Free A Priceless Gift: A Regency Romance by May Burnett Page A

Why on earth would she do that?”
    “I don’t suppose anyone will ever know. It was twenty-four years ago, after all.”
    “And, yet, her doll still sits in the nursery, almost like new,” Amanda murmured. “Tell Nurse to put it in the attic. I have a feeling it may bring bad luck.”
    “Now that is arrant nonsense, mere superstition.”
    “Probably, but humour me.”
    Mattie nodded as she poured more tea. Amanda was surprised at her own vehemence. Was she worried only about Sigurd, or had she begun to care about the welfare of her own child? If she was to risk her life by giving birth in a few months’ time, it only made sense to want the resulting infant to live; otherwise, her effort would be wasted. Her daughter, if she had one—as she secretly preferred—should not drown in any minuscule ponds. It was the kind of thing girls in desperate circumstances did—if Amanda’s father had agreed with her mother and thrown her out, she, herself, might have ended like that, though she rather thought not. Suicide seemed so weak, so cowardly. Yet who knew how far anyone could be driven by desperation? She shivered.
    Lucian had mentioned during their first meeting that, to his regret, he had been unable to save a girl in similar circumstances as hers. Her mind had immediately conjured some innocent he had debauched, but could he possibly have meant his sister ? Hardly. Whatever tragedy had befallen Lady Amaryllis, nobody would expect a fourteen-year-old to save her. Lucian had probably been away at school when it happened.
    Still, it was an intriguing story. If she ever achieved easy familiarity with Lucian, she might ask him for the particulars, unless the subject was still too painful.
    “Have you considered redecorating your suite or the whole house?” Mattie asked. “I understood that was the normal pastime of bored young society wives.”
    “I don’t think of myself as a society wife,” Amada objected. “Though we are to dine with the vicar tonight and play whist afterwards. Take care; Mrs. Dellham is very keen and will take your last penny. Fortunately, the stakes at their entertainments are very moderate.”
    “Dining with the vicar is not unlike the society your parents keep in Northumberland,” Mattie said. “What of other noble families in the area?”
    “The closest of those would be Viscount Mebberling, and the family is not in residence at present.” From the gossip she had gleaned, Amanda was not looking forward to making those particular neighbours’ acquaintance. Lady Mebberling was said to be as sour as a prune steeped in lemon juice, even on a good day, and her husband rarely deigned to speak to anyone below his own rank.
    “Your private sitting room could do with new curtains at a minimum,” Mattie insisted. “If you find this sort of thing tedious, I would not mind undertaking it, always minding your taste and preferences. I feel guilty that I do nothing useful for my salary.”
    “Just keeping me company is quite enough,” Amanda assured her. “When I cannot go out much during the last few months, it will be even more important to have someone sympathetic to talk to. How did you manage when you were expecting Sigurd?”
    “It was hard,” Mattie admitted. “Luke was in Spain, and the worry over him made everything worse. At least he saw Sigurd during his last leave. I had to rely on the assistance of Luke’s mother, old Mrs. Smithson, more than I could like. She is a good woman in her way but narrow-minded and very religious. She brought me the bible to read, which did not distract me from the discomfort as a good novel might have done.”
    Amanda stirred her tea. “Was there a great deal of discomfort?”
    “The last few weeks were difficult. I had to use the chamber pot all the time, and yet, just getting up was difficult. I prayed for the child to be born, so I could go back to a more normal body. My feet were swollen. Afterwards, the skin on my belly retained permanent