The Spinster and the Rake Read Online Free PDF Page A

if you gave them half a chance.”
    “Your aunt doesn’t care for parties and having men at her feet,” Letty said sharply, forgetting her chocolates for the moment. “She’s quite content as she is.”
    Gillian looked up from her mending, a smile in the fine eyes. “Thank you, Letty. It’s always nice to be told when one is happy.”
    “Didn’t you actually meet Lord Marlowe?” Felicity asked hastily, throwing her slender body down beside her aunt, causing Gillian to prick herself with her needle. “I gather he’s terrifically handsome. I’ve simply been longing to meet him, but so far our paths haven’t crossed. I don’t suppose he’ll be allowed in Almack’s?”
    “It would be extremely unlikely,” Gillian allowed.
    “Well, frankly I think it rather tame myself, so I wouldn’t doubt he’d be just as happy not to have to go. Is he as handsome as they say he is?” she continued, ignoring her mother’s look of displeasure. “Ginny Elverston says he makes shivers run up and down her spine when he just looks at her. Did he do that to you?”
    “Certainly not!” Gillian lied unhesitatingly. “He’s far too old for you, Felicity. Close to forty, I would imagine. As for being handsome, well, I suppose he is, though I didn’t get that good a look at him. It was a dark, rainy night well over two weeks ago, and I am not certain I would even recognize him again if I were to see him. I am convinced he would not know me.”
    “And a good thing it is,” Letty piped up. “Lord Marlowe is not the sort of person Redferns associate with. If we’re forced to meet him we should be distantly polite, but that is all. Derwent says—”
    “Don’t you feel it’s a trifle warm in here, Letty?” Gillian wondered hastily.
    “Not in the slightest. Derwent says you’ve always been overheated. My fingers can be practically numb from the cold, and you suggest opening the windows! I trust you weren’t about to make any such callous suggestion?”
    “No, Letty,” Gillian said meekly. “I thought Felicity and I might go for a walk. I need some new ribbons for my green dress, and the air would do us good.”
    “Derwent does not approve of that dress, Gillian,” Letty said darkly. “Even with new ribbons. It’s too young for you.”
    “That’s as may be, but I happen to like it. The empire won’t collapse if I wear a dress that is a trifle frivolous,” Gillian replied with unimpaired good nature.
    “I would love to go with you, Gilly,” Felicity broke in quickly. “Is there anything we can get you, Mama?”
    Letty leaned back against the cushions, resting her plump arm along the tufted back. “Nothing, dear. I believe I shall have to rest this afternoon. I am absolutely exhausted,” she said in a plaintive voice. “If you do happen to pass the confectionary . . .”
    “We’ll get you some more chocolates,” Felicity supplied cheerfully. “Of course, Mama. You get a rest. You mustn’t overtire yourself.”
    “Someday,” she confided to Gillian a short while later as they were strolling down the sidewalk, “she will get too lazy even to breathe.”
    Gillian laughed. “Unkind girl. Your brothers and sisters can be very exhausting, you know.”
    Felicity nodded her head beneath the fetching green creation, whose bill had sent her father into a screaming tantrum a few short days ago. “I know that perfectly well. Which is why she leaves them entirely in your care except for holidays and when guests arrive.”
    “Hardly in my care, Felicity. Nurse and Miss Hammersmith do a marvelous job,” she said seriously. “But I didn’t bring you out with me to discuss the children.”
    “I was afraid of that,” Felicity said ruefully, her eyes downcast. “What have I done now?”
    “Done?” echoed Gillian, startled. “I wasn’t aware that you had done anything. Am I such an ogre that you always expect me to reprimand you?”
    “No, of course not, best of all my aunts! And besides, I’d rather