Wishing For Rainbows (Historical Romance) Read Online Free PDF

did take her mind off him for a while, but only for a short while because her thoughts turned toward the flowers. Immediately that set her to wonder if Trenton had sent her the numerous bouquets of posies now sitting in her bedroom. She tried to decide what she would say to whoever told her that he had sent them. Should she thank him for them and move on? Was there something else she should say that wouldn’t encourage any future generous displays of interest?
    “Oh, there is Agatha. I must speak with her,” Adelaide cried, as she nodded toward a rather matronly lady who stopped her carriage to chat.
    While the ladies exchanged small talk, Ursula was temporarily free to turn her attention back to the park. Just on the other side of the iron railings, the vast lawns accommodated nannies pushing grand carriages while young children laughed and played nearby. Gentleman escorted ladies who glided regally around the pathways that wound through the autumnal splendour of their surroundings. It was by far the most wondrous place in all of London, and seemed a world away from the carriage filled streets and crowded pavements she was in the middle of.
    She glanced at her aunt and wished she could go for a brisker walk along the Ladies’ Mile. Adelaide always refused to walk all that way because she said there was nothing along the Mile worth experiencing except trees, but Ursula refused to give up her dreams.
    One day, she promised herself. One day, I will walk that mile.
    “There is nobody to talk to,” Adelaide declared with a huff when her friend’s carriage pulled away and the street was temporarily empty of acquaintances she wanted to converse with.
    “Me?” Ursula quipped.
    “Nonsense child, I talk to you all the time.”
    Ursula sighed. She suspected she knew the answer already but felt driven to ask anyway. “Shall we walk the Ladies’ Mile today?” She mentally crossed her fingers and waited.
    “Oh no, not the Mile,” Adelaide gasped. “I can talk to you whenever I want to. I need not walk a mile to do it. I know people do, but it is far more interesting to walk amongst the crowded pavements here and speak to people in the carriages. No, we shall endeavour to take our usual stroll so we can avoid the chosen few, and then we shall take tea at home in front of the fire as usual. Ah, there is Lady Andover,” Adelaide declared as though Ursula cared. “I do so need to speak with her about her forthcoming ball next Friday.”
    Hopes dashed, Ursula groaned at the prospect of having to attend yet another ball. She had been in London a few weeks now and her head was already whirling from the endless rounds of engagements that filled the diary to almost bursting. She had to wonder how at one and eighty, Adelaide kept up with it all.
    Sensing Ursula’s disquiet, Adelaide threw her a rueful look. “I must speak to Lady Andover, then we can go for a walk in the park if you would like, dear?” Adelaide suggested.
    She knew that Ursula was impatient to get moving, but felt driven to ensure that her niece fulfilled her father’s wish and socialised whenever possible. Taking a stroll was more than enough to ease her into the constant round of social engagements without making her feel trapped, threatened, or ill-at ease. Adelaide studied the area and smiled as she thought of the flowers that had arrived that morning. So far, everything was going more than well; they were going splendidly in fact. If everything went according to plan, Jeremiah would have his wish, and Ursula would be wed before she turned five and twenty. Whether she would return to Yorkshire though had yet to be seen. If her husband turned out to be from London, Jeremiah’s wish could quite literally backfire on him. However, that was another problem for another day.
    “Oh, Good Lord,” she murmured when her attention was captured by a rather ebullient lady who was charging toward them with all the enthusiasm of an excited cocker spaniel.
    “Hello