Partridge and the Peartree Read Online Free PDF Page B

I'm
just…stuck, as well."
    Laurel tugged at her uncle's arm until he looked down
at her. "Uncle Phillip, you must help her get down."
    Phillip nodded and stepped up onto the bench. His
height allowed him to stand on the bench and easily reach the
branch that had caught her skirts. Leaning against the trunk for
balance, he reached a long arm out and carefully detached her
skirts from the tree's grasp. As soon as she was free, she took a
step down, but a pair of strong hands grasped her waist, and she
found herself lifted off the branch and settled safely on the
ground.
    Amelia stammered her thanks, but Phillip climbed up
into the tree and caught the kitten by the scruff of her neck.
Holding Sophie carefully, he dropped lightly to the ground and
offered the shivering kitten to her.
    Amelia could barely meet her rescuer's gaze. Heat
flooded her cheeks – was it from embarrassment, or was it
excitement from the physical contact with the handsome duke?
    "Thank you again, Your Grace. And I know my future
sister-in-law will be most grateful to you for rescuing her
Sophie."
    Phillip bowed. "I assure you, it was my
pleasure."
    Before Amelia could frame a response, Laurel took
Amelia's arm. "I'm so glad we found you at home today, Lady Amelia.
I need to speak to you. I've talked to Uncle Phillip, but he says I
need a woman's view, so I asked him to bring me here right
away."
    Amelia couldn't imagine what advice she could give
the distraught young woman, but she invited her to sit on the bench
with her. "How can I help, Laurel?"
    The girl launched into her tale. "It's Mama! She
wants me to have a season next year, and she has lots of plans for
dresses and parties, but I don't need all that to find a husband. I
don't want to marry anyone but Nicky!"
    Laurel's anxiety tugged at her heart. She could
sympathize with the girl's dilemma, having had wishes totally
against those of her parents. Amelia's own mother, rest her soul,
had cried endlessly at her only daughter's total lack of interest
in the selection of eligible bachelors attending the balls during
her season. A few of the gentlemen had even offered for her hand,
but she simply couldn't muster the enthusiasm for any of them and
had turned them down. "Why should I marry simply because a man
asks?" she'd said when her mother had pressed.
    But now, Amelia needed to choose her words wisely.
The young girl gazing her hopeful eyes toward her was the daughter
of her close friend, and probably as close to a daughter as she
would ever have. Her wishes might be different from those Amelia
had had as a young girl, but like hers, they were opposite what her
parents wanted. Or so she thought.
    "Have you explained how you feel to your mother,
Laurel? Does she know the young man?"
    "She knows him, but she thinks this is simply a
schoolgirl whim and that I should see what real gentlemen are like.
Oh, Lady Amelia, I don't need to see anyone else. No man would ever
compare to my Nicky!"
    She glanced at Phillip. "Nicky?"
    The duke cleared his throat. "Nicholas Kentridge,
second son of the Earl of Dunham."
    Though his voice had revealed nothing, his dark
expression told Amelia exactly what he thought of the young man.
Knowing the boy's identity, Amelia had to agree. The earl was a
rake, and according to rumor, his sons were cut from the same
cloth. But the love-struck girl wouldn't want to hear that.
    Amelia covered Laurel's hand with her own. "Does
Nicky feel the same? Has he expressed a desire for the two of you
to marry?"
    "Well…no, but I'm certain he will. It just wouldn't
be fair for me to encourage anyone else."
    "You wouldn't have to encourage anyone during your
season. But if you go along with your mother's plans, you can show
Nicky exactly how lovely and suitable you are."
    "Nicky's not interested in beauty." Laurel's eyes
gleamed, and her posture straightened as she spoke of her intended
beau. "He told me he admires my intellect and my artistic talent."
Amelia noticed Phillip turn his head