The Temporary Betrothal by Lily George Read Free Book Online Page A

mentioned an ensign who is mute. Would you come to the veterans’ group
with me and read to him? The lieutenant thinks it would be a great help to the
young man, and I would love to have your company there.”
    Lucy looked up, her blue eyes wide with astonishment. “Really?
You think it would be a help?”
    Sophie offered her most appealing smile. Her plan was already
starting to work. Maybe Lucy could find her happily ever after, even if Sophie’s
seemed remote. “Dear Lucy, I think it would be a tremendous help. For
everyone.”
    * * *
    Charlie accepted the teacup from Aunt Katherine’s
extended hand. “Thank you, Auntie.” He couldn’t help but call her Aunt. Everyone
did. In reality, she was John Brookes’s aunt—but in practice, she was aunt to
them all.
    “And so, Charlie,” she asked, amusement evident in her tone,
“how did Sophie fare on her first day?”
    He settled back in his chair, breathing deeply of the scents of
oolong and leather. Aunt Katherine’s home always made him feel at peace. She
managed to live a life of simple luxury, one that made him comfortable without
causing guilt. After all, so many people had so little.
    “She did quite well, Aunt Katherine. I believe that she will be
a tremendous help to my cause. Some of the women took to her immediately—she got
their confidence in mere moments, whereas I had been working for weeks.”
    Aunt Katherine nodded, her wrinkled features softening into a
smile. “Good, I am glad to hear it. You know, I was none too fond of Miss Sophie
after she broke her understanding with John. He is my nephew and I feel he is a
rare gem. On the other hand, matters worked out right. John and Harriet are
together, and a better match you’ll never find.”
    He nodded. Everything had worked out for the best, for
everyone. “So you are not bitter, Aunt Katherine?”
    She laughed, tilting her head back. “Not at all, I assure you.
In fact, I am inclined to like Sophie more and more. She is, perhaps, the more
spoiled of the two lasses, but she is showing a willingness to work on her own
and gain independence that is most pleasing.”
    Charlie smiled. It was easy to misjudge Sophie. She was so
pretty and so vibrant that it was not at all difficult to think of her as a
flibbertigibbet, passing over her strength of character. “I think so, too.”
    “Do you?” The faded old eyes regarded him sharply, as though
Aunt Katherine were studying him through a lorgnette. The close regard caused a
wriggle of unease to work up his spine.
    “Yes.” Would Auntie stop regarding him in that fashion? He felt
like an insect under a spying glass.
    “And what of Elizabeth Gaskell? Do you ever hear of your former
fiancée at all?”
    The sudden shift in conversation threw Charlie off guard. Like
a good soldier, he eyed the terrain warily. What did this abrupt change signify?
Why was she bringing up Beth, right on the heels of their discussion about
Sophie?
    “What I know of Beth I read in The
Tatler. ” His words were clipped and precise. Beth’s downward spiral
into licentious behavior was a constant source of amusement for Bath—and
embarrassment for her former fiancé. He did not like to talk about it with
anyone. Not even Auntie.
    “So, then. If she is mentioned in the gossip rags, then she is
still living a hedonistic existence.” Aunt Katherine clasped her hands, laden
with rings, together over her stomach, peering at him with eyes that had only
sharpened with age. “And where does this leave you, Charlie?”
    “Forgive me, Auntie, but I don’t understand your meaning.”
Honestly, the old woman was as mysterious as the Sphinx. John had warned him so,
many times in the past. And yet, since she was meddling in others’ affairs,
Charlie found it amusing. Now, faced with it himself, it didn’t seem as
funny.
    “Tut, tut. There’s no need to get testy with an old woman. I
only mean to say it isn’t right for a young man to live alone without thinking
about a wife