Miss Delacourt Has Her Day by Heidi Ashworth Read Free Book Online Page B

a more abbreviated wife to get them by.
    “Mrs. Hadley, how grateful I am to have received an invitation. It has been too long since I have been within the portals of your lovely home”

    Mrs. Hadley let forth a string of titters. Anthony had long suspected the gruesome noises to be laughter, but he could never be quite sure, as they punctuated every utterance from him or any other, no matter the subject or degree of levity. Doubtless this had been another blow against her chances of making a fine match.
    “Lord Crenshaw, how sad we were to learn of your cousin’s death! I see you wear your black armband,” she remarked.
    It was the only condolence followed by hysterical laughter he had ever received. The utter ridiculousness of the situation almost undid him, but he quickly sobered when Mrs. Hadley drew a nearby girl to her side with an arm about her waist. She was of a height with Mrs. Hadley and was surely some variety of relative. Just which variation, he was sure to learn.
    “In light of your renewed status, you must be on a sharp lookout for a bride. Oh, and look whom I have here! This is my lovely granddaughter,” Mrs. Hadley said, upon which both she and her youthful doppelganger burst into a series of titters and strangled guffaws.
    Anthony wondered how his grandmama had put herself through the agony of developing such a long-lasting attachment with Mrs. Hadley. Worse, he began to suspect he was expected to make a similar one with her granddaughter. With the studied grace of years of practice he refrained from sighing aloud. “Might I have the pleasure of being introduced?”
    “But of course, my lord, of course! May I introduce Miss Burton, Hepzibah, better known as Kazzy? So daft how these names go, is it not? Hepzibah, Heppy, Hezzy, Kezzy, Kazzy! One never knows what someone might end up being called, do they?”
    “No, indeed,” Anthony replied, and this time he allowed himself a sigh, as it would surely go unheard and unnoticed in the gale of titters that followed. With an inward wince, he resigned himself to the fate of an eligible lord of nobility, one bound to be replete with doting mothers and grandmothers wishful to force the acquaintance of their kin upon his person. It was an unenviable state but one he hoped to endure until his attachment to Ginny would become public knowledge. Until then he knew he could not do his hostess the dishonor of refusing to dance with any number of eligible young ladies in attendance.

    “Miss Burton, might I have the honor for the next set?”
    He took the inevitable gasps and titters to be a “yes” and, taking her by the hand, led her back into the parlor.
    The moment he stepped foot into the room, his head turned, almost of its own accord, to a far corner. There stood Ginny in a white gown, looking just as he had pictured her on their wedding day. When her gaze met his, and that slow blush he so adored stole along her cheeks, he felt as if the wind had been knocked out if him. Gad, she was beautiful! He wanted nothing more than to go to her, but he had a duty to perform, and he was being tugged out into the dancing. It wasn’t until he turned to face his partner that he learned that the one now holding his hand was none other than Lady Derby.

From her place in the corner, Ginny watched the proceedings with interest. “Why, that woman pushed aside that poor girl!” she gasped. “I believe she is crying!”
    “No, it is but laughter,” Grandaunt said with a grimace. `But that is neither here nor there. Kazzy is kin to my dear Mrs. Hadley, and `that woman’ is none other than Lady Derby. She was never one to sit by and watch while others, er, danced” She pursed her lips in a show of disapproval. “I wonder what she has planned for my grandson and how very put out she will be once she gets a glimpse of you”
    Ginny felt a rush of affection for her grandaunt but could not agree. “I can only assume she will find me no threat whatsoever.” She regarded