My Earl the Spy by Audrey Harrison Read Free Book Online Page B

full well how many there are, as they all eagerly await for the post to arrive on birthdays, to see what treats Aunt Milly has sent, although sometimes I admit I forget how many I’ve got myself!” Sarah laughed. “Eight darlings and one more to arrive in a few months.”
    “It’s nice to be able to offer my congratulations in person,” Milly responded.
    “I thought we had a house full when we reached five, but it appears that we are to be blessed with a large family. The nursery can get very noisy, but I do like seeing them all happy.”
    “I can imagine that life is never dull.”
    “No, not at all, especially when one comes down with something. My children love to share everything, illnesses included! The nanny is a saint, thankfully, and soon the eldest boys will be going to school; that should help to keep her sane!”
    “I love receiving your letters, and I expect them to continue when I leave for pastures new.”
    “I wondered what you intended to do. I wish you would stay near Farnham; it has been too many years since I’ve seen you,” Sarah said with feeling. The women had been inseparable as they had grown, and each had missed the other’s company over the last few years.
    “It is, but I’m afraid I could not stay with mother; she is not happy that I’ve returned, already lamenting about it for more than an hour,” Milly said with feeling. Sarah was the only person that Milly could be honest with.
    “You poor thing. I don’t suppose you have seen the Connors yet, have you?”
    “No. I have that delight to come,” Milly groaned.
    “She, especially, glides around town as if she owns the place!” Sarah harrumphed in disgust.
    Milly smiled. “As one of the wealthiest families in town, I suppose she does in a way.”
    “I wish they’d move away. Every time I see him I want to give him a piece of my mind! Are you not angry with him?”
    “After all this time? No! There would be no point in that,” Milly said reasonably. “He hurt me, and there is still a wound that hasn’t completely healed, I admit. But he gave me the chance to withdraw from the engagement, which would have saved some heartache, only I chose to refuse to do that. I sometimes think I was too stubborn and should have taken the option to call it off.”
    “I can’t blame you for that. You loved him,” Sarah said softly.
    “But he didn’t love me, so perhaps it’s for the best,” Milly responded stoically. The thought that the man she had been engaged to had not loved her had crushed Milly when the engagement had been broken off but, somewhere over the past few years, Milly had come to terms with the rejection, at a distance at least; whether she would feel the same when faced with him, she had yet to find out.
    “I still can’t abide the weasel!”
    Milly laughed. “Don’t make yourself uncomfortable on my account; it isn’t worth it, I promise you!”
    *
    If Milly was hoping for a quiet time at home until she found a position that would see her leaving her home town once again, she had forgotten how demanding her mother was. Having bemoaned Milly’s arrival, Mrs Holland then proceeded to insist on Milly’s attendance at every invitation she received.
    Mrs Holland always tried to be invited out every evening. Her justification was that it was less costly for her to visit than to stay in, anything to save a penny or two. The town was big enough to have sufficient families who were happy to invite such a grateful widow into their midst; none would witness the bitter woman that Milly was subjected too.
    It was inevitable that Milly would cross paths with the people she least wanted to meet and, so it was, on the second evening she was in Mr Marshall’s drawing room when Mr and Mrs Connor were announced.
    Milly was aware there were many eyes looking in her direction, but she maintained her composure, carrying on the conversation she had been enjoying until the announcement was made. She did not look at the newcomers