The Earl's Design of Love: The Stenwick Siblings Read Online Free PDF Page B

but she cared about them both a great deal.
    Percy shook his head.  “He was a very hard man.  I miss the responsibilities I didn’ t have when he was alive, but I don’t miss him at all.” 
    “I’m sorry.”  Diana felt badly for him.  She had a good relationship with both of her parents, despite their constant attempts to marry her off.  “Are you close to your mother?”
    “Not really.  She’s a lot more focused on my sisters than she ever has been on me.  My father didn’t care about much except his own interests.”
    Diana was glad she’d never had to live through anything like that.  They spotted one of his younger sisters with her companion racing across the lawn toward the stable.  “Could they have just figured it out?”
    He sighed.  “Charlotte is not exactly known for her brain.”  He looked down at her.  “More importantly, what was their aura?”  He watched her intently as she looked at the young couple sprinting across the property.
    “It’s yellow.  It’s a very middle of the road color.  They wouldn’t be good, but they wouldn’t be terrible.  If I saw them together at a ball, I wouldn’t interfere.”
    “Oh good.  So they could be content together?”
    She nodded.  “Most people are going to fall into the middle range.  They’ll be content, but never truly happy.  If they fall in the dark blue or purple, true happiness together is possible.”
    “When you see Lucy with her companion, let me know if they’re compatible.”
    “I will.  Truly?  I wouldn’t interfere if Charlotte fell in love with Stephen.  If he makes her happy, then she should marry him.”   She shrugged.  “Only when people are red do I do anything at all, and then only if they haven’t proceeded as far as engagement.”
    “But you said he couldn’t make her truly happy?”
    She sighed.  “There’s a feeling of euphoria that everyone experiences when they first fall in love.  Even people who aren’t truly compatible.  If she experiences that with him, and seems happy, don’t stop them from marriage.”  Charlotte didn’t have much hope of marrying the man who was right for her anyway, because she happened to know the man was already married.
    “But I want my sisters to have the ultimate happiness.”
    “Well, then be a mean big brother and pick out their husbands, but don’t expect them to forgive you when you’re done.”  She looked away from him out toward the gazebo where they were walking.  She knew he wanted what was best for his sisters, but he had to realize he would push them away if he was too controlling.
    He sighed.  “I guess we can just do our best to push them toward men they should be with.”
    “We?”
    He patted her hand which was still tucked into the crook of his arm.  “We.”
    The clues got sillier and sillier as the day wore on.  It was obvious the only thing his mother had worried about with the scavenger hunt was that each couple got as much time alone together as possible.  She’d apparently started them all at different places so they wouldn’t run into one another too much.
    Percy watched her as they walked, thinking about what it would be like to be married.  He would ask her to sign an agreement that all money from her dowry be set aside for their children.  He had no desire for her money.  He wanted things to continue as they were with him supporting his mother and sisters fully.  He didn’t ever want her, or anyone else, to think that he’d married her merely to get out of the debt his father had created with his gambling.   She was the only woman he’d ever met that he was willing to ask to share his life even though the full debt wasn’t yet repaid.  He knew she wouldn’t care.
    He loved the way the sun shone off her blond hair and the way her eyes lit up with laughter at his mother’s more unfortunate clues.  When they reached the last of their clues (They knew it was the last, because it was clearly labeled,