Holiday House Parties Read Online Free PDF Page A

b-been in England and not once have you come to s-see me at Teale Court. Often and often I’ve b-begged you to visit, but have I ever c-complained at being so s-sadly neglected? No! Not once have I thrown it up to you! But this time I really counted on you. And now, with my heart s-so s-set on it, you’re letting me d-down!” And she pulled out her handkerchief again and blubbered into it.
    Geordie winced. “Aunt Maud, I dinna mean—” Awkwardly, he put an arm about her and patted her shoulder guiltily. “Wheesht, lass, dinna weep! I’ll do as ye ask. If ye and my father insist, I’ll come to ye at Christmas.” He groaned inwardly at his weak-kneed capitulation to his aunt’s tears, but if his father could be patient a while longer, he supposed he could too.
    â€œOh, Geordie, dearest,” his aunt sighed, beaming at him through her wet lashes, “I’m so glad!”
    But he would not take defeat without a last show of rebellion. “I’ll come to ye, Aunt Maud, and flichter aboot wi’ yer glaikit little visitors, but if ye think I’ll have a buttertoothed English miss shoved down my throat, ye’re out in yer reckoning. Do ye hear me, Aunt Maud? Matchmakin’ I won’t have!”
    Aunt Maud, having won the first skirmish, cheerily waved off the rest. “So long as you come, Geordie, my love,” she said, “we’ll let fate take care of everything else.” Then she kissed his cheek and turned to go and find her daughter. “I shall expect you on Friday week,” she called back to him. “And don’t forget to bring your friend.”
    Geordie did not expect Archie to accept the invitation to Lancashire without a struggle, but not only did Archie accept—he was overjoyed. “Nothing I’d like better than to spend Christmas at Teale Court,” he chortled. “Why are you surprised? I have nothing to keep me here in town. Besides, your cousin Bella is a charmer. The girl has the most beautiful eyes. And her mouth … well, her mouth is like—”
    â€œI know. Cherries.” Geordie looked at his friend in disgust. “Archie, ye great gowk, can it be that ye’ve gone and fallen in love again?”
    Archie considered the question for a long moment. “Y’know, old fellow, I do believe I have. Do you think, Geordie, that it means I’m flighty?”

4
    Geordie put off the trip to Teale Court as long as he could, but by the end of the third week of December he could postpone it no longer. He and Archie packed their portmanteaux, piled them up on top of the Halfords’ barouche (which Archie claimed to be more suited to long trips than Geordie’s lighter phaeton), and set out.
    The ride to Lancashire was endless, the barouche draughty, and Archie annoyingly cheery. It seemed to Geordie that he’d never suffered a more depressing trip. It was only when he reminded himself that every mile was bringing him closer to Scotland that his spirits began to lift. Lancashire, after all, was on the way north. Almost exactly halfway between London and Kincardine. If matters became unbearable at Teale Court, he’d simply steal out, rent a carriage, and drive himself home. The thought was soothing, and he was able to face the prospect of the next week with a lighter heart. After all, the possibility of escape is ever the consolation of the prisoner.
    As they traversed the southern part of Lancashire, Geordie was surprised to note how the landscape—a stretch of moor covered with heather—resembled Scotland. But as they trundled further north, the view unexpectedly became less and less northern. The moors gave way to low wooded hills, charmingly picturesque, and to gentle valleys covered with neat fields edged by rows of trees and crisscrossed by bubbling little rivulets. In the midst of this English charm sat Teale Court, a solemn-looking manor house of limestone built in the