Amy Lake Read Online Free PDF Page B

out—”
    “You both are fond of music, ’tis not strange to find one another at a musicale .  And he won’t find out.”
    “You were the one telling me to be careful!  He’ll think I’m some silly, infatuated schoolgirl.”
    “Well, since in this case you are an infatuated schoolgirl—”
    “I am not!”
    “—I thought it best that we obtain more information about his intentions.” 
    “I am not a schoolgirl!”
    “Besides, if you didn’t like him, you wouldn’t care.”
    I glared at her, silenced for the moment.  Then we both burst into laughter.
    “He really won’t find out,” said Cassandra, when we stopped.  “Do you remember when Peter Wilmott called the Countess de Lieven ‘a shocking old harpy’?”
    I certainly did.  The remark had developed wings, and the countess—one of the patronesses of Almack’s—had spent months trying to root out the source.  Peter’s friends had shown him remarkable loyalty, considering the strength of her ladyship’s pique.
    “Lady Helen informed him that if word ever got out about your interest in Lord Davies, his role in that affair would be made quite clear.”
    I started laughing again.  “What does Peter Wilmott care about the Countess de Lieven?”
    “He doesn’t.  But his soon-to-be fiancée does.”
    This was news, and for a moment I was diverted from my own concerns.  Lady Helen’s brothers were an endless source of romantic intrigue.  “Peter is getting engaged?  To whom?”
    “Alice Montvale.”
    “Really!  They will not suit,” I said, without thinking.  Alice Montvale was a wilting flower.  The merest breath of the boisterous or rough sent her into a trembling faint.  I can’t imagine that she knew a thing about shocking old harpies.
    “Most definitely not,” agreed Cassandra.  “But she seems healthy enough, and Peter has always said he wants a house full of children.”
    “But Cassie—the viscount—”
    “What,” said Miss Barre, “is the worst that can come of it?  Lord Davies will learn that a young woman with good taste in music—and who happens to be the daughter of an earl—is not averse to his attentions.  How bad can that be?”
     

Chapter 5:  Freddie Falls in Love
     
    I often don’t see my brother for days at a time.  He keeps even later hours than the countess, and spends the odd week either at Three Stags, or at the home of one friend or another.  I may not even know where he’s been until the bills start to arrive.
    This morning, however, he joined me for breakfast.  He was whistling.
    “The top of the morning to you, my dearest sister!”
    He kissed me on the top of the head and poured himself a cup of coffee.  I stared at this apparition of health and apparent sobriety.  The only time I see Freddie at this hour is when he is dragging himself in from the night before.
    “Good morning,” I said.  Hesitantly.  I was still staring.
    He noticed.  “Oh, don’t cut up stern with me,” said Freddie, waving a finger.  “Not even your sisterly reproaches can mar this happy day!”
    I laughed, caught off guard.  “Very well, my dear brother, tell me all.”
    “Do you not know?  I am in love with the fairest creature in all of England.”
    Oh, gods.  Not again.
    “And I know what you will say, but ’tis she, truly.  There will never be another.”
    The adoring, calf-like expression on his face was, I must admit, quite new.
    “And who might this fairest creature be?”
    He sank into the chair across from me and leaned both elbows on the table, cupping his chin in his hands.  Freddie has been spared the curls that so often turn into frizz for me, but the auburn hair colour is the same.  One lock fell across his forehead as he spoke the exalted name, managing no more than a whisper.
    “Celia.”
    I knew one Celia, but she was already married, and then there was—
    Oh, no.
    “Celia?” I encouraged, with a sinking certainty.
    “Lady Celia,” he breathed, and I saw tears come