The Ideal Wife Read Online Free PDF Page A

in her a long-lost youthful love, Miles? You are not about to tell me that she is a complete stranger, are you? You are, aren’t you?”
    The earl motioned his friend to resume their walk toward White’s. They had met earlier, without design, at Jackson’s, the earl having gone there to spar, Sir Gerald to watch. “Do you ever stop to allow a fellow to answer a question?” he asked. “Yes, she was a stranger, Ger. But she is related to me in some manner. She did explain, but the explanation was complicated, and it pertained to how she was related to the old earl.”
    “She must be a stunner,” Sir Gerald said, frowning his disapproval. “But are you mad, Miles? You’ll be sorry in a week. Can’t you look all about you and see how very few satisfactory marriages there are—especially for the husbands? What is wrong with your life as it is now? You have your independence, you are master in your own house, you are free to come and go as you please, and you have Jenny. You didn’t really make her an offer, did you? You merely thought that you might do so at some future date? Don’t. You want the advice of a longtime friend? Don’t.”
    “Do you remember the woman I described to you last evening?” Lord Severn asked. “The one I would marry on the spot if someone would just place her there before me?”
    “Dull and ordinary?” Sir Gerald looked suspiciously at his friend.
    Lord Severn nodded. “Miss Gardiner is she,” he said. “I was immediately struck by the likeness, Ger. She is perfect. Not ugly, but plain. A little brown mouse. She has fine eyes, though. Quiet and disciplined and respectful without being cringing. Almost all she said to me was ‘Yes, my lord’ and ‘No, my lord.’ She has been dismissed from her employment because her employer’s husband has roving hands. She had come to ask me to help her find another post.”
    “And you did,” Sir Gerald said gloomily. “You actually asked her, Miles? She said yes, I suppose. She would have to be insane not to have done so.”
    “She said yes,” the earl said with a smile. “I thought you would be delighted for me, Ger. I thought we would celebrate together my narrow escape from Frances.”
    His friend brightened. “Your mother will change your mind,” he said. “And she will find some way to get you out of this mad betrothal in short order. The woman will have to be paid off. And then you must tell your mama that you are not going to marry Frances either. You have to learn to assert yourself where females are concerned, Miles.”
    “I will.” The Earl of Severn grinned. “I will have no trouble at all with Miss Gardiner, Ger. And my mother will have no power to change my mind by the time she arrives in town. I am going to be married by special license the day after tomorrow.”
    Sir Gerald stopped abruptly again, removed his high-crowned beaver, and ran a hand through his short fair curls. “Devil take it,” he said. “The woman must be a witch. You are going to regret this for a lifetime, Miles. I will be saying ‘I told you so’ before the month is out.”
    “I think not,” the earl said. “I think Miss Abigail Gardiner will suit me admirably. I believe she will make the ideal wife. Are you going to stand there all day admiring the scenery, Ger, or are you coming to White’s?”
    “The ideal wife!” Sir Gerald said scornfully, replacing his hat on his head and tapping it firmly into place. “There is no such thing, old chap. And it would be to your eternal benefit if you would realize that within the next two days.”

    “Y OU HAVE DONE WHAT ?” Laura Seymour was free of her duties in the schoolroom for the morning and had returned to her room to find Abigail pacing the floor there.
    “I have agreed to marry the Earl of Severn the day after tomorrow,” Abigail said, “and I don’t know whether I should collapse into a quivering jelly or roll on the floor with laughter. I don’t know if I am the mad one or if it is