Always Come Home (Emerson 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Hemsworth. “Clayton, shouldn’t we go in to dinner soon?”
    “Don’t tell me you’re so poor you can’t afford to
eat,” said Clayton. “I had planned to linger over drinks, but I wouldn’t want
you to swoon from hunger. And if you want to take some food back to your room
for your journey tomorrow, pray be my guest. I’m sure we won’t laugh about it
above a day or two. Just how are you getting to your estate, Ridgeway?”
    “I wanted to speak with you about that…”
    But before he could continue, the doors opened and
Clayton’s twin sisters entered the room. At least, Ridgeway assumed that’s who
they were, though neither of them looked to be sixteen. Miss Conway had the
right of it; neither dressed as a young girl should. They wore gowns that
showed altogether too much décolletage. He couldn’t imagine what Clayton was
about to allow it.
    Especially since the girls had the leering attention
of every other man in the room.
    One of the girls tapped Clayton on the shoulder with
her fan. “Aren’t you going to introduce us to your newest guest, brother?”
    Clayton smirked. “It would be my pleasure. Lady
Angelique, may I present Colin Emerson, Earl Ridgeway. Colin, this is the
older of the twins.”
    “By only a quarter hour,” she said with a simper, as
she held out her hand to him. “But that does make me more experienced than my
sister. An admirable trait, is it not?”
    Colin took her fingers in his and was startled by
the vise-like grip with which she latched onto him. “I am charmed, my lady.”
He tried to pull his hand back, but it was as if his fingers were in the jaw of
a particularly stubborn dog.
    Clayton introduced his other sister, who was looking
at Colin with some distaste. At least he wouldn’t have to fight off both girls
because it seemed Miss Conway once again had the right of it. Only Lady
Angelique appeared to be on the hunt for a title.
    Colin cleared his throat to divert attention from yanking
his hand away from Angelique. “Clayton, you said dinner would be served at
some point before Christmas?”
    “That’s right. I forgot about your empty stomach. Angelique,
don’t get your heart set on Ridgeway too quickly. He’s poorer than a church
mouse.”
    “Yet he still has much to recommend him, I am sure,”
said the girl as she raked Colin with her eyes.
    Colin thought longingly of the mail coach.
    As they finally went into dinner, Lady Angelique
attached herself firmly to his arm. She also brushed the side of her bosom
against him and it was all he could do to keep from shivering in revulsion.
She was sixteen years old. And Clayton’s sister.
    He dutifully held her chair for her, then made his
escape three spots down the table. He could almost feel her temper rise. He
hoped he would not be the cause of yet another servant being struck by a
hairbrush later that evening.
    “Where’s that governess?” asked Viscount
Raffington.
    Clayton looked around. “Yes, Ferguson, where is
Miss Conway?”
    “She asked for a plate to be sent to her room,” said
the butler.
    “Well, we can’t have that. Go collect her. Dinner
shall not be the same without her.”
    “If your governess wishes to eat in her room,
Clayton, perhaps you should allow her to do just that,” said Colin.
    “But she’s ever so entertaining and I must think of
my guests.” Clayton waved Ferguson off to retrieve her.
    “Wait ‘til you hear her beliefs,” said Raffington.
“She’s quite the bluestocking with a wardrobe to match. ‘Tis a pity, since she
might have a tasty little body beneath those drab clothes.”
    “Clayton!” said Colin. “Are you going to allow your
governess to be publicly maligned?” As an afterthought he felt compelled to
add, “Not to mention that Miss Conway’s form is in no way a suitable topic to
discuss in front of your sisters.”
    “But we quite agree with the viscount,” said Lady
Anastasia. “She’s simply dreadful. You should hear some of the things