Let Me Be The One Read Online Free PDF Page B

who found the colonel's inquiries interfering. It was just as well he was often abroad. Had he served here, I probably would have been forbidden to visit him. As it turned out, I was able to write him steadily over the years. I believe the colonel watched me grow up through my letters."
    "Then you are close."
    "Yes, I like to think we are." Elizabeth's fine features did not so much soften as ease. "I will write to him this very evening and allay his concerns. It is something of a surprise that he has not commanded me to appear."
    "He entertained it. He thought you might refuse."
    "And it would never do to mutiny in front of one of his soldiers. That's what you are, is it not? One of his soldiers."
    "I believe I said as much. It makes little difference that I no longer wear a uniform. Neither does he."
    Elizabeth looked down at her hands. They were folded quietly in her lap, yet she knew if she unclasped them the finest of tremors would be running through her fingers. "What precisely is the nature of your assignment?" she asked calmly. "You've been quite clear that it does not involve leg-shackling."
    Northam listened for any note of disappointment in her tone and heard none. His impression remained that she was relieved. He decided to press her a bit."I am not considered a bad catch, you know. Mothers parade their daughters in front of me. At Almack's I am often called upon to partner young girls who are taking their first waltz."
    "Now that is high praise indeed."
    He went on as if she had not commented. "I am thought to be not without some qualities to recommend me. I have been told I have a modestly handsome face. I have my wits about me. On occasion I have been known to use them." Northam saw that while Lady Elizabeth appeared to be studying the pattern of violets in her dress, she was also tamping down a smile. "I am a steady friend. I attend church more Sundays than I fish. I make wagers as the mood strikes me, but I have never gambled what I could not afford to lose. I am passionate about horses and Mrs. Wedge's roast beef. There is little else that raises my blood. I drink in moderation and I speak tolerably well of others."
    "You, sir, are a paragon, and I find myself regretting the colonel did not fancy himself a matchmaker." She glanced at him and made no effort to hide the laughter in her eyes. "Does that satisfy your wounded sensibilities?"
    "It certainly helps. Thank you."
    "Who is Mrs. Wedge?"
    "The cook at Hampton Cross. She's been in residence since there was a Hampton Cross." He saw Elizabeth's skeptical look. He held up his right hand, palm out. "It is only a slight exaggeration, I swear it. She was easily a hundred years old when I was boy. It is of constant amazement to me that she does not age at all, while I continue to grow older."
    A strand of hair loosed itself from the ribbon wound through Elizabeth's curls. She tucked it behind her ear only to have it fall forward again. It tickled her as the breeze buffeted it against her cheek. "Every home must have one Mrs. Wedge," she said. "At Rosemont we have Mrs. Gatchel. I cannot say that her roast beef is in any way remarkable, but I have never tasted a steak-and-kidney pie that compares."
    Northam's eyes were fixed on the hair fluttering at Elizabeth's cheek. "I do not think I can summon any sort of passion for steak-and-kidney pie."
    Elizabeth brushed at the strand again, this time a bit self-consciously. "I see your point." From somewhere behind her there was a shriek of laughter. Elizabeth turned to look back on the guests. Lord Allen was gesticulating wildly to a group of avid onlookers. She faintly could hear them calling out to him. "They're playing charades," she said. "Perhaps you would care to join them?"
    "No," Northam said firmly. "I would not."
    "It appears your friends are going to enter the game."
    "That does not entice me in the least." He drew in a breath, bracing himself, and gallantly posed the question. "Would you prefer to play?"
    She