Free The Riddle of the Shipwrecked Spinster by Patricia Veryan

he pointed out that Mrs. Stansbury had tried to arrange a match between her daughter and Gervaise Valerian. “And you say Cordelia loves the gentleman—no?”
    Laura sighed and nestled close against the handsome young man whose jet hair and olive complexion reinforced the opinions of those who held him to be of gypsy birth. “She has loved him all her life,” she said sadly. “But…”
    “But Miss Cordelia is neither beautiful—No, do not fly into the boughs, my loyal little love! Be honest.”
    “Are you being honest? When did you last see her?”
    “I think I have never seen the lady. But I’ve heard that despite the fact she is judged rather plain and has now come home in deep disgrace, she rejected Mr. Cranford when he was so gallant as to offer for—”
    “Ooh!” Laura wrenched away again and declared, “I would think, of all people, you would understand her feelings!”
    Florian’s dark eyes hardened. “Of… all people…? Do you mean that because your sire judges me a—what did he call me the last time?—‘a thieving gypsy bastard’ who has not the right to polish your shoes, much less aspire to your hand—”
    Distressed, she pressed her fingers to his lips and murmured, “Never say such things, my dearest love. You know I do not share my papa’s prejudices. What I meant was that—because we are sadly denied our happiness I think you might sympathize with my poor Cordelia’s predicament. When she laughed at Mr. Cranford’s offer—”
    Florian gave a gasp. “She
laughed?
Oh, Jupiter! Small wondermy Lieutenant had a face like a thunder-cloud when he came back home! I do not understand, Laura. If her admired Gervaise don’t want her—and mind you, he’s not a quarter the man Mr. Cranford is—one might suppose she’d be grateful to—Whoops! I’ve done it again! You’re gnashing your teeth at me!”
    “You deserve that I should! What is she to be grateful for, pray tell? An offer from a gentleman she knows has not the smallest interest in her, and would wed her purely to save the face of that puffed-up uncle of his?”
    “Great-uncle, love. And Miss Cordelia’s face would thus be saved also, I think. But we have other things to talk of then—”
    “Than my poor friend?” Miss Finchley uttered a lady-like snort. “Who is offered a marriage made in heaven, no less! Small wonder she refused to accept such a loveless bargain.”
    Florian sighed, but lifted her hand and kissed it tenderly, “And what of her fierce mama? How did she view this—bargain?”
    “She boxed poor Cordelia’s ears and said she had thrown away her last chance for a respectable marriage—which was the most she could hope for now she has ruined herself. And that she does not intend to support a spinster daughter for the rest of her days.”
    “The lady would seem to have a hard heart. I collect Miss Cordelia has no choice but to apologize and accept my Lieutenant, which would be in her best interests at all events. Now can we not talk of our own—”
    “You mistake it!” overrode the single-minded Miss Finchley. “Cordelia is proud—too proud to spend her life kissing Mr. Cranford’s boots and whining of her gratitude and—and repentance!”
    “As if he would expect such slavish behaviour,” said Florian indignantly. “Piers Cranford is one of the finest men I know. He may not possess a great fortune, but as his wife Miss Stansbury would be treated with a kindness she’d likely never have been shown by that strutting popinjay Valerian!”
    Laura pulled the hood of her cloak tighter against a gust of cold wind and said slowly, “You may be right, dear. But I think Cordelia will never wed any other, however her mama may plot and scheme.”
    “Gemini! Do you fancy Mrs. Stansbury will try again to—”
    “To entrap another hapless bachelor? Most definitely! Cranford didn’t really suit her, at all events. She says he is a nobody and not to be compared with Gervaise Valerian for looks or