Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale Read Free Book Online

Charlotte looked out the window. She vaguely wondered when the fun would start.
    â€œYou know, you look kind of familiar,” Miss Charming said.
    Miss Gardenside blinked and just stopped herself from frowning.
    â€œLydia and I met at a ball in Bath last year,” Charlotte offered. “Perhaps you saw her there as well?”
    â€œOoh, backstory!” Miss Charming repositioned her breasts as if preparing for a physical feat. “I’m descended from royalty and the Swiss, and my daddy is a peer. Or something.”
    â€œWhy not?” Miss Gardenside smiled.
    â€œExactly,” said Miss Charming.
    They sewed some more. Now it was Miss Gardenside’s turn to look out the window and sigh.
    Colonel Andrews popped his head through the doorway. “Did I hear a sigh?”
    Miss Charming screamed and dropped her needlework, and Charlotte jumped in her chair, knocking her knee against a marble coffee table.
    â€œHa-ha! Just the entrance I desired. For today, I am your guide in all things startling.” He entered the room, rubbing his hands. “Such a treat have I for you. Nearby lies the ruins of an abbey, its Gothic arches withstanding the onslaught of rain and time. A most fearsome place.”
    Miss Charming squealed and clapped her hands. “I love excursions! It’s like we’re on a cruise ship. I mean …” She blushed. “I mean, an old-timey steam-powered cruise ship that’s totally appropriate for … whatever year it is.”
    â€œCan you make it?” Charlotte asked Miss Gardenside quietly.
    â€œOh yes. I am simply expiring to explore a crumbling old abbey and can only hope, with a most fervent, wild hope, that some horrid murder took place amongst its ancient stones, and just by entering the sacrileged grounds we take upon us a mortal curse and are haunted nigh until death!”
    Silence followed Miss Gardenside’s monologue. Then Miss Charming clapped her hands again and said, “Yay!”
    â€œMiss Gardenside,” Colonel Andrews said, bowing, “I believe you shall be most happily satisfied. And Miss Charming, I am pleased to offer you a diversion you have not yet experienced at Pembrook Park.”
    The ladies applied their bonnets. The other two gentlemen awaited them out front, Eddie holding the door of the closed carriage, and Mr. Mallery at the reins of a light, two-wheeled open contraption that Ms. Austen might have called a “phaeton,” but which Charlotte was tempted to call a “chariot,” because it reminded her of the chariot races in the movie Ben-Hur . Except there was a seat. And no lethal blades swirling in the wheel hubs. At least, not noticeably.
    Colonel Andrews and Mr. Grey helped Miss Gardenside into the carriage, followed by Miss Charming. Charlotte approached to step up.
    â€œNow be kind, Mrs. Cordial,” said Colonel Andrews. “You would not want to deprive us gentlemen the company of these fine ladies.”
    Mr. Grey nodded his head toward the phaeton. “Someone needs to go with Mallery. Be a sport, Charlotte?”
    The set of Mr. Mallery’s shoulders spoke of impatience. Charlotte became aware of the wrinkle between her brows. Surely this didn’t mean that Mr. Mallery was her Romantic Interest? Eddie was her brother, so that was out, and Colonel Andrews did seem to pay more attention to Miss Charming than anyone else. But … Mr. Mallery? What in her personal profile urged Mrs. Wattlesbrook to pair her with this man? It was surprising, but flattering in a way.
    â€œEddie.” Charlotte took his elbow and pulled him aside. “Does this mean I’m supposed to go with him? I just assumed … he’s always looking at me in a disapproving way.”
    â€œDisapproving? Of my sister? Impossible. If that were true, I should give him a most stern and scolding sort of look that would cause quakings and shakings of fear.”
    Eddie previewed his stern and