Lady Barbara's Dilemma Read Online Free

given up my lessons. There. I have said it. And to a complete stranger! But there is something about you, Sir David, that encourages confidence. And when you spoke of certain difficulties earlier, I had the idea that perhaps you too have wanted something you can’t have?”
    “I believe that we do have that in common, Lady Barbara. You, by virtue of being a woman and a lady, will never appear on a concert stage, and I, by virtue of being born a Jew, will never sit in Parliament or even enter a profession.”
    “But your name is Treves,” said Barbara, without thinking.
    “You are pronouncing it the English way. Originally it was Spanish.”
    “Yes, I thought you looked Spanish or Portuguese. But you are every inch the English gentleman,” protested Barbara.
    “My people have been quite successful in adopting the culture of their host country,” he said with a touch of irony. “It is the way we have survived. And I am an English gentleman. The Treveses have been here since Cromwell readmitted the Jews.”
    “Then you are one of the Sephardim?” said Barbara, pronouncing the word carefully.
    “Correct. I am surprised that you did not know immediately when you heard my father’s name. Lady Diana recognized it…”
    “So that is why she was rude!” exclaimed Barbara.
    “Oh, I wouldn’t say rude. Just subtly disapproving of my presence. I may be every inch the English gentleman, but there are homes in which I would not be welcome.”
    “I feel very ignorant,” confessed Barbara. “Of course, I was aware that much of Wellington’s financial support came from…” She hesitated.
    “Jews. It is all right, my lady, you can say it. The word itself is not an insult,” said Treves sardonically.
    “What I meant was that I didn’t recognize your father’s name. I have heard of Moses Montefiore, of course. Simon and Sam have spoken of him often. They have also spoken of Jewish emancipation. Is that the particular issue to which you referred?”
    “Indeed it is, Lady Barbara, although I feel very alone in my concern. Most Jews seem satisfied with the degree of acceptance we have achieved. I am not. I wish full citizenship. The opportunity to send my son to a university. The right to vote. The right to live as the loyal English citizens that we already are. But it is hard to convince the English that we are English too.”
    “Well, we do have something in common,” Barbara said. “We are both kept from full citizenship. Judith and I were quite fond of Mary Wollstonecraft when we were at school. I haven’t thought of her in a while. Perhaps I need to reread her book and get back some of my youthful fervor for radical ideas. I must confess I have felt quite old lately.”
    “It would be ungentlemanly of me to even hazard a guess, but surely not old!”
    “I am quite on the shelf.”
    “Nonsense.”
    “Not nonsense at all, Sir David. Judith is forever trying to match me up with someone. In fact, I was afraid you were another of her attempts,” Barbara confessed with a becoming blush.
    “I doubt it. Even the Duke and Duchess of Sutton are not so liberal as to consider a Jewish suitor for Lady Barbara Stanley.”
    “If I thought I could feel for you what Simon and Judith feel for each other, I assure you your Jewishness would not matter, Sir David.”
    “Quite charmingly said, Lady Barbara. I think I thank you, although it was a rather backhanded compliment,” replied David with a teasing smile.
    “But you do not believe me?”
    “No. However, that is not because I doubt your sincerity, but because of the ways of the world. But I am glad to hear that you have not fallen in love at first sight!”
    Barbara blushed again. “Oh, dear, that didn’t come out quite the way I meant it. But I can say I instantly liked you.”
    Treves laughed. “And I you. Perhaps we can be good friends, then? I would be most honored to accompany you to an occasional musicale and hope that someday I will have the privilege of