Free The spinster and the wastrel by Louise Bergin Page A

Therefore, neither could she forget him.
    For his part, Sir Gerard kept eyeing the spinster. Although he partnered other matrons and young girls, it was the annoying Miss Courtney who held his attention. She

    was so eager to do good according to her ideas that she overlooked his need.
    When he made a trip to the punch bowl to fortify himself to continue with his social duty, he met his friend Linton.
    "There you are!" he hailed Sir Gerard with a toast of his glass. "You must try this punch. These locals know how to make it."
    The glazing of the other man's eyes hinted at the punch's potency, but its strength still surprised Sir Gerard. This arrack recipe plainly called for more than the usual amount of brandy along with its spices. The vintage was a good one, probably smuggled from France. He had discovered another reason for the popularity of the Upper Brampton Assemblies.
    Sir Gerard felt the punch warm him as it slid down his throat. "This is good," he agreed. "Are you doing much dancing?"
    "Some," Linton admitted. "I am trying to spot the dowered lasses."
    "Don't be too obvious about it, or you will be labeled a fortune hunter."
    Linton shrugged. "That's what I am—and you are, too."
    A spurt of anger flashed through Sir Gerard. "Not by choice!"
    His friend shrugged again. "Does anyone ever choose such a position?" He sipped from his glass. "Now that she has inherited, that Miss Courtney is the best plum available. This is probably the first time she has ever been the belle of the ball—and at her age, too."
    Sir Gerard frowned. She had worn the violet perfume again, and he was discovering it a clue to the sweetness of

    her nature. The meanness in Linton's words besmirched the memory. "Let her enjoy herself. It is a small enough pleasure to begrudge her."
    Linton's eyes had trouble focusing on his friend. "I say. You have certainly changed your tune. Don't you remember she cheated you from your uncle's money? I'm the one on your side."
    "Cheated seems too strong a word. I think she was as surprised by the bequest as I was." He remembered the compassion for others he had heard in her life story. Knowing what had been left unsaid, he realized she had sacrificed her girlhood to care for her mother. In a lower tone, he added, "Unless you mean that perhaps life has cheated her."
    "What's that you say? I didn't hear you."
    Sir Gerard did not answer Linton. Instead, he grabbed the man by the arm and pulled him towards the dance floor. "Come. We need to find some partners for this next set."

    G/iaptet &i&
    The punch had been potent, but Sir Gerard discovered a brisk ride the next morning on Silver Shadow chased away the wisps of its effects. After a quick canter across a fallow meadow, he reined in his horse and filled his lungs with the sharp tang of a winter morning in the woods. The rising sunlight shone through the barren branches of the surrounding trees, causing the air to warm and cool as he passed in and out of the shade. The smell of the rich earth stirred up by his stallion's hooves promised winter was only temporary.
    Like his current problems. He patted Silver Shadow's neck. "What do you think, boy?" he asked the horse. "After all these years of living by my wits, am I going to be reduced to being a fortune hunter to regain my own wealth? Linton said it was the only way, but I cannot believe him. Marriage is not the solution. There must be another way."
    The horse nickered as if he understood but offered no solution.
    Sir Gerard stayed a moment longer, surveying the meadow with its tall brown grasses swaying in the slight

    breeze. This clearing, at least, was his. Part of the nearly two hundred entailed acres his uncle could not snatch from him. A pride of ownership swelled within him. This was his.
    With renewed confidence, he nudged the stallion to head home. What he was going to do, he did not know, but an opportunity would arise. It always did.
    After seeing to Silver Shadow's care in the stable, Sir Gerard