Read Miss George's Second Chance for Free Online

hand covering hers. “Or is it you who is unhappy with the prospect of my living with you for the rest of my life?”
    “Of course not,” he spluttered. “I only want what’s best for you.”
    “And I you, which is why this might be the perfect time to discuss a solution.” She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Hard decisions were always best handled with direct speech and no delay. “I’ve been considering my situation since I first lost my vision. I am a burden on you, Walter, and I will be a nuisance to the lady you will marry one day.”
    “There is no one, that is to say, I have no plans to marry as yet.”
    Walter would never have time to pursue a bride if he was always looking after her. He likely didn’t even realize the full extent of the burden her lack of sight placed on him. “But at some time you will wish to have a family of your own, a lady to love and spend time with, and well, to be blunt, I doubt any woman would want to share a house with me. They would come to regard me as a burden and I do not ever wish to be that to your happiness.”
    “You’re not a burden.” He gasped. “Don’t ever think that.”
    She patted Walter’s hand and drew back. “I should like you to write to Hawke and arrange for the purchase of a small house with my fortune. Once that is settled, I will ask your help in interviewing a companion to care for me in my new abode. With your aid, and perhaps the assistance of a few discerning friends, and the Perkins’ of course, I am sure I can be perfectly content.”
    “You’re not leaving my house and my protection,” he growled out, startling her with the tone of his voice.
    Regardless of his intentions, she would have her way in the end. “That decision is not yours to make. Would you rather I walk out that door under my own steam, with no one to guide me away from trouble or catastrophe? If you help, you may be easy with the situation. Of course, you would be welcome to come for a visit at any time.”
    The chair Walter sat in gave a groan, as if he had rocked back on only two of the legs. “And have you planned where this little cottage of yours will be located?”
    “I remember Fulking being very pleasant and quiet for an invalid.”
    “No. That’s too far away.” His chair scraped and his steps were loud as he paced the room. “I won’t consider it and cease referring to yourself as an invalid. The whole notion is entirely unacceptable. You would never see your friends often enough.”
    “Walter, please. You must understand how difficult it is to live half a life when everyone around you is in the thick of it.” She turned in her chair and hoped she faced him. “Miss Radley has begged me to watch her challenge some fellow in a swimming race. It is beyond ridiculous. I won’t be able to see her triumph or fail. I spend my days with only my imagination to keep me company. I cannot embroider, I cannot make house calls, I cannot write or do the things most ladies take for granted. The torture of inactivity, of uselessness, with endless hours staring into the darkness is intense. What else is there for me to do with myself?”
    “You used to play the pianoforte very well.”
    “When I was nine. I gave it up and wrote when I should have been practicing. I’m enough of a burden as I am without assaulting your ears by trying to learn again.” Imogen threw her napkin on the table when she heard the clink of glass against the decanter. “Were you going to pour your blind sister a glass as well or just get foxed on your own?”
    “You heard that?”
    “Blind not stupid.” Imogen sighed and stood, her appetite gone. “I hear far too much and not all of it good. Every whisper and snicker is mine to cherish in the dark hours of my life. Excuse me. I rather wish you’d left me to my own company tonight.”
    She fumbled for her walking stick and left the room with her head high and as much dignity as she could muster. She was a burden to her