One Touch of Magic

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Book: Read One Touch of Magic for Free Online
Authors: Amanda Mccabe
Tags: Romance
he came, and had gone back to her usual working attire. She could get so much more done in her old dresses and aprons.
    Why, oh, why, had she done that?
    She stuck the fragment into her apron pocket, and pulled the hat off her head to try in vain to smooth her hair back. Short curls of it clung to her damp temples and brow, resisting all attempts at tidying.
    “Is that the new Lord Ransome?” Mary Ann asked. Sarah noticed that, despite the sun, Mary Ann still looked cool and pretty, her pale green gown only a bit dusty around the hem. “He looks handsome, and not nearly as old as I would have thought.”
    Sarah watched as Lord Ransome reached the edge of the village and dismounted from his horse. He wrapped the reins around a thick branch of a nearby tree, looking about him curiously.
    “Come on, Sarah!” Mary Ann urged, hurrying off. “I want to meet him.”
    Sarah followed her slowly, reluctant to leave the work on the smithy—and even more reluctant to have Lord Ransome see her looking like a street urchin!
    But there was nothing for it. It would be rude for her to run away and hide, and not at all the way to persuade him to let her stay on his land. She would just have to pretend she was properly dressed and groomed. If she ignored her disarray, then he would have to as well.
    This was easier said than done, though, especially since Mary Ann was right, and he was looking particularly handsome. Even more so than she remembered from the day he rescued her. The waves of his hair, brushed back carelessly from his face and uncovered by a hat, shimmered gold and copper in the light, and his eyes were as blue and piercing as the sky. He smiled when he saw her coming, and a dimple dented the sun-browned smoothness of his cheek.
    “Good afternoon, Lady Iverson,” he said. “I hope I have not come at an inconvenient time? If so, just say the word and I will go away again at once.”
    Sarah smiled at him in return, all thoughts of work and her dusty disarray fleeing away. She held her hand out to him, and he lifted it to his lips.
    She had to press down on the urge to laugh like a schoolgirl. Then she remembered that that hand was probably not strictly clean, and snatched it back again, shoving it into her apron pocket. Her fingers touched the metal fragment, and she clutched it in her fist as a lifeline.
    “Not at all, Lord Ransome,” she answered. “It is almost time for us to stop for luncheon.” She noticed Mary Ann still beside her, practically bouncing on her feet in excitement. “May I present my sister, Miss Mary Ann Bellweather? Thanks to your loaning us your carriage, she made it here safely.”
    “How do you do, Miss Bellweather?” Lord Ransome said, giving Mary Ann an elegant bow.
    Mary Ann ceased bouncing long enough to curtsy to him. “How do you do, Lord Ransome? I vow I never had a more comfortable journey than I did in your lovely carriage.”
    Lord Ransome laughed. “I am very glad to hear it, Miss Bellweather.”
    “It was most gallant of you to come to Sarah’s rescue. Have you come to see her village? It is vastly interesting.”
    “Mary Ann!” Sarah said, taking her sister’s hand to make her stand still, as she had begun bouncing again.
    It was obvious that Lord Ransome was trying very hard to keep from laughing at Mary Ann’s exuberance. His jaw was tight, but his eyes sparkled. “Indeed, I have come to see the village, if Lady Iverson has time to show me about.”
    “I will be happy to show you what there is,” Sarah said. “There is much we haven’t uncovered yet. Mary Ann, perhaps you would gather up some of your sketches to show Lord Ransome?”
    Mary Ann nodded eagerly, and hurried off to find her sketchbooks. Sarah was left quite alone with Lord Ransome, since the workers had disappeared somewhere for their luncheon. She smoothed her apron once more, self-consciously, and gestured to him to follow her.
    She soon forgot the fact that she was dusty and disheveled in the

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