A Passionate Endeavor Read Online Free PDF Page B

ladies. She nodded to the
doctor’s two offspring, “and of course your family as well,” she
added with stiff, condescending hauteur. A smile skirted her tight
lips as she surveyed with distaste the unbalanced group of seven
ladies and five gentlemen at table.
    “It is an honor, Your Grace,” replied Dr.
Kittridge.
    “We are indebted to your tireless care,”
added Edwin, as he served himself a sizable portion of the boiled
loin of veal and braised asparagus.
    Nicholas glanced at Miss Kittridge, who had
been placed opposite him. She looked up to meet his gaze, then
returned her attention to the plate in front of her with haste.
What was she thinking’ He had not seen her in the last fortnight,
although his faithful batman had told him Miss Kittridge often
watched over him while he slept. Charley and Rosamunde had been his
only source of companionship since that morning. Had his boldness
shocked her so much that she dared not converse with him again lest
he ravage her?
    For the hundredth time, Nicholas wondered
what had possessed him that morning. Since when had he started
pouring his heart out about his past and taking to flustering
innocents with unabashed lust? But she had tasted so sweet, and he
had been unable to deny himself, even though he had no right to
indulge.
    He must return to the battlefield, a place
where it was easy to forget all about the pleasures of the flesh
amidst the horrors of war. She was everything he was not, and he
had made a promise he would not break—no matter how tempting. The
fever was, without doubt, to blame for his momentary lapse.
    The ancient formality of this massive stone
dining chamber, whose coldness matched the mood of so many of those
who inhabited it, brought him back to the scene within it.
    “Perhaps I could sit with Papa this evening
to give a rest to Miss Kittridge,” said his sister, Rosamunde.
    “Whatever for? Miss Kittridge does not mind
her duties. And you are needed to entertain the other ladies.
Louisa and Lady Susan would be inconsolable without your company,”
Her Grace said. “And now that your brother is well enough to join
our evening circle, we will have quite the gathering of young
people,” she concluded without looking at him.
    Seated next to him, Louisa Nichols,
Rosamunde’s dearest friend from Miss Polinaught’s School for Young
Ladies, looked ready to add to the meager conversation, but then
lost her nerve as she toyed with the spitchcocked eel and roasted
pigeon in front of her. She appeared much the same as when he had
accompanied the girls cub hunting, fifteen years ago. Except
Louisa’s freckles had disappeared and her carrot-colored hair had
mellowed.
    The petite lady sitting on the other side of
him giggled, displaying very small teeth evenly spaced. Her curled
blond hair formed a picturesque halo around her dainty visage.
“Your lordship is very quiet tonight,” she said. “I am honored you
chose me to lead you in to dinner, and happy to find you are much
improved in health.”
    Rosamunde’s assessment of Edwin’s rich
prospect had proved correct in every way. The vixen had been
unrelenting in her new pursuit during every visit. And he had felt
very much like prey, unable to move away from the miserable,
calculating girl.
    “Yes, it seems several weeks under the care
of the Kittridgesdoes indeed produce miracles.” He turned and
winked at Miss Kittridge.
    “Miracles, my lord? I think not,” said Miss
Kittridge. “We leave to God alone those tasks. However, my family
and I are much relieved to see you so quickly on the mend. You are
not the sort who enjoys the idleness of the sickbed.”
    “I am sorry I was such a trial on your
patience, Miss Kittridge.”
    “My dear, you were always a trial on the
patience,” inserted the duchess as she cut into the veal with
vigor.
    A thick silence intruded. Nicholas resisted
the urge to fill it by turning the subject. It was a tried-and-true
method he had used doggedly throughout childhood.