Read The Yuletide Countess: Harriet's Traditional Regency Romance for Free Online

As he departed, he bowed gracefully over her hand.
     “I am sure, now that the neighborhood will know of your presence,
that our paths will cross many times,” he said, his eyes twinkling with
amusement.
    With a bow and a smile he was gone, and Harriet gave Isobel a sharp
look.
    “If you are not careful, my dear, you will drive that young man away
all together,” she observed.
    “As though I care about Lord Francis!” said Isobel petulantly.
    “Well, I always thought more passed between the two of you in London
than you wished to tell me,” said Harriet. “And I would never press you to tell
me a secret that you did not wish to share. But for all you have been so rude
to him—and you were rude, my dear,” she said as Isobel opened her mouth to
protest, “he is a very kind gentleman, and an intelligent one as well, and you
should think twice before you alienate his affections completely. It is not as
though gentlemen like him arrive on your doorstep every day.”
    Isobel turned away and bit her lip. “I suppose I was not as polite
as I might have been, but I was shocked to find him here. He surprised me at my
excavation, and asked some very prying questions!”
     “And so he might, dearest , given that he
found you digging about in the dirt after old coins and shards of pottery! And
still he seems to wish to pay you the most polite attentions. I wonder that you
can be angry with him.”
     “I have no intention of marrying anyone, even Lord Francis,” said
Isobel, an edge of defiance in her voice.
     “And who is there to make you?” asked Harriet. “Surely you don’t
think I will try to twist your arm? You are wholly in charge of your own
future, and a very lucky woman that makes you indeed. But Lord Francis will
have to ask you to marry him first. Or am I to understand that he has done so
already?”
     Isobel stared at her, for once bereft of words. Harriet hid a
smile.
     “I suppose I should not be asking such prying questions either, my
dear—you did say how much they bother you,” she continued. “It is not at all
kind of me; I wonder that you put up with my silliness. Your dealings with Lord
Francis are your own, of course. But if you do truly wish him to leave you in
peace, I’m sure you could find a way to tell him that he would understand. He
is not the sort of man to force his attentions on a lady. I only ask that if
you send him away you allow him to continue to visit me, for I must admit that
I find him vastly amusing, and, though I should not say it, delightful to look
at.”
     “It is not that I never wish to see Lord Francis again,” said
Isobel. “Though I do not mean to marry him, of course. I am simply worried that
his presence will keep me from pursuing my excavations to the extent that I
would wish.”
     “Is that all?” asked Harriet. “You seem terribly put out simply
because he came to your site. A politely worded request that he not bother you
there would surely do the trick. Lord Francis is by no means stupid.”
     “Of course he is not!” said Isobel. “It is just that—that I—well, I
must say I was very surprised to see him.”
     “Of course you were, and no doubt the shock is what made you seem
so off-putting. I’m sure we will hear from Lord Francis again soon, and I hope
that he will come have tea with me many a day. You, of course, must deal with
him as you think best.”
     Isobel sat down on the settee and stared out the window, her brow
creased in thought. Harriet returned to her embroidery, a hint of satisfaction
flickering in her eyes.
      Dearest Pippa,
     The past week has been most amusing, for Lord Francis has made his appearance in Ballydendargan, and dear Isobel has
been in a tizzy ever since. She scarce knows what to do with herself; she is
clearly more than fond of his lordship, but has so often denied that she will
find a man she can care for, or that she will ever wed, that he has cast her
into the greatest confusion. If I were not so