Lord Devere's Ward Read Online Free

Penrose House. Although it was situated in meadowlands rather than hills, it did indeed resemble her home, with wide fields dotted by occasional stands of trees.
    As the curricle neared the pleasant, Palladian-style residence, she could see that the property roundabout became formally landscaped. She liked the look of the place, as everything appeared to be properly maintained, and she hoped she’d have the opportunity to explore the manor house and grounds.
    As Quinn entered, shouting for Nan and Pen, he hauled Kate into a drawing room to await her host and hostess. He plopped her onto a comfortable sofa, upholstered in tufted green brocade. When her astonished hosts appeared, she tried to smile though she felt wretchedly shy and awkward. She wondered what they must have made of her, attired as she was in Devere’s cast-off overcoat and a too-small gown.
    Attired for a winter afternoon in a blue kerseymere day dress, Lady Anna was as short and round as her brother was tall and thin. She had fair hair and merry eyes. At this moment, those eyes snapped dangerously. “Quinn! How dare you bring one of your fancy pieces to this house!” Kate sat bolt upright. “Now see here—”
    “I must say, Devere, this is not quite the thing, is it?” Lady Anna’s husband, a stout baronet dressed as any ordinary country squire, eyed Kate with evident disapproval.
    Quinn ignored their discomfiture as well as Kate’s. “Nan, Pen, we have a bit of a dilemma. This is my ward, Lady Katherine Scoville.”
    Their lips parted in identical round O’s of surprise, and she restrained a nervous giggle. The Penroses appeared to be a well-matched couple.
    “I ask that Kate stay here for the nonce…” Pacing back and forth, Quinn outlined Kate’s circumstances.
    “So, she cannot live with me, for her reputation’s sake. And she must be protected from Herbert, Lord Badham.”
    Lady Anna sniffed. “From what I have heard, all women should be protected from Lord Herbert and his issue. No respectable member of the ton gives them entrée.” She sat down next to Kate, reached out and took Kate’s cold hands in her own. “I’m sorry, child, for the way I greeted you. You are most welcome here, for as long as you like.” Kate blinked back sudden hot tears, a sharp contrast to her icy fingers and lonely spirit of the last few weeks. She hadn’t told her guardian of the cold hell she’d endured at Badham Abbey, but Lady Anna’s unaccustomed kind touch brought her to the realization of the danger of her plight and the narrowness of her escape. “Thank you, ma’am. I’ll endeavor to be a thoughtful guest.”
    “Nonsense! You’re Devere’s ward, practically one of the family.” Sir Michael Penrose spoke from his cozy wing chair near the fire.
    “Pen, we’re afraid she’ll be traced here by her uncle before we can persuade Parliament to act.” Quinn’s tone was solemn. “Accordingly, her true identity must be concealed.”
    His long face was so comically somber that Kate was both jollied out of her tears and irresistibly reminded of Miss Austen’s satire, Northanger Abbey.
    She let loose a gurgle of laughter. “Oh, my lord! You are too Gothic!”
    “And you are too impertinent and careless. Kate, you must tell no one who you are, and we must pass you off as a distant cousin of Pen’s.” He nodded toward Sir Michael Penrose. “With your permission, sir.” “You have it, of course, if you deem it necessary.”

    “I do. Consider what has transpired. Badham imprisoned Kate and wrote to me, asking for her hand in marriage to his son and fraudulently claiming her agreement.” He wheeled to face Kate. “If, based on his lies, I had written back with my consent, you would not be sitting here now, Kate. You would be Odbert’s wife, alone, powerless, and penniless.” She sat quite still, shocked into immobility by his directness and understanding. She managed to say,
    “You are right, certainly, and that is why I left. But I am