The Hopeless Hoyden by Margaret Bennett Read Free Book Online Page A

efforts.
                  After dinner, the ladies adjourned to the drawing room to wait on the gentlemen to finish their port and cigars.  Sylvia and Deborah ran their nimble fingers across the ivory keys of a pianoforte.   Emily took up a post in a wing chair stashed in another corner, her eyes downcast, wishing she'd never agreed to stay the week at the Park.  At the swishing sound of a taffeta gown, she looked up into the sympathetic eyes of Miss Taber.
                  “Do you play, Miss Pendleton?" the young lady asked, taking the matching chair beside Emily.  Though of the same age, Jane's gentle and quiet demeanor lent her years of wisdom next to the impulsive Emily.
                  “No, nor do I sing," replied Emily with a grimace.  When Jane giggled at her feigned repugnance over such refined accomplishments, Emily leaned over the arm of her chair and added in a scathing tone, "And my stitches are always crooked and tangled, my water colors run, and my deportment has best been described as that of a bull in a China shop."
                  “Ah, but has the lady told you, Miss Taber, that she rides as if she were part of the horse, runs through the woods like a doe, and has the disposition of a mischievous elf."  The Viscount was standing in front of Emily, a warm smile on his handsome countenance.  "May I join you, ladies?"
                  “I was just about to leave," said Jane, rising from her chair.
                  “Nonsense.  I insist you stay while I discuss a problem," Gabriel replied, pulling up an arm chair.  "It is only fair to tell you, Miss Tabor, that Miss Pendleton, delightful creature that she is, needs a keeper." 
                  He said this jokingly with no hint of malicious stricture, and Emily found she could return his smile, not the least bit embarrassed or offended.  Playfully, she responded, "And why, my lord, do you think that?"
                  “Simple deduction, Miss Pendleton.  You are not a creature of our world but of nature.  Your spirit soars like a bird, you have a heart defined by your caring for others, and the twinkle in your eyes reflect your love of life." 
                  “Damme, Gab, if that don't sound poetic," Freddy Fordyce interjected from where he'd come up behind Lindemann.
                  Emily, who had been mesmerized by Gabriel's velvety brown eyes, blushed most becomingly over having an audience hear such fulsome complements.  Jane, on the other hand, was staring past the handsome Viscount at Lord Fordyce's costume.  Resplendent in puce pantaloons, black coat and embroidered waistcoat, Freddy was sporting two black star patches on one plump cheek.  With one pudgy finger, he kept dabbing one patch that was falling off.
                  “Have you no finesse, Freddy?'" growled Gabriel, actually a little embarrassed.  He could never remember getting so carried away while playing the flirtatious games of the ton . 
                  Gabriel turned to Miss Taber.  “Perhaps you'll keep an eye on Miss Pendleton, Miss Taber, and protect her from society’s dragons?"
                  Emily's eyes narrowed on Gabriel's smiling countenance.  Now she felt offended as well as miffed by his implication that she didn't know how to go about in society.  Before she could refute the need of a keeper, Jane reached over and patted her arm.  “I would deem it an honor to count Miss Pendleton my friend."
                  “What a good person you are, Miss Taber," said Emily, touched by the other girl's sincerity.
                  “Ain't she, though," seconded Freddy just as Lady Raines called the gentlemen to be seated on the settee so they could hear a duet to be played on the pianoforte by Sylvia and Deborah.
              The evening progressed more agreeably than