Gamble With Hearts Read Online Free PDF

jointure upon which she lived was only just adequate to her own needs and, although she lived in a charming house, she was frequently obliged to apply to her son for assistance. This, to do him justice, the present Lord Northwood never refused to give, but he was inclined to lecture his mama upon the virtues of economy. She did not feel that he would appreciate her extending an indefinite invitation to her sister and niece.
    ‘I cannot believe that you have anything to worry about, my dear. Charlotte should go off very easily,’ she assured her sister. ‘I prophesy that we will be planning the nuptials by the end of the season.’
    Mrs Wrexham smiled gratefully at her sister. ‘Tell me, Letty, who is in town that I might remember? It feels so strange to be here once more. I barely recognised this street, for it is vastly changed.’
    ‘'Tis certainly less exclusive,’ conceded Lady Northwood. ‘Why, I am surrounded by a lot of Cits. However, we need not notice them. As for the rest, you will remember Arabella Weston? She was so pleased to hear that you were coming to me. Then there are the Seftons, the Wellesleys, of course, you know the scandal? My dear Lady Jersey had but this week returned to town—’
    As Lady Northwood chatted on, recalling to her sister's mind this or that old friend, Mrs Wrexham allowed herself to be drawn into a happy daydream in which she was once more able to take her place in Society, the place she had cast away so recklessly in her youth.
    She was recalled abruptly to herself when the name Ruthin suddenly cropped up in her sister's rambling discourse.
    ‘Such a distinguished, elegant man, my dear Fanny,’ she was saying. ‘Though he is a little old for dear Charlotte . However, we need not despair for he is but forty after all.’
    ‘I am a little acquainted with Ruthin myself,’ admitted Mrs Wrexham tentatively. ‘I do not think he would suit Charlotte at all!’
    ‘Acquainted with the Marquis! Why, how is this?’ demanded Lady Northwood, much astonished.
    Mrs Wrexham briefly recounted the history of the meeting, but she seemed unwilling to discuss the matter with her sister and quickly changed the subject. She diverted her hostess by demanding to know what plans she had made to introduce Charlotte to the Ton. Nothing loath, Lady Northwood plunged into the details of the entertainment she had in store for them. As these included a grand ball, a rout party, several dinners and, when the weather became more clement, a picnic, Mrs Wrexham was able to relax in the knowledge that nothing was being left undone in order to introduce the lovely Miss Wrexham to the cream of London society.
    The three ladies spent a quiet evening at home, an unusual event in Lady Northwood's busy life. The two elder ladies plunged into an orgy of reminiscences, while Charlotte passed the time in delightful daydreams in which a fabulously wealthy suitor presented himself to her in the guise of a handsome and dashing hero
     

THREE
     
     
    Any qualms that Mrs Wrexham might have felt upon Charlotte 's behalf were very quickly put to rest. The Ton might be blasé, but even their jaded eyes seldom met with a sight to equal Miss Wrexham in a fern-green velvet spencer trimmed with swansdown and worn with a dashing bonnet lavishly quilted and tied under one ear in a fetching bow. Lady Northwood had prophesied that Charlotte would take London by storm, and as she seldom ceased to point out, she was absolutely right. From her first appearance in the Park the very morning after their arrival, Charlotte was besieged by a score of admirers. The knocker was never still, bouquets appeared in their dozens. It soon seemed that their investment would pay off lavishly.
    One of their earliest visitors was the bashful Mr Edridge accompanying a stylish lady with a well-bred sensible manner, who introduced herself as Mrs Carstairs, sister to her young escort. Charlotte was unaffectedly glad to see Mr Edridge again and very