A Midsummer Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

Marchford. “Thornton has been gracious enough to allow me to host my little gathering at his country seat in Scotland. I intended to invite a few friends to go hunting, not host the house party of the summer.”
    The dowager smiled slowly. “Yes, it has become one of the most sought after invitations.”
    “The whole point of the excursion into Scotland was to avoid society.” Marchford was clearly nettled.
    “Bah!” The dowager waved a hand at him. “You are a duke. You are unmarried. Society would follow you to Botany Bay.”
    The butler entered the morning room and announced a visitor, which was enough for Marchford and Thornton to stand in a calculated retreat.
    “Whoever it is, I absolutely forbid you to invite them to the house party,” demanded Marchford.
    “The visitor is Lord Langley,” said the butler.
    The dowager gave an arch look. “Lord Langley? What on earth is he doing here? Never fear, he will not receive an invitation from me.”
    “Actually,” said Thornton in an apologetic tone, “I have already invited him.”
    “ Et tu, Brute ?” Marchford groaned and the men left the morning room.
    Lord Langley was ushered in and sat opposite the dowager. “Good afternoon.” He was a well-dressed gentleman, somewhat portly around the middle, but with an active face, silver-streaked black hair, and sharp, blue eyes.
    “Good afternoon,” said the dowager. After an uncomfortable pause, she added, “Tea?”
    “Yes, please,” said Langley. “I would like it with—”
    “I know how you like your tea,” interrupted the dowager. “Sugar, no milk.”
    “Yes,” said Langley accepting the cup. “You have a good memory.”
    “You will find I have a good memory for many things,” said the dowager with a malicious purr in her tone.
    Lord Langley wiped his brow and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. What exactly the nature of the bad blood between the dowager and Langley was, Penelope did not dare ask. They were contemporaries and had known each other a good deal longer than Penelope had been alive.
    “Your Grace,” began Langley.
    “No, please, you must call me Antonia, the way you always did when we were children.” The duchess again smiled. It was the kind of smile a mouse might see right before being devoured by a cat.
    Penelope tried to keep a smile from her own face. Whatever Langley had done to irritate the dowager, she was giving no quarter today.
    Langley sighed—or perhaps it was more of a groan. “Antonia, I have come because I would like to know your contact for this matchmaker the whole ton is talking about.”
    “I am so sorry, but Madam X is very reclusive. I could not possibly reveal her identity,” said the duchess with a bite to her tone. “Besides, are you not too old to be wanting to find a new wife?”
    “What? Oh, no, it is not for me,” assured Langley. “It is for… that is to say… the truth of the matter is that it is for my granddaughter.” His voice trailed off such that he ended in a whisper.
    The dowager raised an eyebrow. “I was not aware you were blessed with grandchildren.”
    Langley shook his head. “Neither was I.”
    “So your granddaughter has returned,” said the dowager with a sip of tea. “You must have been quite surprised to see her. And so remarkable since your daughter has been living in a sanitorium for the past four decades.”
    “My daughter was married to a Captain Redgrave, as you well know,” said Langley in a low voice.
    “How interesting for you, to have such connections.”
    Lord Langley put his teacup down on the saucer with a loud clank. He glared at the dowager, who smiled sweetly in return. “I see I have come on a fool’s errand.” He set down his teacup on the table and stood.
    “You were right about the fool part,” said the dowager, all pretense of pleasant conversation drained from her face.
    “Will you never let go of the past? It has been over fifty years.”
    “Leave it to you to be so precise with your