Free Words Spoken True by Ann H. Gabhart Page A

charming man, don’t you agree? My young friends practically faint from pleasure if I pair him with them at my parties. If I were only thirty years younger myself.”
    “I fear he didn’t pull out too many of his charms for me.” Adriane looked back at Blake Garrett for the first time since she’d left his side. He seemed to sense instantly when she looked his way, and their eyes met. Again there was that strange flash of feeling between them even though Adriane immediately turned her own eyes back to Mrs. Wigginham. Mrs. Wigginham’s delighted smile had faded. In fact she looked a little sad.
    “Is something wrong, Mrs. Wigginham? Perhaps I should help you to a chair.”
    “No, no, my dear. I was just regretting my lost youth. I do hope you won’t regret yours.”
    “I don’t know what you mean,” Adriane said.
    “I think you do, child.” Mrs. Wigginham’s eyes bored into her. “You must know how very fond I am of you. For a truth, you remind me a great deal of myself when I was younger. Things have not changed so much, you know.”
    Suddenly Mrs. Wigginham tiptoed up to touch Adriane’s cheek with her dry lips. “Do try to be happy, dear Adriane.”
    Stan returned with their tea in time to hear the old lady’s last words. “You need not worry about that, Mrs. Wigginham,” he said. “I plan to devote my life to making Adriane extremely happy.”
    “I’m sure you will, Stanley.” Mrs. Wigginham’s polite smile looked a bit strained when she turned to take her tea from Stanley. Without the first sip, she set the cup down on a table beside them. Her smile vanished as she put her hand on Adriane’s arm and gave it a slight shake as though to make sure Adriane listened to her next words. “But never forget. True happiness must come from within. It is the one gift only we can give ourselves.”

6

     
    W hen Stan walked Adriane to her door after the Library Aide Society meeting, he told her how much he looked forward to the evening’s events and how he knew she would look her most beautiful. She hadn’t mentioned anything about Lucilla having a dress prepared for her, but he already knew.
    She wanted to ask him once again to delay the announcement, but she did not allow the words to pass her lips. She’d already made her request in the carriage on the way home from Mrs. Wigginham’s.
    With her nicest smile pasted on her face, she’d allowed him to hold her hand as she explained in her sweetest voice, “It’s just that I feel we both need time to get used to the idea, Stan.”
    “I’ve been used to the idea for months,” he said.
    “But I have not. I’ve hardly considered marriage at all.”
    “I find that hard to believe, my dearest Adriane. Young ladies rarely ever consider anything else.” He laughed before he lifted her hand up to touch his lips to her fingers.
    Adriane resisted the urge to jerk her hand free as she searched for the right words to make her point. “I fear you will find I am not your typical young lady.”
    “No, you certainly are not. I think even Blake Garrett agreed with that.”
    “What do you mean?” Adriane asked carefully. She didn’t really want to talk about Blake Garrett.
    “I saw the way he looked at you. It was not a bit proper, and I can’t imagine what Mrs. Wigginham was thinking when she insisted on dragging me away to leave you alone with him.” Stan’s smile disappeared as his eyes narrowed and he tightened his hold on her hand. “I shall have to insist that you not speak with him again.”
    His demanding tone irritated her, but she bit back an angry reply. She needed to carefully pick her fights today. So instead of telling him she’d talk with whomever she pleased, she said, “You need not worry about that. I doubt Mr. Garrett and I will have many opportunities to speak with one another since he and Father are practically sworn enemies. Besides, I found the man rude and insensitive.”
    “He’s that all right.” Stan frowned slightly.