Lord Devere's Ward Read Online Free PDF

thoughtfully.
    Pauline bounced in her seat with joy. “As long as no jumping up and down occurs,” Anna added, eyeing her lively child.
    “Do you ride?” Louisa asked Kate.
    “Yes, of course,” said Kate. “Is there a spare mount in your stable for me to borrow?”

    “Yes, and we will have a habit sewn,” said Lady Anna.
    “You’re very kind. I love riding above all things.”
    “I think a navy or midnight blue, with her eyes,” said Louisa. “Oh! I can just see it, with a fine white feather curling over her bonnet.”
    Pen laughed. “Are clothes all you think of, child?”
    “Yes, quite. And why not, sir? In a few months these carefree days will be over, and I shall have to think of getting married.” Her small face clouded.
    “Why so somber, niece?” asked Quinn. “Like you not the married state?”
    “Well, you do not, as you have not wed,” answered Louisa pertly. “But I accept my lot in life.
    Still, what if there is no one for me in London?” Kate smiled. “Your mirror must be faulty,” she said. Louisa stared, apparently surprised. Kate continued, “I predict you will struggle to choose between your suitors.”
    “But never you mind,” spoke up Quinn. “I’ll ensure no rakes or triflers approach. Guard you like a lion!” He curled his fingers into claws.
    Everyone laughed, including Kate. The Earl, with his large, brown eyes and lean frame, couldn’t have looked less leonine.
    The Penroses apparently eschewed the custom of separating the genders after dinner when they dined informally in the country. Feeling too tired to linger over the savory, Kate begged leave to retire early from the assembled family.

    Weary to her bones, she knew she’d finally achieved the safety she craved. As she lay in her bed, mulling over the events of the day, she basked in a sense of comfort and security she had not experienced since before the final illness and death of her grandfather. A new, happier chapter of her life had begun. She could count herself lucky.
    The weeks at Badham Abbey had been a long period of bored discomfort punctuated by moments of startling fear. The news that her Uncle Herbert had written to her guardian to request her hand in marriage to Cousin Osborn had energized Kate. She had penned her own letter to Devere and attempted to send it through the solicitor. She now believed it to have been diverted—most likely stolen—by Herbert or Osborn.
    When she had tried to leave the estate on horseback to ride to the nearest village, she’d found every gate leading out of the grounds chained and locked. Then, Herbert had learned of her aborted departure from a gossipy stable hand. That same night he’d locked her in the attic “Until you are more agreeable, my dear!” His unctuous voice still echoed in her mind. She shuddered, moving her legs restlessly in the soft linen sheets of the Penrose’s guest bed.
    She blessed her hoydenish childhood, which had enabled her to escape from the abbey. Had she been a less athletic girl, she’d have been trapped in that cold tower until the Second Coming.

    After her grief, anger and terror at the cards fortune had dealt her, help had come from a most unexpected quarter. Quinn Tyndale, the Earl of Devere. She smiled to herself at the memory of his image the first moment she saw him. Such a silly looking fellow, in his nightdress and cap! But he certainly had accomplished a great deal for her in only one day.
    She admired the decisive way he had taken charge; however, she could not think his acts stemmed from pure motives. She had seen the odd, brooding way he looked at her. He had packed her off to the country as soon as he could get her away from his home in London.
    She concluded she was an unwelcome,
    unrequested responsibility. Quinn was a bachelor, evidently by choice. He could not desire the obligation of overseeing her until she attained the age of majority. Nor could Lady Anna and Sir Pen, kind though they might be, revel in her