Free The Wagered Wife by Wilma Counts Page A

she simply did not know what else to do but carry on as before.
    Three days later Caitlyn was in the library, located in the front of the house on the ground floor, when she heard carriage wheels on the driveway. For an instant, she wondered if Trevor had changed his mind. She went to the window and peeped through the drapery. An older woman in a huge hat with fluttering ostrich feathers shielding her face was handed down from a smart traveling carriage. Another vehicle loaded with luggage drew up behind hers.
    Caitlyn’s first thought was a small prayer of thanks that at least one of the guest rooms had been prepared, for it looked at though this traveler planned a stay of some duration. It had to be Trevor’s aunt. She waited for Merrill’s announcement, which came immediately.
    â€œLady Gertrude Hermiston, madam.”
    â€œLady Gertrude?” Caitlyn fairly squeaked in surprise and wonder. “Whatever are you doing here?”
    â€œDid that infernal boy not tell you I was coming?”
    â€œInfernal boy?” Caitlyn thought her wits were surely deserting her.
    â€œTrevor. My scapegrace nephew.”
    â€œOh. No. I mean—yes. He did write me that his aunt would come, but he neglected to tell me who she was. Oh, Lady Gertrude, I cannot tell you how glad I am to see a familiar face. I have dreaded meeting Trevor’s aunt—and here it is you .” She smiled and extended her hands in greeting, aware that she was babbling foolishly.
    â€œDreading me, were you?” Lady Gertrude smiled as she removed her cloak and handed it over to Merrill along with her oversized hat.
    â€œNo. Not you. Just an unknown aunt Trevor said would come.” Caitlyn paused to ask Merrill to bring a tea tray and see to the disposition of Lady Gertrude’s luggage, then went on, “Actually, I am extremely happy to see you. It has been a long time since I have seen a truly friendly face.”
    â€œBut—I understood that Trevor left here only a fortnight ago.”
    Caitlyn felt herself blushing. “You must know that Trevor and I do not know each other well. . . .”
    â€œAnd I gather he is not in your good graces now, either.”
    â€œNo, he is not,” Caitlyn said in a tone that she hoped would eliminate further discussion on this head.
    â€œYou and I will talk about it all later, my dear,” her ladyship said as Merrill produced the tea tray. “I have brought you a small gift.” She handed over a gaily wrapped packet.
    â€œA gift? For me?” Caitlyn could not remember the last time anyone had given her a gift. She accepted it eagerly.
    â€œA book. Poetry! Oh, thank you so much.”
    â€œA slim volume by one of your former neighbors in the Lake District—Mr. Wordsworth.”
    â€œI remember seeing him a few times. Mama knew his sister. Oh, how exciting to have one of his books. Thank you again.”
    Eventually, they did turn to the topic of Lady Gertrude’s stay, and Caitlyn learned that Trevor had not been quite as impervious to his wife’s needs in his absence as she had thought. Still, he had deserted her.
    â€œI shall never forgive him,” Caitlyn declared. “What is more, as I see it, the only reason to approve a divorce would be to remarry. I never want to marry again. So Trevor—and his family—can just wait until pigs compete with the birds for room in the sky before I shall agree to blacken my name so.”
    â€œYou were sorely used,” Lady Gertrude agreed. “But you may change your mind one day.”
    â€œNever.”
    â€œIn any event, I am here until you no longer have need of me.”
    â€œThen you shall be here a very long time, I am thinking, my lady.”
    â€œPerhaps you could be persuaded to call me Aunt Gertrude as Trevor does.”
    â€œI should be most happy to do so.”
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    In the next few days, Caitlyn could hardly believe her luck in discovering a relative