Regency Sting Read Online Free Page B

that the afflictions of passing strangers could bring tears to her eyes. Cherry had large, wide eyes, a heart-shaped, full-cheeked face and thick, silky-brown hair which she wore in unstylish braids wound round her head. Even the lines on her body, while not exactly plump, were comfortingly soft.
    Knowing that her beloved friend was troubled, Cherry looked for an opportunity to see Anne alone. When Anne arrived one afternoon to take Cherry up for their weekly ride in Hyde Park, Cherry insisted that Anne come up to her bedroom while she finished dressing. There she urged Anne to perch on her four-poster bed with its feminine pink-and-gold draperies, and, jumping up alongside her, encouraged her friend to reveal what was on her mind.
    Anne, hoping that her inner tensions would be relieved by speaking of her problems to her best friend, unhesitatingly explained the financial difficulties which had suddenly beset both her family and that of the Claybridges. It was her new awareness of Arthur’s home situation which troubled her most deeply. “It may be,” she concluded despondently, “that we will never find a way to marry!”
    â€œOh, Anne, my dear!” Cherry cried, her chin quivering in heartfelt concern. “How utterly, completely dreadful !”
    â€œYes, I know,” Anne agreed brusquely, “but don’t start to cry, Cherry, for tears never solved anything. They’ll only redden your eyes, and we’ll have to spend half-an-hour applying cold cloths and face powder to make you look presentable.”
    â€œI d-don’t intend to cry,” Cherry said bravely. “Besides, things may look dark now, but at least we can console ourselves with the knowledge that Arthur will never look at another female but you. You do know that, don’t you?”
    â€œI believe he loves me, but—”
    â€œOf course he loves you! Anyone with half an eye can see that!”
    â€œBut he’s never formally declared himself, you know, and … now it’s been almost a week that I’ve not seen him …!” Anne admitted with a slight quiver in her own voice.
    Cherry put an arm around her consolingly. “Don’t be gooseish. You know he loves you. He’s keeping away because he doesn’t want to upset his mother, that’s all. Before long, he won’t be able to stay away—you’ll see.”
    â€œPerhaps. But even if he does love me, it’s a fact that love does not always lead to marriage, Cherry. Especially when the family exerts pressure on one to make an advantageous match.”
    â€œAdvantageous matches!” Cherry snorted scornfully. “How I hate them!”
    â€œYes, but they are so often necessary,” Anne sighed. Finding that there was not much relief in going over these depressing circumstances, Anne squared her shoulders and lifted her head. “Never mind, Cherry. Let’s not talk any more. My tiger cannot keep the horses standing in this weather. Do put on your bonnet and come along.”
    Cherry obediently took her bonnet from a tall, pink-painted wardrobe and sat down at her dressing table to tie it on. “Has Arthur’s family asked him to make such a match?” she asked, looking at her friend’s reflection in her dressing-table mirror.
    â€œSince he’s forbidden to see me, I cannot be sure, but according to Mama’s conversation with Lady Claybridge—”
    â€œArthur is too honorable to agree to make such a match!” Cherry said loyally, placing the chip-straw bonnet on her head and tying it on with a knitted scarf.
    â€œYou are not going to wear that ugly scarf with that light bonnet, are you?” Anne demanded with a wince.
    â€œDon’t you like it?” Cherry asked, turning her attention to the mirror. “It’s the finest swansdown I could find. I paid more than—”
    â€œI don’t care what it cost. It’s too heavy to tie properly.”