Lady Adventuress 02 - The Education of Lord Hartley Read Online Free PDF Page A

the door.
    “Ah, that will be your aunt. After I have spoken with her, she will explain to you all the gowns and trousseaus and other such wedding particulars.”
    Maggie turned to watch her aunt come into the study. Lady Compton took one look at her and correctly interpreted the mutinous look on Maggie’s face. She gave a subtle shake of her head.
    “Maggie, my dear, I must speak to your father in private. Please wait for me in the parlour. I shall be along shortly.”
    Flinging one last defiant look at her father, Maggie left the room.
    She would not be so easily trampled.
    *
    With the uncanny way she had of being able to guess when Maggie was in distress, Cecile entered the parlour, bringing Maggie a warm shawl to stave off the slight chill of the morning.
    Maggie thanked her, though she wasn’t cold.
    No, she was furious . So much so that she was barely coherent. Not only had she lost her Season, her one opportunity to escape the confines of Chenefelt, but along with it had gone any chance of love or a happy union. What could she do?
    Her father could not force her to marry anybody, but he could and would do his very best to bully her. Could she defy him indefinitely?
    He could cut off her monthly allowance. She had the money her mama had left her, of course, but Maggie could hardly set up her own establishment in town. The notion was nothing short of scandalous, and she wouldn’t be received by any respectable persons following such an adventure.
    For one desperately fanciful moment she imagined what it would be like for Hart to come galloping up to the house early the next morning, to rescue her from the clutches of the thoroughly vile Mr Stanhope. How grand it would be, to be swung up onto his horse, and carried off to a whole new life…
    But Hart was already in London and Maggie would have to do all her own rescuing.
    Unable to sit still or continue with the beading on the new dress because she would likely ruin her work in a fit of temper, she began pacing the parlour again.
    She felt completely alone. There was no one she could ask for help, and yet she was equally unable to find a solution herself in her over-wrought state. She wished she could see Frederick. He would have helped her fight papa, and he would have come up with some clever way out of her miserable predicament.
    She became aware that Cecile was still with her, looking on with concern. Cecile had always had a good head on her shoulders. Blood relation or not, she was the closest Maggie had to a sister.
    Deciding to entrust Cecile with the greatest dilemma of her life, Maggie told her the whole story, voice trembling and eyes flashing.
    “I cannot do it. What a bag of moonshine! I will not marry cousin Stanhope,” she finished at last, knowing this to be truer than anything she had ever said in her life.
    “What other choice have you?” Cecile asked sympathetically, visibly uncertain of how much else she could say without making matters worse.
    “I don’t know. I am not certain how I mean to go on yet. Only, I must think of something. I have my inheritance, and my mother’s jewellery, though I hope I shall not come to having to sell the diamonds.”
    Before Cecile could reply, Maggie stopped her pacing.
    “I may not be able to set up my own establishment here, in England, but I may just be able to take a house elsewhere. Scotland, perhaps. Only, it is so dreary and cold there… No. Paris is the place to go.”
    “Paris?” Cecile was astonished.
    Maggie looked out of the window, at the grey day beyond.
    “Yes, marvellous Paris, where we don’t know a soul. There is one thing to be said for having had a series of French governesses: they impart a native command of that language. I couldn’t get on so well in Italy or Germany. It must be France and it must be Paris. I would miss Frederick, of course. And Hart… But who knows. Perhaps we shall meet again one day.”
    She turned back to Cecile. “Oh, please do not look so despondent. I