Free Intrigue (Daughters of Mannerling 2) by MC Beaton Page B

seem as carefree as her sisters. Nor was she as beautiful, being cursed with red hair.
    There was a lake in the grounds and Honoria found out by diligent questioning of the servants that Lizzie was in the habit of retreating there in the afternoons. Armed one day with a piece of petit point, she made her way to the lake. Sure enough, Lizzie was sitting there on a bench at the edge of the water, a book lying on her lap. The girl was not reading, Honoria noticed, but looking out across the water. She sat down beside her after murmuring a quiet ‘Good day,’ and began to sew.
    Lizzie picked up her book and rose to her feet. ‘No, do not run away,’ said Honoria. ‘I shall sit here and sew and leave you to your meditations.’
    Lizzie sat down again reluctantly. The sun shone and a little breeze ruffled the waters of the lake. Somewhere in the grounds a peacock screamed suddenly, its harsh cry rending the pastoral stillness, and then all was quiet again.
    ‘We had peacocks at Mannerling,’ said Lizzie half to herself.
    ‘Mannerling? Our relatives, the Deverses, live there. I have been invited several times but I prefer it here,’ said Honoria, placidly stitching away at a fat rose.
    ‘Oh, but you should go.’ Now Honoria had Lizzie’s full attention. Lizzie wanted to talk about Mannerling. It nagged and nagged away at her, but her sisters now shied away from the very mention of the place. ‘We lived there,’ said Lizzie, ‘until Papa lost all the money.’
    There was a yearning note in her voice. Honoria entered another neat stitch. ‘Tell me about it, my child.’
    ‘It is hard to explain,’ said Lizzie eagerly. ‘It is very graceful, the building, you know, and the painted ceilings are a glorious riot of colour. It enfolds you in its quiet peace. We thought Isabella, my eldest sister, would marry Mr Judd, the new owner, but he married Mary Stoppard, the vicar’s daughter, a little nobody, and then he hanged himself.’
    The busy needle paused. ‘Dear me, why did he do that?’
    ‘You see, he lost his money, too, and how could anyone live without Mannerling?’
    ‘Your elder sister married Lord Fitzpatrick, did she not?’
    ‘Yes, although she could have made a push and secured Mr Judd.’
    ‘But, my child, if your sister had married Mr Judd, she would have been an impoverished widow with a tragedy in her background. Would you wish her to endure that?’
    ‘I am sure she could have stopped him from gambling.’
    ‘How did your papa lose his money?’
    ‘Gambling,’ said Lizzie in a low voice.
    ‘But neither you, your sisters, nor Lady Beverley were evidently able to do anything about that.’
    ‘We did not know about it until it was too late.’
    ‘Then I think the same thing could be said about the undistinguished vicar’s daughter. Hardened gamblers cannot be stopped.’
    Lizzie bent her head. Honoria’s black eyes were hard and shrewd as she surveyed that bent head. ‘My cousin Harry is a bachelor,’ she said meditatively, ‘and he is the heir to Mannerling.’
    ‘He told Mr Sommerville that he was going to propose to Jessica, and Mr Sommerville came to warn Jessica to have nothing to do with him.’
    Honoria, who loathed Harry, said with affected surprise, ‘I wonder why he did that? Harry is a bit wild, but gay and handsome. All he needs is a wife to settle him down.’
    ‘He has found one,’ said Lizzie.
    ‘You amaze me! There has been no announcement in the newspapers. Mrs Devers would most certainly have written to me should such an event have occurred. To whom is he betrothed?’
    ‘A Miss Habard.’
    ‘I think you must be mistaken, but I shall write to Mannerling and find out. I am not in the way of gossiping, Miss Lizzie, and my brother would be angry if he found out, so do not say anything of this.’
    ‘My family would be angry with me as well. Do you . . . do you think your brother will marry Jessica?’
    Over my dead body, thought Honoria. But she said aloud, ‘They