A Curious Courting Read Online Free PDF

really.”
    Reviewing his interview with the young lady, Rushton could not agree, but he said nothing as he rubbed a hand thoughtfully across his chin. There was, perhaps, the grain of an idea in what Sir Penrith had told him. “Is there much unemployment hereabouts?”
    “Not if Selina can help it, but a lot of folks won’t go to her when they know she doesn’t really need any extra workers. Oh, she’d take them on all right, but there are those who consider that charity. We’re like every other county in England, Gareth. The enclosures have displaced a lot of people. Some go to the towns, but others try to eke out an existence here as best they can. Sometimes it’s pathetic.”
    “I imagine your new stables gave some much-needed employment.”
    Sir Penrith flushed. “Yes, well, the old ones really had seen better days.”
    “No doubt.” Rushton smiled as he rose. “Building an entire house, with a modest stable, would surely provide even more employment.”
    An appreciative gleam lit Sir Penrith’s eyes. “You know, you might just have something there.”
    “Will you come with me this time? She may not let me in again without reinforcements.” When his friend hesitated, he murmured, “And you could see for yourself that I did not harass her.”
    “Oh, very well. But not today. I want to have a look at that hunter Prester has for sale.”
     
    Henry Forrester absently gazed out the window of the study over a new fall of snow. Although his translation of Homer was going well, he could not keep his mind on it. Not an hour past he had watched the Quorn pass, the hounds in full cry, the scarlet coats of the gentlemen blazing against the sparkling white of the hills and valleys. To be out there with them! The study suddenly seemed cramped and over warm. Nothing would do but to be out of doors, and yet the vicar was expected within the hour to go over his work with him, and lay out his course of study for the next week. Selina would be disappointed if her cousin failed to meet the old man’s exacting requirements. Not that she would say anything; she never did, except for praise. Still, it was a burden to Henry, one which he gladly assumed in exchange for her perpetual good nature and unfailing care of him. The trouble was that she took too great care of him!
    “Daydreaming, Henry?” Selina asked, amusement making her eyes sparkle.
    He started up from his chair. “I didn’t hear you come in. Do you think the vicar will make it with all this snow?”
    “Oh, undoubtedly. It has never deterred him before. A more persistent man I have never met.” Selina studied his averted face. “Henry, if you wish me to ask him to ease the pressure on you, I will gladly do so. You know how it is with Dr. Davenport. Once he realized your capabilities, he determined to push them to the limit. But, really, there is no reason for you to spend all your time working. I dare say you will be far better prepared for Cambridge than any of the boys from Eton or Harrow at the rate you’re going. Dr. Davenport is using you, in a way.”
    “How so?” he asked curiously.
    “He will be able to point to you as his prize pupil. That is very flattering to a man of his age and dignity, I think. Can you not hear him at his dinner table, sipping at his port with his friends from the next parishes? ‘My dear fellows, I taught that young man everything he knows. He has a brilliant future! Brilliant!’ And then he will quote how many lines you have translated this week, and how perfectly you did them. And voilà, his prestige is greatly enhanced—as you and I know that none of the others have such a rising star.” She smiled and linked her arm with his, and they walked over to the window. “When he leaves today, I have a surprise for you.”
    In spite of Henry’s belief that he had long since outgrown childhood, that he was indeed as she had referred to him—a young man—his eyes lit with enthusiasm. “Do you mean to tell me now what