Rexanne Becnel by The Troublemaker Read Free Book Online Page B

wife. “She ought to be wed.”
    “Oh, hush, old man,” Mrs. Hamilton retorted. “Not everyone marries at twenty. You didn’t.”
    “But I should’ve. I should’ve married you back then even if you were a shrew.” Then, winking at Sarah, he wisely hobbled out of the kitchen.
    “You’d better run, old man!” Mrs. Hamilton called after him. “And I wasn’t a shrew.” She looked over at Sarah. “I wasn’t a shrew.” Then she chuckled. “Well, maybe I was. But only because he was such a troublesome young buck.”
    Sarah played with a bit of thread that had unraveled at the cuff of her sleeve. “Do you think, if you had married one another way back then, that…that it would have worked out all the same?”
    Mrs. Hamilton poured a thick stream of cream into her tea. “No, I do not. There’s a time for everything, child, and a reason. It does no good to speculate on how you might have changed the past, for you’ll never get the chance. Let the past go. Work on makin’ good choices in the here and now, and wait for the future to unfold. That’s what I say.”
    Sarah grimaced. “It’s the middle part that’s so hard, isn’t it? Making good choices in the here and now.”
    “I s’pose that’s why you’re here. Your mum sent you up to us to cool your heels, didn’t she?”
    Sarah made a face. “I see you haven’t changed. Still figuring everything out.”
    “Who else’s to do it, if not me? You’ve been a handful since the first day you drew breath, Sarah Palmer. A strong-willed baby, an energetic child, and now a headstrong young woman. ’Tisn’t hard at all to figure that the last thing you would want is to leave London at the height of the season. And since you usually manage to wrap your mother around your little finger—and your brother—my guess is you’ve gone and done something a mite too outrageous for them to ignore this time.”
    Sarah twisted her own empty teacup around and around on its saucer. Was she that transparent? She scowled down at her cup. “I fell in love with the wrong sort of man—only he seemed like the right sort at the time. But he wasn’t and if James hadn’t stopped me, I would be wed to him this very minute. And miserable, I am now convinced.”
    “I see. And did you thank James for his interference?”
    Sarah gave the clever old woman a wry smile. “Eventually.”
    “Hmm. And have you learned anything from the experience?”
    Not enough, if this morning’s adventure was any indication. But to Mrs. Hamilton she said, “Oh, I suppose. Mainly that my taste in men is atrocious.”
    Mrs. Hamilton chuckled. “Just like your mother, you are. Just like her.”
    “Oh, Lord. I hope that doesn’t mean I’m to have four husbands like she’s had.”
    “Now, now. Don’t you be criticizing my sweet Augusta. She was unlucky, bein’ widowed three times. But she loved each and every one of her husbands, and she’s happy now. At least that’s what she says in her letters.” The old servant leaned forward, her expression earnest. “Tell me the truth, girl, is she happy?”
    “You needn’t worry yourself on that score at all, for Mother and Justin are just as happy as can be. You’d think they were still newlyweds sometimes, the way they carry on. Apparently, I’m the only worry she has. Just me.” She sighed with exaggerated resignation.
    “Go on with you, lass. You can’t be all that much trouble.”
    “I don’t think so either. But, well, I suppose I have made some foolish choices. Only I shan’t make them again. I mean to turn over a new leaf, Mrs. Hamilton. But tell me,” she added, hoping to steer the subject away from herself. “What’s new in these parts?”
    To Sarah’s relief, the old woman settled back into her chair. “Oh, not so much. We’re pretty quiet hereabouts. Ah, but there is a new upset. Lord Hawke’s nephew, that wild Adrian, has gotten himself kicked out of Eton. Came home just yesterday. He’s lucky his uncle is gone up