A Country Wooing Read Online Free

to pay the tax on him. He’s ignorant as a whelp. Annie is teaching him to read and cipher. We pay him fifteen a year, and like him a deal better than Mary, for she turned into such a flirt, there was no standing it. She’s gone up to Penholme to distract your footmen there and keep them from their chores. I told Aunt Tannie the girl is useless and certainly not needed at the Hall, but it went through her like a dose of salts. Charles hired a dozen girls after you left. Of course, the local girls do look to the Hall for work.”
    “Yes,” Alex said doubtfully. “I thought there was an unconscionable crowd of servants hustling around, but I supposed they were all coming out of the woodwork to get a look at me.”
    “So they were, I expect,” Mrs. Wickfield agreed. She found nothing unusual in the remark, but to Anne it sounded again unlike Alex. Some new consequence had come to him as a result of his inheritance, or perhaps it was the effect of the army. It would never have occurred to Lord Alex that the girls were coming forth to admire him. Her thoughts were turned from this by Alex’s next statement.
    “We’re having a party at the Hall this evening in honor of my return. Just a small party—my family and you, if you will do us the honor.”
    Enthusiastic acceptances were given, and very soon Alex rose to take his leave. Mrs. Wickfield disappeared again, leaving Anne to show him the door. When he opened it, sunlight streamed in on them, throwing his lean cheeks into shadow and accentuating the lines from his nose to his lips. He reminded her of the carvings of saints and martyrs seen in churches. There was an austere look about him. The war must have been horrid.
    “Are things really as bad as your mother indicated?” he asked.
    “We’ve never gone to bed hungry. I think you have, Alex.”
    “War is ... different. I hadn’t thought things would be so desperate at home.”
    “Hardly desperate. I hope you will tell me all about Spain sometime. I’m sure you had more dangerous adventures than stealing donkeys and hiding yourself in a flour bag.”
    “I plan to forget all that. This is a new beginning for ... me.”
    There was a little hesitation before that last word. The intent, conscious beam in his eyes suggested a different word. “A new beginning for us” would have given a more suitable reading. Then he smiled, squeezed her fingers, said, “Hasta mañana, querida,” and left.
    She laughed in surprise to hear an old friend suddenly crop out into a new language. “What does that mean?” she called after him. The words, though totally unintelligible, had an alluring sound.
    “It means I’m very glad to be back. Very glad, Annie.”
    She closed the door and turned to see her mother hovering at the bottom of the stairs. “He’s changed, don’t you think?” Anne asked pensively.
    “I’m glad to see he’s come out of himself a little. He didn’t use to stay to lunch. I half wish he hadn’t taken it into his head to do it today. An omelette and cold cuts, and he looking as though he could eat a horse. We’ll do better next time.”
    “If there is a next time. This may have been his ceremonial call.”
    “He’ll be back. Alex won’t waste much time to find a mother for the children and a proper mistress for the Hall. You’ll have to look sharp and move fast to nab him. At least he never was one for throwing his cap at all the girls.”
    “But he’s changed. You must have noticed, Mama. All that talk about people wanting to ‘get a look at him.’ He’s very much aware of his worth.”
    “The man’s not an idiot. Nor is he the type to be running to London to marry an heiress. You have the inner track, having known him forever.”
    But Anne didn’t feel she knew him at all. What sparse knowledge she’d ever had of Lord Alex hardly seemed to apply to Lord Penholme. He was an intriguing stranger, and even spoke a new language. Travel was broadening, folks said, and it had changed Alex