His Heart's Delight Read Online Free PDF Page A

today.”
    She turned to her other daughter.
“Christiana, I will not tolerate behavior that will jeopardize our
vouchers for Almack’s. You will spend your day reading improving
works. I will tell Lord Morgan, should he call, that you are not
well.”
    Both her children nodded and she swept from
the room, closing the door sharply behind her.
    “Oh, Joanna, London has not changed Mama one
whit, has it?” Christiana sighed. “I was hoping that the shopping
and society might distract her from my shortcomings.”
    “And now you will be trapped in your room all
day.” Joanna scrambled from the bed and headed for the dressing
room. “There will be no shopping together and you will not be
allowed to see the art exhibit.”
    “It is almost a relief.”
    Joanna stopped at the dressing room door and
looked back at her sister in some confusion.
    “You see, for a moment I was certain there
was news from Portugal and that Richard was in danger.”
    “Oh dear.” Joanna came back and gave her
sister a comforting hug. “He is safe. He has only been there for a
few weeks. And it is too soon for the fighting to begin. It will be
weeks before there are any battles.”
    “Very well. I will allow you to convince me
that Richard is safe for today and perhaps even for tomorrow.”
    Joanna went back to the dressing room and
Christiana sat in the slipper chair near the fire.
    “There are worse things than spending my day
indoors, Jo. I can write in my journal. There is so much more to
remember than what I wrote last night.”
    Joanna emerged with three dresses, which she
draped over a chair. “I could barely stay awake long enough to
undress and you stayed up to write in your journal?”
    “I only wrote a few lines.” But fatigue had
not been the problem. The music and the dancing had left her wide
awake and too restless to settle down and find mere words that
would do the evening justice. Christiana hopped from the bed and
picked up a white lawn gown washed through with the palest pink and
trimmed with roses about the hem and sleeves. “Here, wear this
one.” She shook the wrinkles out and placed it carefully on the bed
after she smoothed the covers. “It is above all your favorite gown
and your rose-colored pelisse will complement it perfectly.”
    “Christy, it will never take you all day to
describe the ball.”
    “I suspect that I will have time to dress,
finish my entry, and read the rest of today’s gossip before Mama
recalls that the dowager duchess invited me to call.”
    Joanna shook her head. “How is it that you
find your way out of every punishment Mama hands out?”
    Christiana grinned. “A lifetime of
practice.”
    “The gossip column is hardly improving
literature, Christy. What if she asks what you have been reading?”
Joanna untied her nightcap and began brushing her hair. Christiana
took the brush from Joanna’s hand and began arranging her sister’s
curls, sprinkling in the lilac-scented powder that was her sister’s
favorite.
    “Joanna, the only problem with having a
sister who has never broken a rule in her life is that you worry
about the most nonsensical things.” The scented powder made her
sister’s hair easier to manage and Christiana curled it around her
face carefully so as not to pull it too hard. “I remember the last
sermon she pressed on me and will quote it freely if she asks for
proof.”
    Satisfied with her efforts as a hairdresser,
Christiana put the brush down and stood back admiring her sister’s
blond loveliness. Joanna was quiet and reserved; that was the only
reason people did not notice her at first. It was unfortunate that
Christiana herself possessed neither of those virtues.
    The truth was she had inherited her mother’s
flamboyant personality, without her inclination to dramatic
complaint, she hoped. Joanna was much more like their father. Of
her two parents Christiana would infinitely prefer a day on
horseback with Papa to a day shopping with Mama. And she did