Cupid's Choice: She's a shy beauty in distress. He's a chivalric gentleman. Read Online Free PDF

around, will you?”
    “Oh, no! It would be the very thing, for—”
    The door opened and the butler entered. “My lord, here is Lord Tucker to see you.”
    A brash young gentleman, starting to speak before he was properly inside the room, entered on the butler’s heels. “Percy, old fellow! I was hoping to find you at home! I’ve had word of a famous race taking place within the hour. Can you come?”
    Lord Holybrooke stood up and with a grin shook his companion’s hand. “Of course I can, Chuffy! What’s to keep me from it? Chuffy, you’ve met my sister, haven’t you? Guin, this is Lord Tucker, the best of fellows.”
    Lord Tucker made a belated bow in Guin’s direction. His lordship was an aspiring dandy. His coat was very tight, so it was obvious he had to be helped into it, and it could not be buttoned across the front. His waistcoat and the top of his frilled shirt were thus on display. “Honored, Miss Holland!”
    Guin smiled and made a determined effort to make a good impression on one of her brother’s new friends. With that laudable ambition, she said brightly, “Good afternoon, Lord Tucker. Pray, what sort of race is it?”
    Lord Tucker cleared his throat and rolled his eyes toward Lord Holybrooke for help. “Not the sort of thing you would be interested in, ma’am, I assure you. It’s to do with geese.”
    “Geese?!” exclaimed Guin in astonishment. She turned her widening eyes toward her brother. “Racing geese?”
    Lord Holybrooke laughed, delighted by this revelation. “Oh, by all that’s famous! I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Let’s be off, Chuffy. You’ll not want to keep your team standing, I daresay. There’s a stout wind blowing.”
    “No, indeed. Miss Holland, your most obedient,” said Lord Tucker with another graceful bow.
    The two young gentlemen left the front parlor, animatedly discussing the upcoming treat. Guin stared after them until the door closed, shutting off their cheerful voices. She began plying her needle again, but slowly, rehearsing in her mind what had just transpired. Lord Holybrooke had virtually promised to spend more time with her, but then at the first opportunity, and without giving the least thought to her concerns, he had run off with a friend to a goose race.
    It was lowering to reflect that one did not rate even so high as a goose.
    With a heartfelt sigh, Guin wondered whether things would ever be the same between her and her twin brother. Since coming to town, it seemed they were drifting farther and farther apart. All of a sudden, she recalled with a flash the comment Colonel Caldar had made on their first evening in London, about her having to do without Percy.
    Guin began to have a glimmer of what her uncle had meant, for indeed, she was seeing less and less of her brother. Lord Holybrooke was gone from the town house as often as he was in residence. Simply because he was the Earl of Holybrooke and she was a young lady just coming out, their paths had inevitably begun to diverge. They were no longer living quietly in the country, dependent upon one another for amusement and shared confidences. Lord Holybrooke had a widening circle of friends and acquaintances now, which was serving to push Guin away. She was intelligent enough to realize that there was nothing she could do to arrest their estrangement.
    “I detest London and everything about it!” she exclaimed, thrusting her needle almost viciously through her embroidery hoop.
    The door opened and Mrs. Holland entered with a swish of silken skirts. “There you are, Guin! I have been intending to have a word with you.”
    There was an undercurrent in Mrs. Holland’s voice which instantly banished all thought of Lord Holybrooke’s defection from Guin’s mind. She anxiously regarded her mother’s expression as Mrs. Holland approached. “Yes, Mama?”
    Unlike her daughter, Mrs. Holland was not at all retiring. She was thriving on her growing