The Suitor List by Shirley Marks Read Free Book Online Page A

her gloves, removing them, and brushed at
the skirt of her hopelessly soiled apron. "I daresay I believed you had better manners than that"

    There was no shame in her partaking of her hobby in
the privacy of her home. Augusta wished the Baroness
would not feel as if she had done something improper.
    "Lady Augusta, will you allow me to present my aunt,
the Dowager Baroness Vernon?" Sir Samuel motioned to
the woman who resembled a gardener. "Lady Augusta is
feeling poorly and I suggested she stroll through your
magnificent garden and see if it does not set her to feeling right once again."
    "Might I suggest you head toward the kitchen corner?
It's at the far end, and just to the right," Lady Vernon
said. "That particular spot does wonders for easing
one's mind. Just continue down that path."
    Sir Samuel walked Augusta forward and urged her to
move on at her own pace.
    "Thank you" Augusta stepped in the indicated direction, hesitating long enough to hear the woman call
out to her.
    "If you will be so kind as to excuse me, I will take
this time to change out of these work clothes into something more appropriate."
    "I shall be fine, my lady" Augusta reassured her. She
released Sir Samuel's arm, indicating that she would
venture off on her own.
    Lady Vernon whispered to her nephew, "Samuel,
would you be so good as to inform Mrs. Crumb that
I would like a tea tray brought out for us?"

    Augusta glanced back to see the two of them soon
leave the garden and disappear into the house. She continued her stroll toward the kitchen corner as directed.
    Augusta had taken only a few steps into the garden before she felt immeasurably better. The cooling breeze,
the delightful floral scents, the beautiful flowers surrounding her ...
    This garden, lying behind the townhouse ... it
should have been shady-but somehow the sun filtered
down to the plants that appeared to be perfectly content
and thriving in their various pots and planters.
    A single white tulip sat among the twenty red ones,
growing in a rectangular container. A dozen pink hollyhocks stood erect in the corner flanked by two enormous ferns.
    She passed pink and white roses mingling with delphiniums that must have hid one wall. Lobelia tumbled
out of pots, covering the feet of the long spiked flowers
of mignonette.
    Augusta began to feel as if she were truly walking
down a path in the country. She glanced to her left and
saw...
    "Are those really bluebells?" A flower so familiar to
her, it brought to mind the woods near Faraday Hall, the
path she would take to visit the Wilbankses at Yewhill
Grange. The tall, thin trees with their new spring leaves
so very green, and the dense carpet of bluebells at their
roots ... but this was not spring and this was London,
not the country.
    The scent of mint drifted in the air before her, tempting her to continue to find its source. By the time Augusta
came upon the profusion of mint that scented the air, she noticed planted nearby the many sprigs of parsley
and the woody stalks of the massive fragrant rosemary
bush among the so very many other herbs that would be
employed by the kitchen.

    "How are you feeling?" Lady Vernon, approaching
from the house, looked distinguished in a modest cap
and lilac morning dress.
    "I feel as if I have been walking in the country for
hours." Augusta wondered exactly how much time had
passed.
    "It hasn't been as long as that" The Baroness chuckled. "There is a tea tray on the veranda table. Will you
join me?"
    "I have arrived unannounced. I do not wish to take
up more of your afternoon than I already have" Augusta walked alongside the Baroness.
    "Nonsense. You are already here and the tea is waiting. Please let us sit." Lady Vernon gestured toward the
small round table with a sweep of her arm.
    "Very well." Augusta moved toward the table, taking
the chair that faced the flowers. "You do have a most
amazing garden, Lady Vernon, with almost magical healing