Free How To Rescue A Rake (Book Club Belles Society 3) by Jayne Fresina

doubtful, so he returned to his usual flippant tone.
    “However, a man of thirty cannot afford to let more time slip by while he dillies and dallies. He must seize his chance with the first merry and agreeable young thing in his path. Something lively. Yes indeed! The less thought I put into it, the better. Expectations can too easily be shattered and disappointment leave a man’s heart in ruins if he wants too much and cares too deeply.”
    He stopped abruptly, realizing his tone had turned serious just when he had not meant for it to be. So he clapped his hands together and exclaimed merrily, “I can hardly wait to see who you shall pick for me. Let her have a good bosom, a pretty face, and a quiet voice. Apart from that I’m not particular.”
    “What about teeth, Brother?” his sister remarked wryly.
    He pretended to consider. “A few would be handy, of course, but one hesitates to ask for too much.”
    * * *
    Diana took her Welsh cakes to the Pig in a Poke, and while there she heard the news she’d dreaded from an excited Lucy.
    “Captain Sherringham has returned to the village!”
    Diana managed to look surprised, or so she hoped. Lucy seldom bothered to assess anyone else’s feelings and was so full of this news that she scarcely glanced at Diana’s face as she told it.
    “He sent a message to my papa.” Lucy leaned close and lowered her voice dramatically. “He has some business to tend while he’s here, but Papa will not tell us what it is. What do you suppose it might be? What could the captain wish to speak to my papa about in private?”
    Diana politely declined to speculate.
    But Lucy did plenty for the both of them. “Well, I don’t flatter myself too much, I think, if I suspect it might have something to do with me. He has shown me many kindnesses in the past and seems to find me amusing company. As my mama says, he is of an age now when he must be thinking to settle down and I am unattached.”
    “Yes.”
    “I can imagine no other reason for Captain Sherringham to desire a private discussion with my papa. Although I do not know how I feel about it. To be sure, he is exceedingly handsome and witty, but it is so unexpected.”
    Diana began inching toward the door. A few moments later, after Lucy had observed, “You look rather crumpled today, and your hair is lank and listless…” she took her leave, explaining that her mother needed her at home to help kill some ants.
    In no haste to return to the cottage, Diana chose the long way home. Instead of circling the common and going back down the High Street, she took the path along the stream toward the old mill. The ducks were out with their little ones—fluffy gold-and-brown smudges sailing along in a line behind them. The happy, peaceful scene should have kept her thoughts from wandering.
    Should have.
    Hands tucked into her muff, she marched along the bank, disturbing dandelion seeds and trampling long grass with a speed and violence that hardly lent itself to quiet reverie.
    It made perfect sense for Nathaniel to return here to see his family. Of course it did. It was possible that he had also come back for a bride, and Lucy Bridges was the right age, certainly. She had a colorful personality, a lively temperament, and was undeniably pretty. She had spirit and boldness. She also knew how to speak up for herself.
    Unlike Diana.
    Nathaniel had once said to her, “Have you no will of your own? No gumption? Do not be a passive bystander in your own life, Diana.”
    She sniffed, shaking her head as she stomped along.
    He might think she took the easier path rather than struggle against her mama’s wishes, but then “Sherry” never thought of other people’s needs, did he? Nathaniel regarded life as sport, coming and going as he pleased, never worrying about consequences. He called it confidence. He was proud of it.
    Foolish, imprudent man!
    Now, as she imagined Nathaniel’s wedding to Lucy—oh Lord, would it take place right there in