An Heir of Uncertainty Read Online Free PDF Page B

mannerly for his daughter.
    He gestured with a jerk of his head to the southeast. “It’s this way, is it not?”
    She nodded and they fell into step together, the colonel taking his little girl’s hand.
    Lina saw now what Mrs. Phelps had meant about knowing at a glance that Colonel Vaughan had been in the war. He walked with military erectness, his head high. His little girl had gone silent, which probably meant he was also of the Children should be seen and not heard school of child rearing. It was another strike against him as far as Lina was concerned. She had no love for strict disciplinarians. The third great love of her mother’s life, Cassie’s father, had been the strict, exacting sort, and he’d held Lina responsible for every one of the infractions her younger siblings had committed. “So why were you coming to call on me?”
    He glanced at her as if the answer must be obvious. “To introduce myself, and to offer my condolences on your recent loss.”
    “Oh.” She hadn’t expected that. But then, how sincere could he be about the latter reason when her loss might well bring him a title and a fortune? “I understand you and my husband shared the same great-great-grandfather.”
    “He was my great-great-grandfather. Since your husband and I were a generation removed, you’d have to add another ‘great’ in his case.”
    “How did your branch of the family end up in Hampshire?”
    The colonel shrugged. “An advantageous marriage or two, I suppose. Isn’t that the usual aim of younger sons?”
    He had such long legs, Lina had to take five steps for every three of his. “But you must be an eldest son yourself. I heard this morning that you brought your younger brother to Belryth with you.”
    The faint frown Colonel Vaughan was wearing grew more pronounced. “Yes, I thought it wiser not to leave him to his own devices, however it may have complicated the journey.”
    Oh yes, this man was a martinet all right—an unfairly handsome one, perhaps, with perfect bone structure and an intriguing hint of dimples, but a martinet nonetheless. She hadn’t missed that frown, or the disapproving note in his voice when he’d said leave him to his own devices. She pitied the poor brother, kept on a tight rein by a haughty and overbearing sibling.
    And did he have to complain about the journey? It was tactless of him when she was the reason for its disappointing conclusion. She had every right to bear Edward’s son, and that son had every right to inherit. “I regret the trouble you were put to, coming here. Mr. Niven might have saved you the trip if he’d only waited a trifle longer before writing to you.”
    “How odd. Your Mr. Channing seems to think you told him there was no need to wait.”
    She was tempted to reply I’d just been informed my husband was dead. I would have told him I was the Queen of Sheba, if that was what he’d asked me. If she’d really wanted to put the colonel in his place she could have told him about the spotting she’d had just before Edward died, and how she’d been sure it meant a baby was an impossibility—at least until Dr. Strickland informed her such a symptom sometimes meant quite the opposite. But with the little girl walking beside them, she simply said, “He’s not my Mr. Channing.”
    A smile tugged at the corners of Colonel Vaughan’s mouth, as surprising as it was attractive. “No, I expect not.”
    * * *
    Though he was holding Julia’s hand with his left, Win wondered if he should offer his free arm to Lady Radbourne. She was in a delicate condition, after all, and the path was uneven. But from the cool way she’d accepted his escort, he doubted she would welcome the gesture.
    He wasn’t sure what to make of her. From his conversations with the magistrate and Mr. Niven, he’d expected some predatory femme fatale , a woman with hard eyes and vulgar manners. He’d pictured her having a feline cast to her features and dressing in clothes too sheer and