Free My Wayward Lady by Evelyn Richardson Page A

Elizabeth did not always understand her sister's madcap behavior, but she knew it sprang from nothing more than high spirits coupled with a genuine desire to do good, and it never caused any really serious trouble.
    Though Elizabeth herself was thoroughly enjoying the splendid routs and balls, she could appreciate just how tedious they must be for someone like Harriet who was never so happy as when she was galloping about the countryside 74
    My Wayward Lady
    by Evelyn Richardson
    around Thornby or reading the plethora of newspapers and journals to which she subscribed.
    At least Charlie was home from the wars and here in London. As a child, Harriet had always been more her brother's playmate than her sister's even though she and Elizabeth were closer in age. Charlie had allowed his lively younger sister to follow after him on the condition that she keep up with him and not whine or cry when she hurt herself. They had made an odd pair as they tramped across the park in search of adventure, he so tall and fair and she so short, running along to keep up with his long strides. Harriet had missed Charlie desperately when he had gone away to school and lived for his vacations when they could go off exploring. She had written him constantly while he was off fighting in the Peninsula and existed for his letters which, though briefer than hers, were packed full of exciting detail about the long marches across barren, inhospitable countryside or bloody clashes with the French. More than once Harriet had looked up from one of his travel-stained missives, her eyes shining with excitement and longing to remark, "Oh how I wish I were a man!" In truth, Elizabeth knew Harriet found very little about being a woman that interested her. She was utterly bored with the feminine chatter of their neighbors in the country. She did not long for babies or a home of her own, and at the local assemblies she was far more likely to chat about farming or politics with her dancing partners than she was to flirt with them. More than once she had been heard to declare that she 75
    My Wayward Lady
    by Evelyn Richardson
    would rather have a brother or a friend like Charlie than a husband.
    Yes, Elizabeth could see why London, aside from such obvious attractions as the theater, the opera, and some of the historic sites, would hold no attraction for her sister. Indeed, at the outset of their sojourn in the metropolis Harriet had seemed to have lost her usual sparkle. Of late, however, some of that appeared to have returned. And now here she was dressed in the first stare of fashion. Was it possible that she was at last becoming a young woman of the ton instead of the sad romp she had always been? Lady Elizabeth admitted to herself that she would miss that, for outrageous though she might be, Harriet inevitably enjoyed life to the fullest. She was always brimming over with energy, vitality, and a natural warmth and generosity that made her an interesting, though somewhat unsettling companion, and a loyal sister. For Harriet's sake, however, Elizabeth hoped that this new look signaled an acceptance of the ton because she wished to see her sister welcomed into that world and appreciated instead of being labeled a bluestocking and relegated to the lonely position of an eccentric. It was not that Harriet intended or even wished to be at odds with the fashionable world; indeed life would have been a great deal pleasanter if she could enjoy it as her sister did, but she could not. When Harriet had come to London for her first Season she had expected to be overwhelmed by the wit and charm of those among the Upper Ten Thousand, but to her intense disappointment she had discovered that the topics of conversation were no more elevated in London than they 76
    My Wayward Lady
    by Evelyn Richardson
    were in Thornby. The women, though more worldly than the squire's daughters and Lady Marcus and her two daughters, were just as obsessed with who wore what and who had danced with