A Christmas Conspiracy Read Online Free PDF Page A

they had grown to resemble their mother! he thought, acknowledging a still-painful wrench at his heart. How curious that he should continue to love Fanny even when the echoes of betrayal and humiliation still resounded in his heart.
    Sir Giles closed his eyes as images from the days of their courtship insinuated themselves on him. How dizzy he had been with her beauty and winning ways! How flattered that the daughter of an earl would deign to entertain the attentions of a mere baronet! It had seemed to him when she at last accepted his suit that the world had unfurled itself at his feet. With her at his side, everything good was within his grasp.
    And so it had been. For a while. The estate had prospered, the twins had been born. And, oh, how he and she had loved one another. Even now he knew he was not mistaken in that. She had loved him.
    The pain of it was that their happiness had not vanished quickly. Rather, it had faded like a consumptive child, sometimes rallying, sometimes even reaching reeling, illusory heights. Then there had been relapses.
    What was to be expected, though? Theirs was a true mésalliance from the start. There was no doubt of that, for every meddling soul in six counties had made it their business to advise them both of this sorry fact. In birth, wealth, and temperament, they were sadly at odds. Yet, at first, it had not seemed to matter.
    All had been well until the twins entered the schoolroom and Fanny had begun travelling to London on her own to enjoy the season. True, he would generally join her for the last few weeks, but there was so much to be done at the estate that such an extravagant waste of time as spending the entire interval was not to be thought of.
    Fanny had been welcomed back to her former circle enthusiastically. The beaux who had courted her so assiduously years before paid flattering court to her once again. She wrote him detailed letters recounting all of what she termed “their silliness,” but it soon began to rankle. The notion that he had taken her from her own kind was inescapable.
    Sir Giles shook his head. He thought he had finished these labyrinthine journeys through the bitter past long ago. Apparently it took very little to set him going again. Beyond the door he could hear the servants cheer the arrival of the punch. He was glad the girls had revived the old custom of decorating the halls, even though it prompted pangs of memory.
    They were really not wicked girls, he reminded himself. Just headstrong and frivolous. Had he been too harsh with them? Possibly. He had sent for Miss Walleye rather precipitously and was now beginning to regret his decision. She did sound like a terrible old quiz. Still, her letter had been so piteous, and she had been so clearly in need of some sort of occupation to support herself, that he could not but respond with an invitation. If she turned out to be entirely insupportable, he supposed he could find some other position for her—or take permanent refuge in his conservatory. Perhaps he would send her to Fanny, he thought with an infrequent flash of humor.
    * * * *
    Lady Fanny shivered beneath the rugs as her coach made its ponderous way through the rising snowdrifts. She had been regretting her foolish decision for the last hour, ever since the storm had worsened and the light had begun to fail. What a tedious, miserable journey! She had begun it in high spirits and even a little hope, but now she felt entirely ridiculous. How stupid it was to imagine she could drop into her husband’s life again and be greeted with anything but contempt! Moreover, it was bitterly cold and she was tired, but every time she drifted to sleep, Flops would contrive a way to steal her rug onto the floor where he curled up with it himself.
    Lady Fanny was yawning for the hundredth time when she jerked forward in her seat as the carriage lurched to a halt. Outside, the horses whinnied and the coachman swore. After a moment, the lethargic Flops let forth a