Lord Dearborn's Destiny Read Online Free Page A

her duty as friend, cousin and companion to do everything in her power to help Rosalind to win him.  
     
    *             *             *

C HAPTER 3

    "I' VE DECIDED to spend a few weeks at Huntington Park," announced Lady Dearborn to her son several days later as she took breakfast in her rooms. "The roses will need tending, and I miss my pussies. I'll leave on the morrow, while the crescent moon is still increasing."
    Forrest was not surprised. His mother had not spent an entire Season in London in years. Nor could he blame her; their country estate was glorious in the springtime, particularly in comparison to the dirty grey smokiness of the capital city.
    "Perhaps I'll join you," he said thoughtfully, deliberately baiting her.
    "At the height of the Season?" she exclaimed in shocked accents, just as he had known she would. "'Tis bad enough that I am deserting the fashionable world for the simple life. It would be rank cruelty to deprive the ton of both of us!" Her wink showed that she knew what he was about. "Besides, think of a certain young lady who would be left to the tender mercies of her other gallants."
    Forrest's smile broadened. "Touché," he said good-naturedly. "By the bye, have your enquiries anent that particular lady borne any fruit?" He had given up trying to conceal his interest in Miss Winston-Fitts from his mother, who was entirely too perceptive. Besides, if he made the girl his wife, as he had nearly decided he would, the Countess had every right to know.
    "A few pieces, though not yet a full harvest," she replied, sharing the remains of her breakfast with Sapphire, the Siamese cat, who was happily ensconced in her lap. "The Winston-Fittses, as you may already know, are a very old family— older than ours, in fact— and Emmett Winston-Fitts hails from a most respectable branch of it. On that side, the girl's blood is as blue as you could wish." She paused, dangling a shred of bacon just out of Sapphire's reach.
    "And on the other?" prompted Forrest. He could see that his mother intended dragging out her story for maximum effect, and he had no mind to spend the entire morning listening to it.
    Lady Dearborn grimaced slightly. "The mother, I regret to say, was born Mabel Grimes. I have been unable to discover much else about her, but current rumour has her as the daughter of a prosperous textile merchant in or near Birmingham. Her mother, however, was apparently of gentle birth, according to Lady Brookhaven, who knew her in her youth. A Miss Wharton. The girl's dowry is quite impressive, by the way."
    "No doubt from her maternal grandfather," commented the Earl. He was not particularly dismayed, or even surprised, by his mother's disclosures. Miss Winston-Fitts was by no means the first young lady to acquire the financial entree to Society in such a way.
    Forrest knew that the girl's mercantile connections would not dampen his mother's enthusiasm for the match any more than they did his own. Still, he was in no great haste to offer for Miss Winston-Fitts, however lovely she might be. The Season was yet young, and he had scarcely exchanged ten words with her thus far, in spite of dancing twice with her at Mrs. Bullen's rout three nights since. At any rate, he would be foolish to commit himself for life before getting to know her better. He very much looked forward to furthering their acquaintance, in fact.
    "Well, ma'am, I know you wouldn't wish me to introduce a cit into the family. You may trust me to keep my handkerchief safely in my pocket." He watched his mother keenly as he casually made this pronouncement.
    Struggling up from the chaise in alarm, to the discommodation of Sapphire, the Countess hastened to undo the perceived damage. "Nonsense, Forrest! If you care for the girl I will throw no spoke in your wheel on that account, you may be sure. The girl's connections are not generally known, for the mother never mentions that side of her family, and even if they were, it would not