Unforgiven (The Horsemen Trilogy) Read Online Free PDF

severe disappointment to both himself on the one hand and his mother and sisters on the other to be separated for the holiday. But it was time he became more familiar with the property he had inherited on Sir Basil Hayes’s demise, if Lady Hayes and Miss Hayes would excuse such plain speaking—a separate bow to each—and called upon his neighbors so that they might become acquainted with the new baronet of Penwith. And of course he would delight in the opportunity of giving his company during the Christmas celebrations to his two relatives—yet another bow—one of whomhe hoped would have formed a closer relationship to him by the morrow. He smiled almost coquettishly at Moira.
    In the drawing room after dinner, Sir Edwin asked Moira to play the pianoforte for her dear mama’s entertainment and his own. He loved nothing better, it seemed, than listening to a recital on the pianoforte performed by a lady of taste and refinement. After Moira had started to play, he raised his voice and explained to Lady Hayes that all three of his sisters were accomplished on the pianoforte, though Cecily’s talents lay more in her voice, whose sweetness she had inherited from their mother. Miss Hayes’s performance was commendable though it might be found, if put to the test, that Christobel’s touch was lighter. Nevertheless, Lady Hayes must be proud of her daughter.
    Yes, Lady Hayes was.
    And he, too, Sir Edwin assured her, leaning toward her and inclining his head in an elegant half bow, would be proud of Miss Hayes when he had a right to be proud and not merely delighted by her display of musical talent. By then, of course—he smiled conspiratorially—she would no longer be Miss Hayes but would have been elevated to a superior rank.
    Sir Edwin retired to bed at a respectable hour, having bowed over the ladies’ hands and assured them that the following day was surely to be the most important day—and perhaps the happiest—of his life.
    It would be the most important day of hers too, Moira thought after she had retired and throughout a largely sleepless night. She doubted it would be the happiest. She did not want to marry Sir Edwin. He was even more pompous and dull and fussy than sheremembered. When she had met him the first time, of course, she had not been looking at him as a prospective husband. She feared that living with him for the rest of a lifetime would be a severe trial. And his mother, she recalled, was in many ways similar to him. But sometimes in life, one’s choices were cut to almost none at all. If she had only herself to consider, perhaps there would still be some choice. But there was Mama to think about and so there was no point in thinking in terms of choices. She fixed her mind on her future children.
    She ate breakfast the next morning with a determinedly calm and cheerful aspect. She really had no viable alternative than to accept the offer that was about to be made, she told herself yet again. She and her mother had no independent means. At the age of six-and-twenty she had no other matrimonial prospects. It would be thoroughly irresponsible, both for her mother’s sake and her own, to refuse Sir Edwin Baillie. And his faults, though many, were at least not vices. She could be faced with having to accept a gambler or a drinker or a womanizer or all three. Sir Edwin was without a doubt thoroughly respectable.
    And so, when he presented himself to her, after a great deal of pomp and ceremony and bowing and smirking, in the morning room when morning was almost over, she quietly accepted the marriage offer, which he was sure would not surprise her but which he was consoled into believing would gratify her. She allowed her newly betrothed to pronounce himself the happiest of men and to kiss her hand, though he apologized profusely for allowing happiness to drive him to such levity.
    The wedding, he informed Lady Hayes and Moira overluncheon, although personal inclination would urge him to have it