The Wolfe Wager Read Online Free PDF Page A

be done with this travesty of finding me a husband. I wish only to return to Wolfe Abbey.”
    Her aunt’s long fingers stroked her hair. “Dear child, you know your father left you to my care because he was sure I would do the best for you.”
    “Marrying the wrong man is not the best thing for me.”
    “Indeed.” Standing, Aunt Carolyn assisted Vanessa to her feet. “And that is why we must remain a part in the Season until you find the man who is best for you. Go to bed, child. You have a fitting at Madame deBerg’s tomorrow morning.”
    Vanessa murmured a good night and, giving her aunt a quick kiss on the cheek, hurried up the stairs. As she walked toward her bedroom door, she ignored the grim faces of her ancestors in the portraits hanging in a row over the gold-striped wallpaper. Why were they so dour? They had not had to endure this Marriage Mart!
    She laughed ironically. She was enjoying parts of the Season. Going to the theater with Aunt Carolyn, strolling through the Park, being with her newfound friends—she loved that part of Town. If only her brother could have been here to laugh with her over the men who were anxious to wed her for the Abbey, it would have been perfect. Of course, those eager suitors would have scanty interest in her then because Corey would possess the Abbey.
    Only one lamp lit her bedroom, but Vanessa needed no light. The chamber seemed too cozy after her massive room in the Abbey. She had to own—albeit reluctantly—that this chamber with its light pink walls and chintz curtains had become a welcome sanctuary from the Season’s craziness. Here, where she could look out over the green in the middle of the Square, she might imagine, for a moment, she was back in the Abbey and listening for her father’s gruff voice and Corey’s answer.
    Her abigail helped her change into a lacy, muslin nightgown. Leale did not ask if Vanessa had enjoyed her evening, and Vanessa was grateful. The gray-haired woman had accepted Vanessa’s lack of interest in the Season. Yet, how surprised Leale would be if Vanessa spoke of the viscount and her reaction to his teasing eyes and strange comments!
    Vanessa scowled at the thought. “’Tis nothing,” she reassured Leale quickly to soothe her abigail’s dismay.
    “You’re frowning, Lady Vanessa. Such expressions can freeze into your face.” She clucked under her breath. “Then who would wish to marry you?”
    “I think it would matter not if I was as ugly as a fishwife.”
    “Lady Vanessa!”
    “Forgive me,” she said, smiling. “I’m just tired.”
    For once, she thought her abigail would refuse to accept such a nebulous answer. Then the short woman went, mumbling, into the dressing room to hang up Vanessa’s gown.
    Running her fingers along the polished edge of her dressing table, Vanessa stared at the closed door. It would be most unfortunate if Lord Brickendon was as boring as the other men who had vied for her hand.
    She frowned and pushed Lord Brickendon from her head. She must think of only one thing … her brother. She went to her chest of drawers and knelt to open the lowest one. Each night she took out the packet that was wrapped in a strip of cambric, and each night she returned it to its cache beneath her small-clothes in the bottommost drawer.
    Tears filled her eyes, but she allowed none of them to fall as she unwound the material to reveal a miniature in a circular frame. She pressed her finger to her lips, then to the tiny face. Looking into eyes of the same gray as her own, she sat back on her heels.
    “Corey, nothing yet, but don’t lose hope. I shan’t.”
    “Lady Vanessa?”
    Vanessa hastily wrapped the portrait and hid it. Closing the drawer, she jumped to her feet. Vanessa did not dare to trust even Leale with her hopes. She was unsure if Leale would speak of them to Aunt Carolyn. She did not want her aunt to discover she still clung to the hope her brother was alive on the opposite side of the Channel.
    Corey Wolfe,