The Irish Bride Read Online Free PDF Page B

you?”
    “Her father, though wise enough in most things, has taken to heart an old tradition. The youngest daughter may not many before the eldest.”
    “A foolish custom. Though my own sisters love one another dearly, such a tradition would only breed resentment. I would not honor it.”
    “I would you were my love’s brother. Maybe you could convince her father to give me what I want without waiting until a miracle occurs.”
    “Then the older girl is so ugly that no man wants her?”
    David hesitated, biting his knuckle. “I’ll not hide the truth from you,” he said, making his decision. “She’s fair enough, if you like red hair. In addition, her father has promised a thousand pounds dowry to the man who marries her.”
    “She sounds a prize,” said Nick, thinking more of the money than of her virtues. “But you’ve more than hinted that there’s a catch.”
    “Plainly spoken, the girl’s a shrew. Everyone in the house goes in fear of her viperish tongue. Even her father, who should be able to school her, dares not take a second egg at breakfast without reference to her. She even has the temerity to put her nose into his business. I forgot to tell you that the family is in trade, but that should not signify.”
    “You are not thinking that I should marry this woman to make your path clear for the younger?”
    David nodded, his eyes hopeful. “If someone doesn’t marry her, Blanche will die a virgin.”
    “Blanche?”
    “Blanche Ferris,” David said as though the words were honey in his mouth.
    “I met the Misses Ferris yesterday,” Nick said slowly. “Their carriage had thrown a wheel.”
    “Then you’ve seen Blanche? Isn’t she an angel?”
    “She was quite attractive.” Nick held up his hand to stem David’s raptures. “I met the elder Miss Ferris as well.
    She seemed a trifle severe, perhaps, but she did not impress me as being so very shrewish.”
    “You must have seen her in a soft mood; something rare with her if gossip is to be believed.”
    “Oh, if this report of her is mere gossip ..,”
    “Gossip rarely lies. Besides, I have heard hints from Blanche as well. It makes my blood boil to think how she is mistreated!”
    Nick tried to picture Rietta Ferris. Though she did not shine in his memory the way her sister did, he could recall a straight nose and determined chin. Perhaps she’d been somewhat forbidding, but he’d hardly noticed her. He imagined himself married to her, then tried to imagine himself married at all. On both accounts, he failed.
    “Sorry, David. I’m not so hard up as that.”
    “You said you’d be willing to be a highwayman—marriage is an easier fit than the noose.”
    “I may have said it, but no one has come to me with a detailed plan to rob the Royal Mail, either. I’d say no to a proposal of that sort just as I do to yours.”
    David sat back and picked up his glass. “It was worth a try. If you hear of any other man of equal poverty and fewer scruples, send him my way.”
    “I will. Come to think of it, my sister has a suitor I should be glad to see fobbed off onto another.”
    “Who’s that?”
    “Robbie Staines.”
    “Oh, no. Rietta wouldn’t look at him.”
    “You mean, he tried—”
    “That he did. All but hanging on the knocker. But his reputation preceded him. By all I heard, she had some harsh things to say about wastrel second sons. That is why you would be ideal. Title, property, everything handsome about you—even your person, in some lights, is not too terrifying. The girl needn’t wear a veil to bed to block the sight of you.”
    “You’re too kind.”
    David grinned. “Always happy to oblige a friend. Well, if you won’t, you won’t.” He drank. “Seems a pity, though. If it weren’t for Blanche, I’d have a go at Rietta myself. I’d soon school her to keep quiet.”
    “You’d marry for money?”
    “I’d marry for a barrel of herring, the way things have been. The price of everything has been inordinately