Lord Dearborn's Destiny Read Online Free Page B

signify. I can assure you that the Huntington name and the Dearborn title would not suffer in the least from such an alliance." She faltered to a stop as Forrest's grin revealed that he had been bamming her.
    "You wretched boy!" she cried. "As if such considerations would weigh with you, anyway. I can't think why you wished me to make enquiries in the first place. It is high time I left London, and you to your own devices." She conveniently forgot that researching Miss Winston-Fitts's background had been her own idea.
    "Town will be quite dull without you, ma'am," her son politely assured her, still grinning. "But I daresay I will manage somehow to keep myself amused." He rose to go.
    "Forrest, wait! I have just had the most delightful idea!" the Countess exclaimed suddenly. "Why do we not have a house party at Huntington Park towards the end of the Season? It really does seem most unfair that you should spend the entire spring amidst the dirt of Town while I am enjoying the beauties of the country. Also, I should love to show off my rose gardens to our friends while they are at their best."
    "Our friends, or the roses?" asked Forrest teasingly. "A capital idea, however, ma'am. You know that I will seize on any excuse to cut the Season short."  
    "Excellent! I shall send out invitations as soon as I arrive home. After I greet my poor pussies, that is. They are always so melancholy while I am away, Mrs. Hutchins tells me."
    The Earl chose not to ask how one might tell when a cat was melancholy, but instead took up his gloves. "I will leave you to your arrangements, ma'am. The house is sure to be turned topsy-turvy with your packing and I would as lief be out of it. At any rate, if I do not take my morning ride soon, it will no longer be morning."
    "Off with you, then," said Lady Dearborn cheerfully. "I'll be leaving by nine tomorrow, so do you be certain to be awake to see me off and to throw a shoe after me for luck."
    "You see me your servant, as always, ma'am." With an exaggerated bow, Forrest departed his mother's rooms.  
     
    *             *             *
     
    At that moment, which lacked nearly an hour till noon, all was yet quiet at the Winston-Fitts Town house. Ellie O'Day stood by the window of her small chamber gazing thoughtfully down at the tiny patch of garden behind the house, going over the day's schedule in her mind while waiting for the rest of the family to bestir themselves.
    After breakfast, if such it could properly be called at twelve o'clock, she, Rosalind and Aunt Mabel would once again venture out to the shops in their seemingly endless quest for the perfect gown for this or that upcoming function. In particular, her aunt wished to have everything and everyone in readiness for the dinner party she was giving next week.  
    Ellie wondered idly whether her aunt's attention to detail would extend to a new gown for herself, or if she would be obliged to wear another of Rosalind's castoffs, hemmed and taken in to fit her more diminutive figure. Not that it would bother her, she reminded herself. Rosalind's old gowns were vastly more fashionable than anything she had ever owned before coming to live with the Winston-Fittses.
    A scratch at the door interrupted Ellie's thoughts. "Ellie, are you awake?" came Rosalind's voice from without.
    Ellie quickly bounded across the little room and flung open the door. "Good morning, Rosie! Are you ready for another day of fittings?" she asked her cousin cheerily.
    Rosalind entered the chamber more slowly and sat on the threadbare pink chair that occupied the meagre space between bed and dressing-table. "I had no idea I would need so many clothes in London," she said with a sigh. "It seems a shocking waste of money to me."
    "I can't think where you acquired your tendency to economy, Rosie," said Ellie, with a laugh, settling next to her on the green counterpane of the bed. "Certainly not from Aunt Mabel."
    "Oh, Mama can be thrifty enough when she chooses,"