The Maiden At Midnight by Kate Harper Read Free Book Online Page A

room, when really, her world had been turned
upside down.
    Stornley was looking at them both, head
swiveling back and forth as if he, too, was finding it difficult to
comprehend the conversation. ‘Yes, that’s all very well,’ he said,
righting his chair and sitting back down again to retackle his half
finished breakfast, ‘but it gets us no further on, now does
it?’
    ‘Relax, Joss,’ Mr. Carstairs said
impatiently, ‘let’s all just… enjoy some breakfast.’
    Isabella sighed but allowed
herself to be seated. She was inclined to agree with the earl but
there was no point in making a fuss. Not just yet, anyway. If she
did not achieve the result she was after, then she would make a
fuss.
    Mr. Carstairs poured her coffee and she
added her own milk, lifting the cup to inhale the delicious scent
of it before taking her first mouthful. Heavenly! Her father had
always said, never mind Darjeeling, a cup of coffee was the only
truly civilized way to start the day and she had grown used to it
very quickly. She took another sip, then turned her gaze back to
Mr. Carstairs and the Earl of Stornley.
    ‘Seriously, gentlemen, there is only one way
forward, here. As unfortunate as this business is, I believe we can
set it to rights easily enough.’ Isabella was pleased that she
sounded so reasonable.
    ‘And what are you planning on saying to your
parents?’ Mr. Carstairs demanded.
    ‘I will tell my mother what
has happened. She may not like the situation, but she will
certainly do everything in her power to protect my reputation.
This was an
accident. An absurd case of mistaken identity. Regrettable, but I
am sure that we can all move on from it.’ As long as nobody saw her
and recognized her – and in an out of the way place like this, why
should they? – then everything would be fine.
    ‘What if you were seen?’ Carstairs inquired,
determined to be picky.
    ‘We were not seen. Were we?’ she added,
looking at Stornley who shook his head with some fervor.
    ‘Certainly not!’
    Mr. Carstairs considered
this although, what the situation had to do with him was quite beyond
Isabella. A managing man, she decided grimly. Exactly the type of
male she had come to detest. Just the same, the earl was looking at
him with some apprehension.
    ‘I suppose we could try it,’ he said slowly.
‘With any luck, word of your disappearance has not gotten around
and nobody will be the wiser.’
    ‘Exactly.’ Isabella was perfectly sure that
Mama would have said nothing and even more sure she would have
silenced Aunt Geraldine’s gossiping tongue. All she needed to do
was to return home and, with a hasty explanation, she could return
to the business of finding a suitable husband.
    Which brought her thoughts
to the subject of heirs and heiresses. She considered the Earl of
Stornley. Was he in need truly in need of a wealthy wife?
Surely he didn’t
need money? ‘This Miss Piedmont,’ she began.
    Stornley looked at her unhappily. ‘A paragon
of a female. I had hoped she would be my bride by tomorrow.’
    ‘I’m sure you were. But why, if you are so
sure of your feelings, did you not… ah… approach her in the usual
way?’ It was, perhaps, an indelicate question but under the
circumstances she felt she was permitted to ask.
    ‘What a good question,’ Mr. Carstairs
murmured.
    The earl flushed. ‘I was going to,’ he
admitted, ‘I called upon her and everything. But the whole
courtship thing,’ he waved a vague hand. ‘It takes so long and I
find that I am not terribly good at expressing myself when there is
a gorgon present.’
    ‘A gorgon?’
    ‘Miss Piedmont’s aunt. A ghastly creature
who does not care for me.’
    Isabella raised an eyebrow. ‘Unfortunate.
But surely you could win her round. You are an earl.
    ‘I made that point,’ Mr. Carstairs put in
dryly. ‘What female refuses a perfectly good earl?’
    ‘Ones with relatives who despise you.
Besides, it might take months to get married. The banns must