Nicola and the Viscount by Meg Cabot Read Free Book Online Page A

sitting in the carts laughed and waved at those watching from the crowd. They were traveling quite fast, about the pace of a horse at a brisk trot, and as they circled, the pace grew ever quicker.
    â€œOh!” Nicola cried. “May we ride it, Lady Farelly? May we?”
    Lady Farelly looked shocked. “Certainly not!” she cried. “What an idea!”
    Nicola, a bit miffed at this, pointed at the people on the train as they went by. “But look, Lady Farelly. There are children there. It seems perfectly safe.”
    Lady Farelly gave a delicate snort. “Safe,” she said. “But hardly respectable.”
    â€œI highly doubt,” Honoria agreed with her mother, “that Madame Vieuxvincent would approve, Nicola.”
    While this was undoubtedly true, Nicola could not help but feel disappointed. The Catch Me Who Can looked such fun! She longed to ride it.
    Feeling someone’s gaze upon her, Nicola tore her own from the little locomotive, and saw the God looking down at her.
    â€œDo you really want to ride it, Miss Sparks?” he asked, looking faintly amused.
    â€œOh, yes!” Nicola cried enthusiastically.
    Lord Farelly was digging into his pocket. “Fortunately,” he said, “I happen to have a few spare shillings.”
    Lady Farelly glanced sharply at her husband. “Jarvis!” she cried. “You can’t be serious.”
    But Lord Farelly, looking sweetly sheepish, only shrugged. “In a few years we’ll all be crisscrossing the country in them like it was nothing, Virginia,” he said. “It’s only a matter of time.”
    â€œNot me,” Lady Farelly declared with a shudder.
    Nicola looked up at Lady Farelly appealingly. “Please, my lady,” she begged. “Look, it’s slowing down. If we go now, we can get a seat for the next go-round.”
    Lady Farelly looked heavenward—a sure sign, Nicola knew already from the short time she’d been staying with the Bartholomews, that the woman was softening.
    â€œWell, if you must, I suppose I can’t stop you,” Lady Farelly said unhappily. Then, as the God took Nicola’s hand, eager to get to the line already forming for the Catch Me Who Can ’s next trip, she added shrilly, “But if the thing should go careening off into the crowd and kill you, don’t come crying to me!”
    Excitedly, Nicola hurried—not running, because, of course, a lady never ran, at least in public—to secure a place in line, the God striding calmly along beside her. In the golden sunlight, he looked handsomer than ever—so handsome, in fact, that Nicola was conscious, as she passed the crowd gathered around the tracks, of the envious glances she received from other girls her age…girls whose mothers wouldn’t let them climb aboard the Catch Me Who Can , and who didn’t have as dashing an escort.
    Really , Nicola thought. I am being blown about life like a thistle after all. I truly am the luckiest girl in the world!
    It was just as she was thinking this that a voice called her name, and Nicola turned to see Eleanor Sheridan, along with the rest of her family, standing near the line for the Catch Me Who Can .
    â€œNicky, what are you doing here?” Eleanor cried, looking pleasantly surprised to see her. “Don’t tell me you’re going for a ride on that thing!”
    â€œIndeed I am,” Nicola declared excitedly. “Lady Farelly said I might.”
    Lady Sheridan, standing behind her daughter, threw a shrewd glance in Lady Farelly’s direction. “Oh, she did, did she?” she asked.
    But, probably since Lord Sebastian was standing there, Lady Sheridan said nothing else, save, “I’m glad to see my own sons aren’t the only ones who’ve completely lost their heads over this railway business.”
    Nicola smiled at young Phillip, who stood in line behind her, next to Nathaniel.
    â€œAren’t