broadwood pianoforte, and Captain Leslie volunteered his services turning pages. Melissa stood behind Anne and sang a light air in her soft soprano. She was soon joined by Lieutenant Halcott, who added his tenor. Mrs. Halcott surveyed the