Read Carola Dunn for Free Online

see a lovely young lady, for Jas would demand nothing less. But Lady Cecily was not at all a milk-and-water, compliant female without a mind of her own. Every time he recollected his uncle’s stunned face when she confessed her outrageous sympathy for the fox, he felt his lips twitch. And every time he recollected her practical kindness to little Ben Diver, defying decorum, his heart swelled within him with an emotion he did not choose to identify.
     Oh yes, Lady Cecily had a mind of her own!
     Yet on one point Iain had not been mistaken. Jasper was not in love, and nor, he was quite certain, was Lady Cecily. They were on easy but nothing approaching intimate terms.
     She did not seek to meet his eyes, nor even follow him with her gaze. He did not attempt to be alone with her, nor even draw her aside from the others for a private word, as Iain would have if she were his...if he were in the same circumstances. Both were satisfied to make a suitable, indeed, a splendid match applauded equally by both families and all the rest of the Beau Monde.
     The aria ended to a scatter of applause, the most fervent from the least musical members of the family and those at the card-tables—including Jasper—who had not listened. Watching Lady Cecily closely, Iain saw her delightful nose wrinkle in a scarcely perceptible moue. She was not content with her own performance, he guessed.
     Someone called for another song. Lady Cecily sent a swift glance to her mother, who shook her head.
     “Good,” Elspeth murmured in Iain’s ear.
     “Pray hold me excused,” said Lady Cecily with an air of relief. “I am a little tired after the journey.”
     Bidding the company good night, Lady Flint bore her off to bed, and several other ladies admitted to fatigue and followed. Iain caught Elspeth’s arm as she rose.
     “What do you mean, ‘good’?” he said. “She sang no worse than most accomplished young ladies.”
     “Myself, for instance! But she dislikes performing, she told me. I was glad for her that her mama decided a second song would be putting herself forward.”
     “Ah, I see.” Driven by something within him, Iain asked, “Do you like her?”
     “Cecily? Very much. One cannot be certain, of course, but I believe she may have what it takes to make Jasper settle down.”
     “One must hope so,” Iain said, conscious of a hollow feeling, caused, he was sure, by his doubt over his cousin’s readiness to settle down, even with Lady Cecily. “They don’t seem particularly fond of each other.”
     “I daresay affection will grow once they are married. They are both likable people. Not everyone can fall desperately in love while jumping a five-barred gate side by side, as Tom and I did. Speaking of whom, he is bearing down upon me with a light in his eye which says ‘Time you retired to your rest, mother of my children.’ Good night, brother dear.”
     Iain watched them go, for the first time envious of their love.
     He and Jasper were the last to go up to bed. As they mounted the stairs together, Jasper said, “Well, coz, do you approve?”
     “Of Lady Cecily? She is...” enchanting? “...an excellent choice. Pretty and amiable, well-bred, and she will grow into the dignity required of a duchess.”
     “Dignity? Yes, I daresay. I confess,” his cousin mused, “she has more spirit than I gave her credit for. Perhaps marriage won’t be the intolerable bore I had anticipated.”
     Suppressing a shudder, Iain asked, “When do you mean to pop the question?”
     Jasper did shudder. “I feel the jaws of parson’s mousetrap closing upon me. I’ll put it off as long as I decently can.”
     “Not so long as to embarrass the lady!”
     “No, you’re right. I shall go on bended knee on New Year’s Day, so that Father can announce the betrothal to family, guests, servants and tenants at the Twelfth Night revels. Good enough?”
     “Good enough,” Iain affirmed, while a silent voice inside him cried,