A Marriageable Miss Read Online Free PDF

ever expect to come across—the prospect of wasting still more of her time in another such pointless exercise filled her with the utmost despondency.
    Nevertheless, after she had taken stock of her visitor, Helena found herself experiencing the oddest sense of disappointment that this latest contender for her hand had shown himself to be just as shallow as his peers.
    Richard, having resumed his seat, was waiting patiently for his hostess to offer some explanation for her note. He knew that itwas hardly likely that she had invited him here to apologise for her untoward behaviour on the previous afternoon and, since he had already expressed his regret over Wheatley’s mishap, he was beginning to feel that, other than the usual trite remarks about the weather, there was little that he could add to the conversation.
    Uncomfortably aware of his intent gaze, Helena felt a warm flush creep across her cheeks and, vexed that his scrutiny should have such a remarkable effect upon her normally calm demeanour, she braced herself to carry out her father’s wishes and decided to go straight into the attack.
    ‘May I take it that you have read these requirements?’ she enquired, gesturing to a small table nearby upon which lay not only the dreaded document from Wheatley’s study but, in addition, an inkwell, a sandpot and a pair of newly sharpened quills.
    ‘Oh, I hardly think that this is a suitable subject—’ he began, somewhat taken aback at such a direct approach to what was, after all, a rather delicate matter and one that was, insofar as he was concerned, strictly between the girl’s parent and himself.
    ‘Nonsense!’ she interrupted briskly. ‘It is as much my affair as it is your own! Besides which, my father has expressed the wish that the business should be completed without further ado and so—if you are of a mind to agree to his terms…?’
    Frowning, the earl flicked his eyes over to Helena’s companion who, he saw with some exasperation, was gazing at him in breathless fascination. Getting to his feet, he crossed the short distance between himself and his hostess and, lowering his voice, murmured, ‘I am inclined to think that a little more privacy might be in order for a discussion such as this, would you not agree?’
    As the barely discernible scent of his lemon-verbena cologne wafted across her nostrils, Helena felt her pulses quickening, immediately causing her to reach the conclusion that this clearly practised popinjay seemed to be attempting, in her father’s absence, to gain some sort of advantage over her undoubted lack of experience in handling transactions of this kind. An indignant spurt of fury ran through her and, leaning well away from his undeniably compelling magnetism, she waved her hand dismissively.
    ‘That will not be necessary, your lordship,’ she said, in as airy a tone as she could conjure up. ‘You may rest assured that my cousin is perfectly well acquainted with my father’s plans for my future.’ And, picking up one of the pens, she held it out to him. ‘Will you sign first or shall I? My father has given me his authority.’
    For, possibly, the first time in the whole of his twenty-nine years Richard found himself at something of a loss. It was becoming increasingly apparent to him that Lady Isobel’s stockbroker’s daughter was no ordinary title seeker. Indeed, the young lady appeared to have all the necessary qualities one might look for, if one were truly in search of a wife and, in any other situation, he might well have been tempted into getting to know her better. Nevertheless, since he considered his word far above any mere signature on a document, and despite the impending disastrous consequences of his actions, he was certainly not about to enter into any sort of written agreement.
    ‘Lord Markfield?’
    Conscious that both of the ladies were watching his movements intently, the earl’s lips tightened. ‘I fear that I shall have to decline your father’s