Belle (The Daughters of Allamont Hall Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

examined. By the time Belle had removed her muddy boots and cloak, and made herself respectable, Mr Ambleside, their first caller of the day, had arrived, followed very shortly after by Miss Endercott and Mr Burford.
    Having made her greetings, Belle found that the party had already formed itself into two settled conversational groups, without any chair conveniently situated for her to join either of them. When her father had been alive, the family had always sat in a circle, the sisters arranging themselves strictly in order of age. Now, they might sit where they pleased and the freedom was refreshing. Being thus unwanted, she felt at liberty to seat herself a little away from the others and open a book. For a little while, she read in peace, the chatter in the room not disturbing her attention in the least.
    This pleasant scheme was only disturbed by the arrival of her two cousins, Mary and James. Mary was a handsome woman of five and twenty, and her brother, a man of pleasant manners and fashionable style, was one and twenty. Their father, Mr Henry Allamont, was cousin to Belle’s father, and they lived an easy ride away, so easy, in fact, that they were drawn to call upon the sisters two or three times every week. Seeing Belle sitting alone, they seated themselves one either side of her.
    “Ah, we interrupt your studies,” Mary said with a laugh. “What book is it that you find so engrossing?”
    “It is only Mr Hume’s history,” Belle said, closing it. “I have read it many times before.”
    “Why do you read a book you have read before?” James said. “That must be very dull work.”
    Belle sighed. “I must do so, since I have nothing new to read. I have heard that there is a circulating library opened in Brinchester, but I have not yet had the opportunity to join it. Have you been there? Are there a great many books?”
    But neither of them knew anything about it.
    “How is your mama?” Mary said. “I have not seen her since her return from London.”
    “She is well, but she says that company fatigues her. She keeps to her room most mornings.”
    Mary was silent for a moment. “I am sorry for it. A young lady can have no better example to follow regarding behaviour and manners in company than her own mother. But perhaps when her year of mourning is over, Lady Sara will go more into society?”
    “I do not know,” Belle confessed. “She has not divulged her thoughts on the subject.”
    At that moment, her attention was caught by Mr Burford, face aflame, stuttering and stammering.
    “How is it,” she exclaimed, “that a sensible man, a man of education and some intelligence, may be wonderfully articulate in the pulpit and yet unable to utter a single word in the presence of a pretty young lady.”
    “He is in love,” Mary said. “All men are foolish when they are in love.”
    “And women, too,” Belle said. “For Hope simpers and blushes just as much as poor Mr Burford.”
    “It looks better on her,” Mary said. “A man with red hair should never blush if he can possibly help it.”
    “I wonder how he will ever manage to propose?”
    “We must have faith that words will fail him. Hope can do much better, I feel certain. He has no more than his curate’s stipend and a little money of his own. Two hundred pounds a year at most. Even with Hope’s dowry, it is not enough to live on in any comfort. Besides, she is too young to have formed a lasting attachment. A season or two in society, with the added inducement to suitors of twenty thousand pounds, would do her a world of good. She could aim for a title. Excuse me, I believe Miss Endercott wishes to speak with me.”
    When she had left, James said, “Twenty thousand? I had thought the sum was seventeen or so.”
    “So it was, but we recently heard that the fund has increased in value since Papa died.”
    “Indeed? Then perhaps we should wait another year or two or five to be married, coz, to see if it increases even more.”
    “Yet