Read Make Me Love You for Free Online Page A
Authors: Johanna Lindsey
get inside first.”
“If they let us in.”
“Stop it.” The maid loudly tsked. “If you are turned away at the door, I will spit on it. See how they like my curses added to theirs.”
Brooke couldn’t help laughing. Alfreda wasn’t a witch, but sometimes she liked to pretend she was. Alfreda swore that centuries ago the t had been removed from her surname Wichway. It was part of her mystique, which she cultivated with the villagers to keep them in awe of her, warning that she’d prove the t really belonged there if they told anyone where they got their potions.
Brooke spotted something else and exclaimed, “I see hedges behind the house, on this side of it at least, tall enough that I can’t see over them. D’you think he’s got a maze in there? Now that might be fun!”
“I know you were denied many things growing up, but mazes are something you should be glad to have missed out on. You can get lost in them.”
“You know that from experience, do you?”
Alfreda snorted. “Me? Go in a bloody maze? Ha, not in this lifetime I won’t. But Cora from Tamdon village used to work at an estate in the south that had one. She and her beau thought it a lark to have their trysts in that maze. It was so big that no one could hear them yelling for help. They were lucky it was only days, and not weeks, before they were found.”
“They should have dropped bread crumbs to leave a trail they could follow on the way out.”
“They did, but Cora’s cat followed them in and ate them all.”
Brooke shook her head. “Was any of that actually true?”
Alfreda didn’t deny or confirm it. “I’m just saying, if you enter a maze, leave a trail, just not an edible one.”
“I’ll remember that, if there’s even one there.”
Brooke leaned back in the seat, beginning to feel anxious again now that their destination was in sight. She could bemeeting her future husband within the hour. If he was even there. The emissary had obviously assumed he was. But what if Dominic Wolfe wasn’t at his home in Yorkshire and knew nothing about this marriage yet? A reprieve for her! That would suit her just fine. Maybe Lord Wolfe had been warned of what was going to be demanded of him and intended to keep himself unavailable indefinitely to avoid receiving the news. She might just like living here if he stayed away so she could have the house to herself.
Alfreda nudged her shoulder and nodded toward the other window. Their coach had gone beyond the manor house and had rounded the last curve in the road, which turned them back toward the house. Now they could see a large stable at the side of the house and beyond it a fenced-in pasture that stretched as far as the eye could see. Brooke’s pale green eyes flared wide seeing the small herd of horses grazing in it, some small enough to be foals.
“He might be a horse breeder!” she exclaimed excitedly. “How ironic that he’s already doing the very thing I want to do.”
Alfreda chuckled. “You still have that silly notion of breeding horses someday?”
“Not just any horses, but champion racers, and I most certainly do.”
“But women don’t,” Alfreda said bluntly. “It would be scandalous and you know it.”
“The devil it would. Oh, you mean—no, no, I wouldn’t actually be on hand for the breeding. I’d have a manager for that, of course. But I’ll own them and make the selections and be involved in the training. Yes, I most certainly can do all the rest of that. And I’ll make a very nice income at it once I’m done with family and husbands.”
“Or you could devote yourself to your children instead.”
“If I ever have any, but who says I can’t do both? I can raise horses and horse breeders!”
Brooke laughed. Lord Wolfe’s liking horses as much as she did was a plus on his side. Two pluses boded well, didn’t it? She was suddenly feeling much better about him and this place where he lived.
“Well, the idea has at least put some color back in
“If they let us in.”
“Stop it.” The maid loudly tsked. “If you are turned away at the door, I will spit on it. See how they like my curses added to theirs.”
Brooke couldn’t help laughing. Alfreda wasn’t a witch, but sometimes she liked to pretend she was. Alfreda swore that centuries ago the t had been removed from her surname Wichway. It was part of her mystique, which she cultivated with the villagers to keep them in awe of her, warning that she’d prove the t really belonged there if they told anyone where they got their potions.
Brooke spotted something else and exclaimed, “I see hedges behind the house, on this side of it at least, tall enough that I can’t see over them. D’you think he’s got a maze in there? Now that might be fun!”
“I know you were denied many things growing up, but mazes are something you should be glad to have missed out on. You can get lost in them.”
“You know that from experience, do you?”
Alfreda snorted. “Me? Go in a bloody maze? Ha, not in this lifetime I won’t. But Cora from Tamdon village used to work at an estate in the south that had one. She and her beau thought it a lark to have their trysts in that maze. It was so big that no one could hear them yelling for help. They were lucky it was only days, and not weeks, before they were found.”
“They should have dropped bread crumbs to leave a trail they could follow on the way out.”
“They did, but Cora’s cat followed them in and ate them all.”
Brooke shook her head. “Was any of that actually true?”
Alfreda didn’t deny or confirm it. “I’m just saying, if you enter a maze, leave a trail, just not an edible one.”
“I’ll remember that, if there’s even one there.”
Brooke leaned back in the seat, beginning to feel anxious again now that their destination was in sight. She could bemeeting her future husband within the hour. If he was even there. The emissary had obviously assumed he was. But what if Dominic Wolfe wasn’t at his home in Yorkshire and knew nothing about this marriage yet? A reprieve for her! That would suit her just fine. Maybe Lord Wolfe had been warned of what was going to be demanded of him and intended to keep himself unavailable indefinitely to avoid receiving the news. She might just like living here if he stayed away so she could have the house to herself.
Alfreda nudged her shoulder and nodded toward the other window. Their coach had gone beyond the manor house and had rounded the last curve in the road, which turned them back toward the house. Now they could see a large stable at the side of the house and beyond it a fenced-in pasture that stretched as far as the eye could see. Brooke’s pale green eyes flared wide seeing the small herd of horses grazing in it, some small enough to be foals.
“He might be a horse breeder!” she exclaimed excitedly. “How ironic that he’s already doing the very thing I want to do.”
Alfreda chuckled. “You still have that silly notion of breeding horses someday?”
“Not just any horses, but champion racers, and I most certainly do.”
“But women don’t,” Alfreda said bluntly. “It would be scandalous and you know it.”
“The devil it would. Oh, you mean—no, no, I wouldn’t actually be on hand for the breeding. I’d have a manager for that, of course. But I’ll own them and make the selections and be involved in the training. Yes, I most certainly can do all the rest of that. And I’ll make a very nice income at it once I’m done with family and husbands.”
“Or you could devote yourself to your children instead.”
“If I ever have any, but who says I can’t do both? I can raise horses and horse breeders!”
Brooke laughed. Lord Wolfe’s liking horses as much as she did was a plus on his side. Two pluses boded well, didn’t it? She was suddenly feeling much better about him and this place where he lived.
“Well, the idea has at least put some color back in