Fortune's Lady Read Online Free PDF

money, two things that always seemed to be in short supply for the Marchioness of Harwood.
    Gareth’s mother had caught sight of Althea and her grandmother heading in the direction of the card room some time earlier, and she was relieved to discover that they had established themselves at a table with the Marchioness of Barlow and Lady Dalrymple, with whom she could claim some slight acquaintance.
    Assuming an air of polite concern, she approached the table exclaiming, “My dear Lady Dalrymple, how glad I am to discover you here, for not five minutes ago I encountered your daughter and I must say, she does not look at all the thing. I suggested to her that I look for you, but she insisted it was nothing, a mere headache brought on by the closeness of the ballroom. I begged her to sit down by one of the windows and take some fresh air, for indeed, she was looking far from well.”
    Lady Dalrymple rose in some alarm. “In that case, I ...”
    “Do not distress yourself.” The marchioness laid a comforting hand on the other lady’s arm. “She assured me that she was not in the least need of assistance though she did appear to be remarkably pale.”
    By now Lady Dalrymple looked thoroughly alarmed and Gareth’s mother, directing a meaningful look at Lady Edgcumbe, continued. “Well, if you insist on going to her, and I must say I think it is best. Lady Edgcumbe and I will take your places here at the table so as not to deprive your opponents of their game. No, my dear Marchioness, I do not blame you in the least for accompanying Lady Dalrymple. I am sure these ladies will excuse you, and Lady Edgcumbe and I will do our poor best to make up for your departure.”
    And with the most sympathetic and helpful expressions the Marchioness of Harwood neatly ousted the two women and took their places at the table with Althea and her grandmother. “I do beg your pardon for intruding, but as a fond mother myself, I know the agonies one suffers if one’s child is unwell, even if that child is fully grown. I am delighted to see Your Grace looking so well. I remember, though I am sure you do not, being introduced to you my first Season. My mother pointed you out as someone whose dignified air and exquisite manners were well worth copying. ‘A beautiful face can count for nothing, Sally,’ she told me, ‘if one’s manners are not equal to the distinction of one’s countenance. And for manners you could do no better than to observe closely and emulate the Duchess of Clarendon’s.’ “
    Too bemused by this unexpected effusiveness to react, Althea’s grandmother could do nothing but nod graciously. Before she could even open her mouth to acknowledge her thanks, the marchioness rattled on. “And this must be your granddaughter, Lady Althea.” Directing a conspiratorial smile at Althea, she lowered her voice to an intimate whisper. “A young woman whom I would not presume to embarrass by acknowledging as the incomparable of incomparables, except that it is a fact so widely known that everyone must acknowledge it. No, do not blush, my dear, for you certainly deserve such a reputation. Great beauty is a gift of the gods, but the notoriety it brings can be an enormous burden. No one knows that better than I, and I do sympathize, believe me. Now”—she laid a finger on her lips and smiled again—“I promise to keep silent and speak of nothing but the game.”
    And thus, with a skill that even Lady Edgcumbe was forced to admire, the marchioness not only succeeded in maneuvering the two of them into a game with the dowager duchess and her granddaughter, she managed to ingratiate herself with the two women as well.
    It was some time later, and just as the marchioness had planned, that Gareth finally located his mother in the card room. They were in the middle of a game when the marchioness, who had been keeping close watch out of the corner of her eye, exclaimed, “And there is my Gareth now. Such an attentive son. I knew it