Free A Season for the Heart by Elizabeth Chater Page A

the conventional nothings. You must begin as you intend to go on , she had told herself in the Earl’s carriage. If you are true to yourself, you cannot be exposed as a fraud. She lifted her chin and said what she felt.
    “Oh, no, Milady! I have never gone upon a journey I enjoyed as greatly! The Earl is so lighthearted and amusing. He is forever funning! Such very good company!”
    The invalid raised her shadowed gray eyes in startled inquiry to scan Lord Austell’s imperturbable face.
    “Can we be speaking of the same Earl?” demanded the Lady Masterson in anything but bell-like tones.
    The Earl’s shout of laughter reverberated through the room. “I told you she would startle you out of the megrims,” he chuckled. “Now do offer us a cup of tea, Aurora. We have just delivered Melpomene’s traveling companion to her father, and I need a restorative. I charge you,” he added, with the teasing smile Pommy adored, “to make Pommy tell you about the beautiful Miss Boggs. It will give you something to laugh about, I promise you!”
    Whether it was because of the Earl’s charm and virility, or the interest caused by Pommy’s arrival, the Lady Masterson brightened perceptibly as the afternoon progressed. Tea was accompanied by salvers of the most delicious pastries Pommy had ever tasted, and she did them full justice. At one point Lord Austell chuckled. Pommy, lifting her eyes, perceived Lady Masterson was watching her in fascination. Pommy smiled wryly.
    “I am making a pig of myself, am I not? I must admit that such cakes as these have never come in my way before. I think they must be what are called Angel Food, are they not, My Lady? For surely they are heavenly morsels.”
    Lady Masterson found herself smiling back at the child. Really, she wondered, what had Derek brought to her? The girl was plainly a country cousin, yet voice and accent evidenced breeding. Her manners were impeccable; for all her relish of the sweets, she ate daintily. And her family had treated her cruelly, if Derek’s letter could be believed. A new thought struck Lady Masterson. Could Derek be interested? It hardly seemed possibly, after all the wasted efforts of the matchmaking mamas and frustrated débutantes, many of them quite acceptable as to Family, and some of them great heiresses as well. Of course Derek had no need to marry money, nor any particular reason to ally his House with another equally noble. Yet he was sponsoring this child with a zest his sister-in-law had no difficulty in discerning. The girl was a nobody. Surely her high-in-the-instep brother would not be considering such an alliance?
    Agog with curiosity, Aurora decided to sit up for dinner that evening, instead of taking it in her bedroom as had become her custom.
    While Pommy, urged by the Earl, was selecting a final patisserie , Her Ladyship bent toward him and said in an undertone, “I insist that you remain to dine with me tonight, to launch your protégée. Perhaps you may even find occasion to display some of the light-hearted good humor the child is so enthusiastic about.”
    “My dear Aurora,” the Earl said lazily, “it is my understanding that you rarely stay downstairs for dinner. Can it be that my prescription has already been of benefit? Believe me, she will continue to delight you.”
    Aurora stared at him. His face was alight with laughter and his bright blue eyes were showing more warmth than she remembered since his younger brother died. At once she required him to pull the bell rope, and when the butler presented himself, she informed him that His Lordship would be staying for dinner, and that she herself and Miss Rand would have it with him in the dining room. She was just asking Mikkle whether Mr. Gareth was to dine with them, when a tall young exquisite strolled into the drawing room and stared at the persons seated there out of silver-gray, black-lashed eyes exactly like Lady Masterson’s.
    Pommy swallowed a gulp of surprise. She had never