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Widow
    by Evelyn Richardson
    satisfy the ton's idea of suitable companionship. Good heavens. Aunt Seraphina!" And with this happy thought, Diana had rushed to her escritoire and penned an invitation to her father's one remaining relative.
    That lady's reply had been gratifyingly swift in arriving. She would be enchanted to come, she wrote. Since her dear Thomas's death, she quite lacked for any intelligent conversation and felt certain that her powers of rational discourse were deteriorating rapidly. This was a most delightful opportunity to put a stop to their further decline, and she looked forward to seeing her great-niece, who, she trusted, had changed since she had last seen her ten years ago.
    In what seemed no time at all. Lady Thomas Walden's elegant traveling carriage had pulled up in front of the house in Brook Street, and a tall, woman, still handsome despite her gray hair and her advanced years, alighted to walk briskly up the steps where Finchley was holding open the door for her.
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    The Willful Widow
    by Evelyn Richardson

Chapter 4
    Greeting her aunt in the drawing room, Diana reflected that she had changed very little since they had last seen each other. The dark eyes still sparkled with penetrating intelligence softened by a gleam of humor. In her youth the long straight nose, determined chin, and prominent cheekbones had robbed her of any pretense to beauty, but now they lent character. Hers was a distinguished face, and one that radiated vitality and interest in the world around her. It was not difficult to see why she had been the scholarly Marquess of Buckland's favorite relation. And he had been hers.
    Unappreciated in a household of a father who had longed for a boy and a mother who had wished equally for a dainty feminine daughter, Seraphina had been neither, and as such, largely ignored. The only person who had paid her any attention at all had been a local squire's son, Thomas Walden, with whom she had played and ridden in the forests near her home.
    Blessed with a bright inquiring mind and a keen understanding, Thomas had felt as out of place in his family as she did in hers, for the squire, a bluff genial man, had no patience with books or learning and did his best to discourage his son from indulging in such wasteful pursuits. Fortunately Seraphina's father possessed a remarkably fine library, untouched since his father had died. Unbeknownst to adults on both sides, the two had indulged their passion for 40
    The Willful Widow
    by Evelyn Richardson
    knowledge to the top of their bent. And it was only natural that such close companions should develop a deep affection for each other that, when it finally came to their notice, shocked and alarmed both families. Thomas was instantly packed off to India, and Seraphina was dragged to London for a disastrous Season.
    It was while in London that she had met the head of the family, her cousin, the Marquess of Buckland, who was as uncomfortable in the ballrooms of the ton as she was. Forced by his mother to abandon his books and take his proper place in society, the young marquess had been miserable and had soon discovered in Seraphina an ally and a kindred spirit. When at long last they had both returned rejoicing to their respective homes in the country, the cousins had remained regular correspondents, sharing ideas and recommending books to each other. It was the marquess who, spineless in the face of his mother's determination, supported Seraphina in her continuing attachment to the absent Thomas. Soon after his grateful return to the country and his books, the marquess had succumbed to his mother's dying wish and married the younger daughter of a local family of ancient and illustrious lineage. Marianne, the new Marchioness of Buckland, was a sweet girl, but they had had little in common, and Seraphina continued to be the recipient of the marquess's deeper thoughts and interests. Their friendship by correspondence lessened