First Comes Marriage Read Online Free PDF Page B

the earth. But I am so glad you did. Oh, thank you, thank you.”

    She dashed across the room to hug Margaret, who beamed with pleasure.

    “The ribbon caught my eye,” she said, “and I could not possibly leave the shop before I had bought a length of it.”

    “You want me to believe it was an impulsive purchase?” Katherine said. “What a bouncer, Meg. You went there deliberately to look for some suitable trimming just because you wanted to do something nice for me. I know you of old.”

    Margaret looked sheepish.

    “Here comes Stephen,” Vanessa said, “in more of a hurry than Kate was.”

    Their brother saw Vanessa looking out at him and grinned and waved a greeting. He was wearing his old riding clothes, she could see, and boots that looked as if they were in dire need of a good brushing. Sir Humphrey Dew allowed him to ride the horses from the Rundle stables whenever he wished, a favor Stephen had accepted gladly, but in return he insisted upon doing some work in the stables.

    “I say,” he said, bursting into the parlor a minute later, smelling of horse, “have you heard the news?”

    “Stephen.” Margaret looked pained. “Is that manure on one of your boots?”

    The smell alone would have answered her question.

    “Oh, dash it.” He looked down. “I thought I had cleaned it all off. I’ll do it right away. Have you heard about the viscount staying at the inn?”

    “ I told them,” Katherine said.

    “Sir Humphrey has gone to bid him welcome,” Stephen told them.

    “Oh,” Vanessa said with a slight grimace.

    “I daresay,” Stephen said, “he will find out what the man is doing here. It is a strange thing, is it not?”

    “I suppose,” Margaret said, “he is just passing through, poor man.”

    “Lucky man,” Stephen said. “But whoever passes through Throckbridge? From where to where? And why ?”

    “Perhaps Papa-in-law will find out,” Vanessa said. “And perhaps he will not. But doubtless we will all live on even if our curiosity is never satisfied.”

    “Perhaps,” Katherine said, clasping her hands to her bosom and batting her eyelids theatrically as she twirled once about, “he has heard of the Valentine’s ball and has come here to seek a bride.”

    “Oh, Lord,” Stephen said. “Has Valentine’s Day turned you daft, Kate?”

    He laughed and ducked away from the cushion she hurled at his head.

    The parlor door opened again to admit Mrs. Thrush. She had Stephen’s best shirt over one arm.

    “I have just ironed it, Mr. Stephen,” she told him as he thanked her and took it from her. “You take it up to your room immediately and lay it flat on your bed. I do not want to see it all creases again even before you put it on.”

    “No, ma’am,” he said, winking at her. “I mean, yes, ma’am. I did not even realize it needed ironing.”

    “No.” She clucked her tongue. “I don’t suppose you did. But if all the young girls are going to be swooning over you, as I daresay they will, you might as well be wearing a freshly ironed shirt. And not those boots. Phew! I’ll have you down scrubbing my floors with your own hands if you do not take them off and set them outside the door before you go upstairs.”

    “The ironing was to be my next task,” Margaret said. “Thank you, Mrs. Thrush. Now I think it is time we all thought about getting ready for the assembly. Nessie, it is certainly time you went home before Lady Dew sends out a search party. Stephen, do get those disgusting boots out of this parlor. Mrs. Thrush, please make yourself a cup of tea and put your feet up for a while. You have been busy all day.”

    “And you have been sitting around doing nothing, I suppose,” Mrs. Thrush retorted. “Oh, I must tell you all. Mrs. Harris knocked on the back door not five minutes since. There is a viscount staying at the inn. Sir Humphrey went to call on him there and has invited him to the assembly as his particular guest. What do you think of