Read Let it be Me (Blue Raven) for Free Online Page B

close this room off until repairs can be made . . .”
    “Close the room off? We cannot very well close it off from the street, can we? What will people say about us living in such conditions? Why will young men want to call when they have to weather that eyesore to do so?”
    Bridget’s heart sank at her mother’s words. She was too tired, too sad to contradict her by saying that no young men were going to come calling—at least not until Amanda made her debut in two years’ time.
    The situation was disheartening all around.
    “All right, all right,” Lord Forrester was saying, holding up his hands. “We can remove from the house, then. I’m certain we can find a suitable one to rent, or perhaps Sarah’s new home can sustain us until the repairs are done . . .”
    But a furious look lit his wife’s eyes. “I am not about to impose on my newly married daughter with our entire family! I doubt Jackson would much appreciate the intrusion, either. As for letting a house—nothing would be available on short notice. Oh! Why don’t you understand? I’ve absolutely had it with winter altogether!”
    The sisters, meanwhile, watched their parents’ heated conversation in a mild state of shock.
    “Bridget,” Amanda whispered, taking a small step back and pulling her sister with her, “have you ever seen them argue like this?”
    “No,” Bridget whispered back. “Not in front of us, at least.” Indeed, their parents were usually very good about presenting a united front to their children, keeping any heated discussions behind closed doors. But now, with the pressures of a failing Little Season; a daughter who was not only “not taking,” but seemed to prove repellent; and a tree through the house, cracks were beginning to show in their mother’s usual practicality.
    And Bridget knew it was her fault.
    Not the tree, of course, but the other failures and catastrophes rested on her shoulders. After all, she had been the one who couldn’t help telling the Parrishes that she would have Carpenini for a teacher, and she was the one who let her doubts overcome her on the stage when she had learned of the Signore’s changed travel schedule.
    When they came home after last night’s musical debacle, her mother had said nothing. No recriminations, no lectures. And Bridget felt worse for it. It was as if through silence, her mother had said she finally realized that Bridget was beyond saving.
    Yes, Bridget was tired of the winter, too.
    “Well, then,” their father was saying, stepping bravely back into the fray and trying to fix things, “perhaps you ladies should return to Primrose! I have to stay in London on Historical Society business, I’m afraid, but it must be much more cozy to the south.”
    Their mother snorted. “Primrose Manor is practically on the sea! The winds alone are freezing, and they’ve likely knocked another dozen trees into our home!”
    “My dear, short of hibernating or removing winter altogether, I can see no way around the season but to wait it out!” their father harrumphed. Apparently the cracks were beginning to show for him, too.
    “Remove winter altogether?” Amanda asked quietly, in their own corner of the hall. “What a strange notion.”
    “Indeed, how might one remove winter, do you imagine?” Bridget replied as brightly as she could manage. “Setting large fires at appropriate intervals?”
    “Building a large ship that takes you away from it?” Amanda tried, wrinkling her nose.
    “Far more practical than my suggestion, but I fear that would be removing
from
winter, not—”
    Bridget’s voice caught in her throat. Could it be that simple? Was it possible there was a solution to all their woes, right in front of them?
    For after all, it
was
possible to remove from winter—one simply had to go to a place where these early months were relatively mild. And what such land was renowned for its mild climate?
    “
Italy
,” she breathed, earning a quizzical stare from