Fencing for Ladies (The Archer Family Regency Romances #5) Read Online Free Page A

and took pains to describe fencing as an invigorating exercise that would only be conducted in the company of other ladies. Her fencing academy would be a place for wholesome health and conversation, nothing more.
    Olivia smiled as Peregrine came flying down the hallway toward them, heels clattering on the marble, and his coat tails flapping behind him. As he catapulted toward her, she held out a gloved hand to stop him from ramming into her. He gripped it, whirling her around and smiling as if a simple walk were the most enticing prospect imaginable.
    Laughing, she shook her head, resigned and relieved to his boisterous company. He was just what she needed to lift her mood on such a dull and dreary day, and in truth, she didn’t particularly want to visit the empty academy alone.
    The fencing academy was set up in an elderly townhouse owned by her brother Harnet, the Earl of Wraysbury, and while it had lovely, large rooms and was more than adequate for a school, it had been abandoned for several years. As a result, the dusty, echoing rooms often unnerved her for no reason except that she heard the rustling scurry of rats in the walls more times than she cared to, and she’d had the persistent feeling of being observed. The only eyes present were those painted on elegant ladies and gentlemen sauntering through the Roman murals adorning some of the walls, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone else — someone very much alive and not overly fond of her — observed her.
    Of course, her nervousness was sheer nonsense. The building was in the middle of a block of similar structures and only had windows at the front and the back. No one was interested in the old house, and there was very little chance of being observed. It was only the dingy walls, the scarred wooden floors, and the general gloom that bothered her.
    The dingy walls were to have been painted a lovely pale yellow yesterday, so the rooms she intended to use should be much brighter and more cheerful.
    Peregrine released her hand with a bow, and she finished buttoning her pelisse. Her brother took his beaver hat from Latimore and set it at a jaunty angle on his brown curls, his gaze fixed on the front door. His gray eyes danced with excitement at the prospect of accompanying Olivia to her school, a destination she’d previously denied him based upon the fact that he was likely to be a nuisance and would make far too many nonsensical suggestions about her plans.
    Now it no longer seemed so terrible to have him wandering around the empty building, opening doors, thrusting his head into cupboards, and staring up chimneys.
    “W-well, so I get to see t-the famous fencing academy, after all,” he stuttered in excitement as he pressed his hat more firmly on his head. He caught Olivia's right hand, threaded it through his elbow, and dragged her in the direction of the front door.
    Latimore opened the door as they approached and bowed solemnly.
    “I'm not sure this is necessary, after all.” Olivia grinned as she tried to tear her hand out of her brother's grasp.
    “Of c-course it is necessary,” Peregrine countered. He pulled her down the front steps and through the black wrought iron gate to the busy sidewalk. “A w-woman c-cannot w-wander around London on her own, you know. You w-would be accosted by the v-vilest sorts imaginable, Ollie.”
    She laughed at his use of his special pet name. “Ollie” was the one word he could say without stuttering, and he never failed to accompany it with a wide grin. The gleam of triumphant pleasure in his eyes brought another giggle and lingering smile to her lips. The name was like some charming childhood secret the two of them shared.
    “We won’t be gone long. I simply want to ensure everything is prepared for tomorrow,” she said as he held the black wrought iron gate and stepped aside for her to pass onto the walkway.
    “T-tomorrow is the day, t-then?” He dragged her forward at a faster rate, as if he were