Love for Lucinda Read Online Free Page B

in front of her spare bosom in an expression of bliss. “Everything more than exceeds any puny expectations of mine, my dear. The comfort of my room. This delightful town house. London itself. Why, it is all more than I can yet comprehend.” She shook her head in self-amusement. “When you wrote to me and begged me to come to you as your companion, I never dreamed that I should step into a fantasy existence.”
    “A fantasy indeed,” said Lucinda thoughtfully, smoothing her gloves over her wrists. She looked up and laughed. “I am glad that you are not disappointed. I own, I was not certain what we might expect since the house had been shut up for the past year. But my cousin-in-law, Lord Wilfred Mays, was extremely gracious in allowing me to order the house as I wished and the caretakers kept it up nicely.”
    “I do not know how you were ever able to bear leaving it,” said Miss Blythe, once more gazing about her appreciatively.
    Lucinda also looked around, but more subjectively. The sitting room was beautifully appointed, as was every other room in the town house. The uninitiated saw only the magnificence, the opulence, the luxury. However, she knew better than most that beauty was not always a reflection of what was good or best. Surrounded by such outward trappings of wealth, she had learned the poverty of bitter disillusionment and inconceivable loneliness.
    It had been in this very room that the impassive butler had brought to her the verbal message that her husband had arranged for her to leave London within the hour. She would not be returning. His lordship had not bothered to convey his wishes in private, but had sent them by a servant.
    This final humiliation had been a devastating blow, and it had all but broken her pride completely. The weight of her distress had nearly shattered her composure. But she had managed not to make a spectacle of herself. In a voice that she had not recognized as her own, she had requested that her maid be sent down to her. It had only been through Madison’s offices that she had been able to walk upstairs to her dressing room and attire herself for the journey.
    Strange, Lucinda reflected, as she looked around the sitting room. There should be ghostly emotions vibrating forever in these surroundings, but she had felt nothing.
    She had actually dreaded reentering the portals of this house and steeled herself against it. She had even wondered whether she could live at Mays House for an entire Season. The memories had come, of course, but she remained oddly unmoved. Simply, the town house was not home to her. She moved within its walls and enjoyed its luxuries, but it was as though she was merely a guest to whom polite hospitality had been extended. It had actually come as something of a relief to discover that the place had so little hold upon her.
    Lucinda saw that her companion was looking at her rather strangely. She realized that she had been silent too long and at once volunteered an explanation. “Mrs. Beeseley has promised us a fine roast for our dinner, by the by. I was thinking just now that we must take care to return from our outing in good time so that we do not offend the cook’s sensibilities.” She gestured toward the door, lifting a brow inquiringly. “Shall we go ? Are you ready?”
    “Oh, I am quite ready.” Miss Blythe smoothed her own gloves and adjusted the reticule strings over her wrist as she moved after Lucinda to the door. Her thoughts were still revolving pleasurably on the promised treat that Lucinda had revealed was in store for them. She voiced her approval of the housekeeper’s diligence. “An excellent woman altogether. She knows how to keep the household well in hand, and she is never behind in the least courtesy. Did you know that Mrs. Beeseley has given orders that my sheets are to be properly warmed each night? That is the mark of the superior housekeeper.” Miss Blythe laughed a little self-consciously at how contented that she had