His By Christmas (Hamilton Sisters) Read Online Free PDF Page B

was exasperated with her. Her mother always had that effect on her. She would be glad to get to Lisette’s house and share the burden of her mother’s draining presence with another sister for a while.
    As the carriage wended its way through the wet London streets, Yvette blocked out the incessant French ramblings and complaints about the bumpy roads and dreary weather from her mother and thought only of William Weatherly, Lord Shelley.
    Lord Shelley had invited her to go riding in the park with him!
    Yvette had been more than pleased with her progress with him since the ball the night before last. He was showing a definite marked interest in her. Not only had he danced with her, but he had also walked her out to the terrace, where they had conversed. They had talked easily together about nothing of true importance. She had seen the signs before in other gentlemen, but Lord Shelley seemed quite smitten with her. If one could call a future duke smitten!
    Everything was going according to her plan. She sighed heavily, looking out the carriage window. If only for the rain, she would be with him now!
    Instead, she had been obligated to accompany her mother to her sister’s home for the afternoon. Not that Yvette minded visiting her sister and her sweet little children. It was just that she would have preferred to be out in Green Park in Lord Shelley’s carriage, where everyone could see her with him.
    “Are you still disappointed that your plans were changed, Yvette? I can see that your eyes are sad. Tu as l’air très triste. Je peux lire une certaine déception dans tes yeux. ”
    Surprised, Yvette turned to her mother.
    “You think I am a foolish old woman who does not know what is going on around me. But I know, Yvette, I know. Je sais ce à quoi tu penses. Tu penses que je suis insensée mais je ne le suis pas. J’en sais quelque chose. J’ai raison. J’en suis certaine. You were looking forward to being with a certain gentleman today, were you not?”
    “ Maman , please.” The last thing Yvette wished to do was discuss her feelings for Lord Shelley with her mother.
    “No need to say so. I am right, I know.”
    “Well, yes,” Yvette admitted the truth with reluctance. “I was supposed to go riding with a very nice gentleman this afternoon. Had he come to the house, I would have introduced you.”
    “Who is he?”
    “Lord Shelley.”
    “Ah, yes. Of course you would rather be with a handsome gentleman than visit your sister. It is only natural. Mais bien sûr que tu voudrais être avec un bel homme. Quelle femme ne le voudrait pas? I knew the truth of it. Tell me about him.”
    “There’s nothing to tell yet, Mother.”
    “Ha! That is a lie! Now, this gentleman is the reason you wished to stay in London and the reason I am here in London, a city I despise, and not in my comfortable house in Brighton, to watch over you. I am not a fool, Yvette . Je ne suis pas dupe. J’insiste pour que tu m’en dises plus sur cet homme. Je saurai tout, tôt ou tard. Je le saurai. I insist you tell me about him.”
    “It’s nothing, Mother. Truly. There is nothing to tell at this point. He is a very kind gentleman who asked me to go riding with him. Because of the weather, we have postponed our outing. That’s all there is to tell.”
    “I do not believe you. However if what you say is true, then you are a bigger fool than you think I am.” Genevieve laughed. “You will tell me before long! Mark my words. J’ai raison. J’en suis certaine. ”
    Yvette was grateful when they finally arrived at the pretty townhouse where Lisette lived with Quinton Roxbury, her architect husband. The footman helped her mother into the house just as the autumn rain began to fall in earnest. Yvette hurried up the steps behind them, managing to escape most of the rain.
    “Oh, such a downpour! It is lucky I am not drowned. Je déteste Londres. Je n’en peux plus de toute cette pluie. If y fait si froid et si humide, ” Genevieve