Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale Read Free Book Online Page A

scolding look, and she nodded emphatically to show she was impressed.
    â€œNow here is the truth of Mallery: if he disapproved of you, he would ignore you altogether. He does not bother with anyone beneath his notice. No, I should say his attentions prove quite the opposite.”
    Really? Wow, that made her stomach drop a tad. “But Eddie, is he … safe?”
    â€œDocile as a kitten.” Eddie smiled and gave her a good-natured nudge. “Come now, you are not actually afraid of the old boy.”
    â€œYeah, kind of. I don’t know. Is that silly?”
    â€œYes. Completely. But so are you.”
    â€œEddie, you say these things, and I know I’m supposed to come up with some witty retort, but I panic and my mind goes blank, and I think I’m embarrassing you.”
    He tilted his head. “How so?”
    â€œBecause I’m your sister. And you deserve a wittier sister.”
    â€œThat is wonderful.” He leaned his head back to look at the sky. “Allow me to absorb the wonderfulness of that for a moment. Yes, that will do. Now, you stop worrying about me or anyone. We are on holiday with not a care in the world.”
    She glanced over at her waiting escort’s back. “I don’t know what to say to him,” she whispered.
    â€œYou do not have to entertain him,” he whispered back. “It is his job to entertain you . Go on, Charlotte. You might enjoy yourself. I have the sense that you are long overdue some enjoyment.”
    â€œOkay. Thanks.”
    Charlotte approached the phaeton and stood beside it, taking in Mr. Mallery’s profile, his eyes shaded beneath his tall hat.
    â€œAre you joining me, Mrs. Cordial?” he asked, still staring straight ahead.
    â€œI … I don’t have to.” She looked back at Eddie, who was watching her from beside the carriage. He nodded encouragingly. “But yes, I believe I will.”
    â€œAnd what is preventing you?”
    She laughed a little because she knew she was hesitating idiotically, but she honestly didn’t know how to get into that chariot-thingy with such a long skirt. Would it be inappropriate to hoist up her hem? Was Mrs. Wattlesbrook watching from a window somewhere, grading her on phaeton-side etiquette?
    â€œMy dress, I guess. It’s so …”
    Mr. Mallery put a hand on the edge of the phaeton and swung out onto the ground. He put his arms under her back and legs, picked her up, placed her on the bench, and then leapt in beside her. Charlotte tingled with an adrenaline rush, as if she’d just been pushed unwillingly off a high diving board.
    â€œWell, that was … efficient,” she said, placing a hand to her chest, trying to quiet down her heart.
    Mr. Mallery gave the horse a tap. The phaeton took off so quickly that Charlotte held her bonnet against the rush of motion.
    Her escort was quiet at first, and she found the silence comforting. He was not the sort to make idle chitchat, and she wasn’t in the mood for it anyway. She was wearing a bonnet and riding in a phaeton. She needed a moment to absorb it all.
    They rattled down the drive, past the inn, then took a country lane. Off to her left was the motorway, the occasional car zooming by, the sound as annoying as the pestering of a fly.
    â€œYou do not strike me as a flighty woman, Mrs. Cordial,” Mr. Mallery said.
    If you can’t say something witty, she told herself, don’t say anything at all.
    â€œAnd yet your hands flutter about,” he added.
    â€œYou make me nervous,” she said, forcing her hands still in her lap.
    â€œI am driving too fast?”
    â€œNo, not the driving. You.”
    He pressed his lips together.
    â€œDoes that offend you?” she asked.
    He shook his head. “Of course not. It is curious, however, because I was just thinking the same of you.”
    â€œI make you nervous?”
    That didn’t seem likely. And yet, she couldn’t be