Lady of the Rose Read Online Free PDF Page A

old. With one last look at the
wild roses, she turned away from the wood and walked slowly down
the hill alone.
    By some design or lucky
happenstance, Harriet was placed in a carriage with only George and
Lillian for the ride back to the Hall, so it was a very pleasant
trip. Between George's dry humor and Lillian's exact impressions of
everyone from Lady Whitney to Mrs. York, Harriet did not stop
laughing the whole way back. She stepped down from the carriage
feeling light and warm, seeking only an hour or so in Margaret's
company to make her contentment complete.
    ~~~
     

Part Two
     
    Over the next few days, Harriet was
a part of several parties, picnics and walks and rides across the
grounds. There were always many people, sometimes people Harriet
had never seen before, and yet somehow, Harriet and George were
almost always left on their own for a large part of the afternoon.
They were just returning from a walk through the garden, during
which an increasingly irate Lady Whitney had been forced to explain
the qualities and origin of every plant they came across to a
rapturous Lillian, leaving George and Harriet to walk the rest of
the path together. Despite herself, she was enjoying her time at
the Hall, and smiling, she turned to tell George, when a waiting
figure caught her eye.
    Standing in front of the entrance to
the Hall was a man, tall and well-dressed with a shock of bright
red hair and deep brown eyes behind large circular glasses. At the
sight of him, all the pleasant, warm feelings inside Harriet
evaporated, replaced by an empty cold space under her breast
bone.
    “Are you alright?” George's voice in
her ear and his hand on her elbow made Harriet realize that she had
stopped right in the middle of the path. Louisa looked at her, eyes
filled with concern. Lillian rushed past her, head down, eyes
averted, brushing against her side in her haste.
    Harriet spoke through clenched
teeth, “I'm fine.” She pulled her arm out of George's grasp and
approached her brother.
    “Harriet,” he smiled and moved
towards her, arms wide. Harriet stepped back, and his arms dropped,
though the smile did not waver. “I am glad to see you.”
    “Why are you here,
Lucas?”
    Lucas shrugged, “Mother said you
would be here, and I wanted to see you. It has been some time since
we've seen each other, after all.”
    Harriet laughed, but this time, it
was a cold, derisive noise, and she hated the sound of it. “Yes,
some time. Nearly a year, as I recall.”
    Finally, the smile dropped off his
face. He looked tired, and somewhat sad. “I've been busy, Harriet,”
he spoke quietly.
    The cold place inside her was
suddenly full of fiery, burning anger. It rose up her throat, and
she had to open her mouth and let it out, or be consumed by it. She
didn't bother to keep her voice down as she advanced on him, “Much
too busy for your family, I see. Whatever could have happened now
to pull you away from your busy and important life? Father's
illness wasn't enough to make you leave. Letters from your family
begging you to come home weren't enough. You left me here then to
attend to it all alone. What is it then, Lucas? What, tell me,
finally got you here?”
    “Harry, I'm getting
married.”
    The rest of her tirade died in her
throat, “Married? When?” She was still angry, but curiosity
overtook all other emotions. She had heard nothing of a courtship
or an engagement from any of her relatives. “And to
whom?”
    “Her name is Violet,” he said
through a goofy grin. He looked absolutely smitten; there was no
other word for it. “She is the most lovely creature I have ever set
eyes on. We will be married at once. I came to introduce her to...
my family,” he finished, after a pause.
    Harriet knew that he had been about
to say Father's name and realized the error, but not in time to
stop her rage from returning in full measure.
    “Congratulations, but I, for one,
will not be able to attend. Someone has to stay here and take