April Kihlstrom Read Online Free

and her face was wreathed in smiles.
    “Mr. Trowley,” she said, “we are to have a visitor! The Viscount Rothwood! And he is likely to offer for Beatrix. Isn’t that wonderful?”
    “Beatrix? Our Beatrix?” Mr. Trowley asked, bewildered. “But why?”
    “What does it matter? I must confess that I had feared she was past any hope of marrying and now this! I am over the moon, my dear!”
    “Yes, of course, but what do we know about the fellow? How did she ever meet him?”
    “That’s the best part. You know my dear friend, Lady Kenrick? He is her nephew! No doubt she has told him all about our estimable daughter and that is why he is coming to offer for her. Or perhaps . . . ” Her voice trailed off as she gazed into the distance, a speculative look upon her face. After a moment she said slowly, “I had forgotten but we have met him, John. Don’t you recall? It was some nine or ten years ago that Violet brought him for a visit. He must have taken an interest in Beatrix and had a
tendre
for her all this time.”
    “Lady Kenrick can’t have told him all about Beatrix nor could he remember her all that well,” Mr. Trowley muttered, “or the last thing he would be doing is offering for her.”
    “John!” Mrs. Trowley said in shocked tones. “Beatrix is our daughter and I am sure she is a most worthy young woman.”
    “Worthy and managing and not in the least respectful toward anyone,” he countered. “Not to mention hopelessly uninterested in her appearance. No, no, depend on it, he will take one look at her and take himself straight back to London!”
    For perhaps the first time in her life, Mrs. Trowley showed that she actually possessed a backbone. “We must make him realize her worth,” she said with some spirit. “We must make him wish to marry her. I will not see my Beatrix grow old a spinster. And if she is managing, well, if we are honest, John, it is our fault that she has had to be. Don’t deny it. You know as well as I that neither you nor I have a head for managing a household. No, nor the funds to do so adequately. Depend upon it, if Beatrix were to marry someone who did have a head for such things she would be happy to leave the reins in his hands! And don’t you dare do anything to suggest otherwise to our guest. Lady Kenrick writes that he wishes to marry a meek and dutiful girl and that is what we must make him believe he is going to get with Beatrix.”
    Mr. Trowley looked incredulous. “But my dear,” he protested. “Don’t you think it both unwise and unfair to deceive this young man? Won’t he and Beatrix both be unhappy when he finds out the truth?”
    Mrs. Trowley sniffed. “By then they will be wed and will have to make the best of it. I’ve no doubt Beatrix will find a way to do so. It is one of her chief talents, after all.”
    Mr. Trowley gave it up. Instead he held out a hand to his wife. “I’ve done something foolish, my dear. I’ve lost some money betting on a pig who let me down. Beatrix has already rung a peal over my head so there’s no need for you to do so. I am so sorry.”
    She took his hand and smiled fondly at him. “I know you are. I ought to be angry but I’m afraid I don’t know how. One way or another we will manage. Beatrix will find a way, you’ll see.”
    “And once she’s gone? How will we manage then?” he could not help but ask.
    “Much more comfortably, even if not as well, I expect,” Mrs. Trowley replied. “After all, she cannot scold us when we are here and she is in London.”
    Much cheered by this thought, Mr. Trowley smiled and suggested, despite the fact that it was midmorning, some of the activity that had already resulted in the existence of their numerous offspring. Mrs. Trowley was happy to oblige. After all, she so hated to disappoint Mr. Trowley in any way and he was so very good at this particular activity.
    * * *
    Had Rothwood known his aunt had sent a letter ahead, he was not likely to object. Anything that