Free Fortune's Lady by Evelyn Richardson Page A

thoughtfully. “No. It is nothing, really. You are too kind. I thank you for your concern.” Brought back to her senses by the wary expression in his eyes and flatness in his voice, Althea turned away from him toward the ballroom. His words had offered help, but his conventionally polite tone told her that he was only doing so because he felt he had no choice.
    He caught her hand as she moved away from him. “No. Please. I do wish to help you.” He was correct in thinking that she was cleverer than the others; she was also more sensitive than they were, reading his reaction in an instant. And oddly enough, he did want to help someone like that. Besides, now his curiosity was getting the better of him. “Tell me what it is you wish me to do.”
    He meant it this time. There was a sincerity in his eyes and a conviction in his voice that had not been there before. For the first time in her life, Althea felt as though someone was actually paying attention to her, not Lady Althea Beauchamp, dutiful daughter and eligible heiress, but just Althea. “Well, if it would not be too much trouble, I should like very much to have you teach me to win at cards.”
    “You what?”
    His thunderstruck expression was so absurd and unexpected that she could not help chuckling.
    “But you already play cards too well for my comfort. What could I possibly teach you?”
    “How to win a fortune. Reggie, I mean my cousin Reginald, says that you were able to win a fortune at cards.”
    “That was because I had to.”
    “So do I.”
    “You? Whatever for?”
    “So I can live my life the way I wish to.”
    “Surely with your fortune, your expectations ...”
    “They are not my expectations, and it is not my fortune. They are my parents’ expectations and my family’s fortune. I have nothing of my own until I marry a man selected by them, and then it will belong to my husband, who will have his own expectations. And believe me, any husband my parents choose for me will not have the same expectations of life that I do.”
    The conversation was growing more and more amazing by turns. Gareth did not have the slightest idea what this astounding young woman was going to say next, but he was desperate to find out. Ordinarily, the more he discovered about a person, a woman especially, the more disappointed he was to learn that no matter how intriguing the exterior, the interior was inutterably banal. This young lady, however, was quite different.
    “And what are these expectations that the husband your parents choose for you will not share?”
    “Mine? I should like to have a small place of my own in the country where I could have a garden and enough livestock or crops to support myself. Then I would spend my day tending it, taking long walks, and reading.” Althea smiled apologetically. “Actually, when I describe it, it does sound rather dull, does it not? But to me, especially at this moment, it sounds like a veritable heaven on earth.”
    “Then we shall have to see what we can do to get you this heaven of yours.”
    “You will help me? Oh, thank you ever so much.”
    He was no proof against her gratitude. The light that gleamed in those amazing sapphire eyes at the prospect of living a peaceful, rustic existence made him want, for the second time that evening, to pull her into his arms and kiss her. And something akin to a feeling of chivalry made him want to do everything in his power to make her dreams come true.
    The very fact that she longed for such simple things-peace and solitude—made Gareth wonder what sort of life she had had to endure to this point. Outwardly she seemed blessed with all that a young woman could wish for, but something had caused the somberness at the back of her eyes, the serious expression her face habitually wore. He recognized those signs himself. They came from the feeling of being utterly alone in a world of vanity and greed, shallowness and indifference.
    “But ...”
    Gareth looked down at her. The