The Admiral's Daughter Read Online Free Page B

prejudices, she could only say she would make the journey, and wonder inwardly what kind of a torture it would be.
    But the Admiral was beaming, for he could not have suspected her doubts. “Go! Of course you shall go, and gallivant about the place to your heart’s content! Why, I wish I could be there to see their faces when they glimpse you! I suppose they expect some country cousin or other! Imagine what their surprise will be, when they see you are the finest young lady in the place!”
    Maggie smiled at her father’s complacency and said nothing. He rattled on, talking of plans for the journey, and at last went off to write his letter to Lord Ramblay to say when she would arrive.
    â€œFor it does no good to dawdle about, child! One had better strike while the iron is hot, as your Mama used tosay! I shall tell him you will be there within the fortnight, so you shall have a week or two at Essex before going on to Town.”
    With these words the Admiral strode out of the room, conscious that he had done all he could to secure his daughter’s happiness, and certain of her ability to impress all her cousins with her elegance and beauty.
    But Maggie, passing the afternoon in what ought to have been the delightful business of looking over her wardrobe for the journey, felt none of her father’s delight. With the help of her maid she had laid out all her clothes upon her bed, and now, standing looking down at them with the desultory drumming of the rain in her ears and a great many thoughts waging war in her head, she felt suddenly exceedingly low.
    â€œA fine country cousin I shall make, indeed!” she said to herself, holding up before her in front of the glass a jonquil silk dress she had thought very elegant when she had had it made up in Portsmouth. Now it seemed to her plain and drab, and the place where it had been altered a month before was painfully visible. She made a mock curtsey, and grimaced.
    â€œI hope you are satisfied, Cousin,” she said. “Now you see what a fine piece of work you have made! You did not want me to come and now you are sorry for inviting me! Five decent gowns to my name, and the best of those not fit to be seen at Almack’s!”
    This was a very different Maggie Trevor from the one who, for so many years, had scoffed at spending above fifty pounds a year to dress herself. She had never cared much what she wore so long as she was neat and comfortable, and, because she possessed a beautiful carriage and was tall and graceful, with a proud way of holding her head, the Admiral had often marveled at how well she looked. She hated frills and furbelows, for they made movement difficult, and Maggie was in constant motion, even when she was still. Her few jewels—a cameo or two, a slender necklace of diamonds and pearls, and an amethyst pendant that had belonged to her mother—were hardly ever worn, save for the most formal occasions. Now she keenly regretted having held so low opinion of those females who spent half their lives wondering what they should wear in the other half. Oh! Not for herself, to be sure—what cared she ifLord Ramblay disapproved of her? But the idea that her father might be included in her own embarrassment was too painful a thought to bear. No, for him , she now slumped down upon her bed, the jonquil silk still clutched in her hands, a mortified expression in her face at the thought of how she would compare to those elegant women to whose company her cousin was no doubt used.
    It was not alone on account of her clothes that Maggie felt so low. Her knowledge and attainments, though great enough at Portsmouth, where she had been accounted among the most accomplished young ladies in the town, were not, she knew, sufficient for the likes of her cousins and their friends. She had a great love of reading, and had devoured a great many books in her life, but without any kind of formal guidance or discipline. Her taste in drawing