Miss Armistead Makes Her Choice Read Online Free PDF Page B

met and owned that it was likely he had a very good reason to break off his engagement to Miss Ponsonby. He seemed far too full of rectitude to take any action that would needlessly harm the young lady, therefore, it must have been he who was wronged. It was clear that he was the talk of the
ton
, and Elizabeth felt it a small wonder that he was unwilling to appear in company.
    “Well, Elizabeth, what have you to say to that?” her mother demanded.
    “That he is perhaps not the cad I first thought him,” she replied.
    “Cad? Of course not! Augusta has just been informing me of how he is the most eligible bachelor on the town! That is to say, he along with his bosom beau, Sir Anthony Crenshaw. I am persuaded that was he with Mr. Lloyd-Jones when we were nearly run over as we entered the milliner’s the other day.”
    “Yes, Mama, I remember.” Sir Anthony, if it were he, was indeed a handsome man, but he appeared to be a bit of a peacock. Elizabeth found Mr. Lloyd-Jones’ quieter dress and manner far more appealing. He was older than her betrothed and seemed to exude a purity of manliness andsophistication that could not fail to attract.
    “But of course you remember! How could one forget two such fine gentlemen?” her mother exclaimed. “And the other night, Mr. Lloyd-Jones was the perfect host and his home so inviting!”
    “You have been inside Mr. Lloyd-Jones’ home?” Aunt Augusta demanded.
    “Yes, we have done, and he was all that is lovely,” Elizabeth’s mother continued. “One of our team threw a shoe in the street directly in front of his house and he was so good as to allow us to warm our hands at his fire whilst a new shoe could be produced.”
    “Directly in front of his house,” Aunt Augusta echoed, her face turning pale.
    “It truly was pure happenstance,” Elizabeth hastened to assure her aunt. “We were none of us attempting to scrape up an acquaintance, I do assure you.”
    “It hardly matters what I think,” Aunt Augusta insisted. “It is what he believes to be true that could very well turn the tide of opinion against you. Well,” she said as she fanned the heat of shame from her face, “there is naught to be done about it, now. It is well, indeed, that you are not on the hunt for a husband, Elizabeth, as none shall give you a second glance once word of this gets out.”
    “It’s been days, already, Augusta,” Mrs. Armistead replied, “and though Elizabeth has not danced overmuch, Miss Hale has proven to be quite popular. If word were to get out, it should have been out already. I am persuaded such a gentleman as Mr. Lloyd-Jones shall continue to refrain from repeating the details of our visit to anyone whose opinion matters in the least.”
    “Let us hope you are correct,” her sister-in-law said with a huff. “I am not accustomed to championing gels who make cakes of themselves.”
    “Aunt Augusta, once again, though I am grateful for your sponsorship, I haven’t the need of it. I am only here tonight at Mama’s behest. I could spend our entire holiday in London without another waltz and should happily forfeit any number of parties for the chance to walk through the park in the cool of an evening.”
    “That is all very well and fine, young lady, but you might, even now, be long married if youhadn’t hampered the success of your own come-out when you were last in London,” Elizabeth’s aunt carped.
    “What is this about?” Elizabeth’s mother asked, her eyes round with curiosity.
    “It is nothing, Mama, only that I did not put myself out to seduce a man I did not love into offering for me.”
    “Men, Elizabeth. Not man; men,” Aunt Augusta pressed. “You could have had any one of them if only you hadn’t chosen bonnets of a hue that made you look dyspeptic and gowns that hid your figure rather than flatter it, not to mention that hideous coiffure that all but obscured your face.”
    “If my actions indicated a degree of ingratitude, it is a sensibility I