Free The Black Widow by Charlotte Louise Dolan

few well-chosen oaths would go a long way toward relieving her aggravation—aggravation caused both directly and indirectly by the man seated beside her.
    Instead, remembering her aunt’s frequent admonitions to behave in a ladylike manner at all times, Meribe contented herself with saying, “We were not discussing your efforts to disprove the curse. The question that I asked—and which you have not yet answered—is whether or not your heart was broken.”
    And secondarily, she said to herself, some of us were wondering what your intentions are. But she knew the answer to that. He had made it clear from the beginning that he was merely being gallant—that he was not smitten by her charms, which Hester had just insisted were nonexistent.
    He grinned, then actually chuckled. “Without wishing to say anything derogatory about someone I have been acquainted with since childhood, not a day has gone by since then that I have not been grateful to a merciful providence for my narrow escape.”
    There was no way she could doubt that he was telling the truth—there was too much boyish glee in his smile to think he was merely attempting to conceal a broken heart. She could not keep a similar smile from her own face, and the rest of the drive around the park was spent discussing quite amiably the news he had received from Devon about his stud.
    * * * *
    It must have been an evil fairy that had inspired Lady Letitia to invite Lady Thorverton to take a turn around the park in her carriage. Although Dorothea could be a pleasant-enough companion in the normal course of events, she was really a most disagreeable woman when things did not fall out according to her wishes. And it had become immediately—but unfortunately not immediately enough—obvious to Lady Letitia that her companion was most definitely having an off day.
    Instead of showing proper appreciation for the honor of sitting beside Lady Letitia, Dorothea was casting fulminating looks at her son, whose carriage was but a short distance ahead of them.
    “Control yourself, Dorothea, if you please. You look as if you are ready to throw yourself in front of your son’s phaeton, which is a bit too dramatic even for you. Are you so set on having your son remain a bachelor?”
    “Do not be ridiculous—I should like nothing better than to have him marry and set up his nursery, but that wretched boy refuses point-blank to meet the daughters of any of my friends.’’
    “I rather think he has already got his heart set on a particular young lady.”
    “Fustian! That wretched girl is nothing more than a scheming hussy seeking to entrap my son, and he is only encouraging her because he knows it will upset me. His father was just such a one—obstinate, stubborn, pigheaded. And Demetrius takes after him—he positively delights in running counter to my wishes. I am sure if I welcomed that chit with open arms, he would drop her in an instant.’’
    Dorothea had always been prideful, even as a young girl, and Lady Letitia found it no more attractive now than she had years earlier. It was surprising that Demetrius and Collier had turned out so nicely. They obviously had a lot of their father in them. He had been such a sweet man, but no match really for his wife.
    “I suppose you have had a hand in this,” Lady Thorverton now muttered. “I know very well that you delight in matchmaking.”
    “I? Really, Dorothea, it was not I who sent a letter to Devon demanding that Lord Thorverton come posthaste to London.”
    “Well, now that he has accomplished the task I gave him, I am amazed that he has not rushed back to his precious horses.”
    What amazed Lady Letitia was how quickly certain people could give her a headache. Thank goodness neither Demetrius nor Collier had inherited their mother’s self-centeredness and conceit.
    * * * *
    After having been abandoned in public by her sister, Hester was quite relieved when Lionell Rudd minced over to where she was standing and invited