Encounter with Venus Read Online Free Page B

meet.”
    George’s jaw dropped. “Have you been questioning me about Miss Whitmore? ”
    “Of course!”
    “Oh!” He dropped his eyes from her face, feeling very foolish indeed.
    Felicia studied him with knitted brow. “What made you think I wanted to speak to you of Livy? Does she interest you somehow?”
    “No, of course not. This is a silly conversation. Go away, Felicia, and let me get to sleep.”
    “She doesn’t at all look forty.”
    “Very well, she doesn’t. I shouldn’t have said it. You know I’m a complete looby about such things.”
    “Yes, you are.” Felicia, her brow still furrowed, got up and started toward the door. “So you have nothing to say about Elaine?”
    “What is it you wish me to say?”
    Felicia wheeled about in annoyance. “That she’s lovely. That you’re taken with her. That she’s just the sort you’d like to wed.”
    George snorted. Handing her the candle, he turned her toward the door. “She’s a very pleasing young woman. And that, sister dear, is all you’ll get from me.” And, firmly propelling her out to the corridor, he wished her a very final “Good night.”
     
     

 
    FIVE
     
     
    Back in her room, Felicia climbed into bed beside her husband. Leyton sat up and studied her, trying to judge the success of her mission without prodding. He saw at once that it had not gone well. “Well, what did he say?” he asked at last.
    “He said she’s pleasant.”
    “That’s not very promising,” Leyton said.
    “No, it’s not. He doesn’t show any interest in Elaine at all.”
    “Well, I warned you. He’s never shown any interest in shallow females like Elaine, though he’s certainly had dozens like her thrown at him. I told you he wouldn’t be different this time.”
    “But she’s so very beautiful. I’d hoped—”
    “It’s a very superficial beauty, if you ask me,” Leyton muttered.
    “Evidently Georgie thinks so, too,” Felicia sighed, discouraged. She leaned back against the pillows and turned a pair of puzzled eyes to her husband’s face. “Do you want to hear something quizzy, dearest? I think he’s interested in Livy! ”
    Leyton gave a scornful snort. “That’s ridiculous. He was positively rude to her when I introduced them.”
    “Rude? Georgie? ”She couldn’t believe her ears. “In what way? Georgie would never be rude to a lady! What did he say that you thought was rude?”
    “It wasn’t quite what he said. It was how he looked. As if ... as if .. . Oh, I don’t know.” He scratched his head in a gesture of helplessness. “I can’t explain. It’s only a feeling. Let’s forget it and go to sleep.”
    But Felicia couldn’t drop the subject. “I don’t understand it. There’s something strange about all this. When I asked him about Elaine, before I actually mentioned her name, he immediately assumed I was speaking of Livy. As if Elaine had not made the slightest impression on him! How is it possible that Livy, who is not breathtaking even when she’s in looks—and these days she’s certainly not at all at her best—can have impressed my flirtatious brother more than the spectacular Elaine?”
    “Elaine is a silly flibbertigibbet,” Leyton muttered, snuggling into his pillow. “Livy is worth ten of her.”
    “Yes, I know that, but she’s not in Georgie’s style. Besides, she’s too old for him.”
    “Right. We’ve pinned our hopes for Livy on Horace, haven’t we?”
    “You have.” Felicia heaved a heavy sigh. “I no longer have hopes in that direction.”
    “No?” He turned round and raised himself on his elbow. “Why not?”
    “Really, my love, your friends the Thomsetts are not at all what I expected. I don’t believe Livy will take to Horace at all.”
    “How can you say so? Horace is the best of fellows, I assure you.”
    “Perhaps he is, among the fellows you associate with, but I don’t think my friends will find him so.”
    “Come now, my love,” Leyton objected, “you barely know