Free The Reluctant Suitor by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

appealing smile to Colton. “Grandpa would be thrilled to hear stories of your experiences in the war, my lord. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t receive a friend, an employee, or some distant relative into his bedchamber for a chat, a tipple, or a game of cards. He’d enjoy it immensely if you were to visit him.”
    “I’m sure he has been much encouraged by the company of so many,” Colton surmised pleasantly. “I shall make a point of calling upon him once I’ve become settled.”
    “He’s not the only one who has reaped benefits from visitors,” Felicity declared, flicking her long, dark eyelashes to good advantage as she cast glances toward the other two ladies. “The kindness your sister and Lady Adriana extended toward me when they invited me on this outing today left me fairly amazed by the graciousness of both. In London, I was never able to meet individuals of similar noble standing.
    Yet the two made me feel as if I had truly been welcomed into the area. Were I as wise as the sages of old, I might’ve recognized them as two angels on missions of mercy.”
    Colton laughed in hearty amusement as a memory from his youth came winging back. “Miss Fairchild, I should warn you that you were not the first creature these angels have taken under their wings,” he observed drolly. “Lady Adriana and my sister have been companions since well before the younger could talk, and I can verify from firsthand knowledge that both women have long championed hospitality as a valiant cause to be nurtured. However, they have not always limited their benevolence to humans.
    Although I shall likely be chided for making comparisons between past and present, I distinctly recall that, at a fairly early age, the two were wont to bring home injured animals or their young, and as dedicated as they were in that mission of mercy, I can only believe they continued in that endeavor long after I left. While I was still at home, they made every effort to nurse whatever creature they had found

    back to good health, but if one happened to expire, they’d sob their hearts out till none could bear their lamentation a moment longer. In truth, Miss Felicity, you’re only one of a strange collection these angels have brought home over the years.”
    “Colton, for shame,” Samantha scolded, her smile doing much to negate her rebuke. “Miss Felicity will surely be taken aback by your comparison.”
    Facing the fair-haired woman, he clasped a lean hand to his scarlet blouse as if to offer a pledge. “Truly, Miss Fairchild, I meant no disrespect. Actually, there’s no real comparison between you and the furry or feathered creatures my sister and her most valued friend were inclined to bring home. I’m certain in your case both ladies were delighted to be able for a change to extend the benefits of their hospitality to one of their own species.”
    He glanced toward Adriana, who was standing a short distance away, listening to their conversation as she rested a slender hand on the massive staircase’s heavily carved Jacobean newel. Though he offered her a warm smile, she met his gaze with a gravity that brought back memories he had tried so often to suppress, that of a thin little girl with enormous eyes whose heart he had once broken. How could he have known so long ago that Harrison had let her in with her parents and had asked them to wait outside the drawing room from whence moments later he had launched strenuous objections to his father’s plans to sign a betrothal agreement committing them to each other?
    He held out an arm invitingly, desiring to have her near. “Come join us, Adriana. Standing there like that, you remind me of that little girl I once knew who always hung back with a yearning look in her eyes whenever Samantha would come to me, pleading for a favor. It always seemed as if that little girl, with her huge dark eyes, really wanted to join us, but wasn’t quite sure if she should. Please do. I can promise you,