Patricia Rice by Dash of Enchantment Read Free Book Online

come into a competence one day. You could do worse,
I daresay. Will he call again?”
    Cassandra looked exasperated at this digression from her plans.
“I don’t know, Mama, he’s just a friend. It’s Lord Merrick I want to talk to
you about. I wish to attach his interest, but he’s to go away and stay at
Hampton Court with some others for a week, and I fear he will forget all about
me while he’s gone.”
    Actually, since he had managed to forget her for years, she
was quite certain he would forget. Her urgency was a result of servants’ gossip
that the earl would set a date with Lady Catherine over this next week. It was
expected there would be a wedding before the Season ended. Cass could overset a
betrothal without a qualm, but a wedding would put finished to her plans.
    Lady Eddings regarded her with suspicion. “Wyatt Mannering
is much too old and set in his ways for you. His first wife was a mouse who
never spoke a word of her own. That harpy mother of his saw to that. Besides,
haven’t I heard you say that he has become betrothed to Lady Catherine? An
unlikely couple, I admit, but their lands do march together.”
    Cassandra had no recollection of Wyatt’s mother or his first
wife, but as a schoolroom miss she could scarcely be expected to make their
acquaintance. Her knowledge of Wyatt came more from his association with Duncan
and the other young men of the area. That had been before the fire, of course.
    “He won’t be happy with Cathy. And our lands march alongside
his as well. And we have a much higher rank than the Montcrieffs. I don’t see
why I shouldn’t be the one he weds. Just think, Mama, we could go back to Kent.
It would be just like old times.”
    Lady Eddings gazed at her daughter with affection. “Very
well, child, if your heart is set on it, I will write to your Aunt Matilda. She
does not go out much anymore, but she is great friends of the dowager Lady
Hampton. They will enjoy a visit, and I see no reason you shouldn’t accompany
her. Bring me my writing desk.”
    Exhilaration swept through Cassandra. She had done it!
Within a fortnight she would be in constant proximity to Wyatt. Surely she
would find some way to attach him. It was just a matter of knowing her cards
and playing them well.
    The jackpot would be returning to the safety and
respectability of Kent and providing the home that her mother deserved.
    She would worry about the duties of married life later.

Chapter 4
    The moment Cassandra entered the portals of Hampton Court
with her aunt she had the premonition that she had committed a dreadful
mistake. The elderly butler greeted her great-aunt with respect and did not
deign to so much as announce Cassandra’s presence to the company.
    An aging dowager in the sweeping silks and turban of another
generation haughtily bore down on them, taking Aunt Matilda into her protection
and leading her away, leaving Cassandra to trail behind as they were shown to
their chambers.
    Unhappily, she listened to the sounds of voices and laughter
from behind all the closed doors of this monstrous edifice, but Lady Hampton
made no effort to introduce her to the other guests. She was abandoned in a
small chamber adjacent to her aunt’s.
    Well, she was accustomed to looking after herself. She would
just have to learn to do the same in these strange surroundings. She was the
daughter of a marquess. They could not keep her in hiding forever. Then she
would show Merrick that she was all that she should be. Somehow, she would have
to make him see that Catherine was not what he wanted.
    Duncan had refused to allow her any more gowns, so she had
only the emerald and the primrose to choose from as she prepared for dinner.
Merrick had seen both, so she had to decide based on the merits of the entrance
she would make. Without a lady’s maid to advise her, she settled on the
primrose silk. She dressed her hair herself so that the disorderly strands
fashioned into a neat coil on top of her head and only a