An Eligible Bachelor Read Online Free Page A

Eversleigh. He couldn’t escape that responsibility. And whoever he chose had to be able to deal with it in just the right way. Over the years, he could have had his pick of solid, sensible English girls who would have set to with gusto, chummed up the vicar and sat on committees and transplanted bulbs to their heart’s content. But that wasn’t really Guy’s style. Whoever he finally married had to have a bit more about them.
    And Richenda certainly had that. Her status was, in a twenty-first-century style, on a par with his. She was definitely no gold-digger. In fact, if anyone was going to be accused of gold-digging, it was probably him…
    ‘Hello? Guy? Anyone in there?’ His daydream was shattered by Barney, the landlord, grinning at him curiously.
    ‘Sorry, mate. I was miles away’
    ‘What can I get you?’
    Guy snapped out of his trance, ordering with alacrity, and ten minutes later he was digging into a slab of game terrine with pear chutney, while Madeleine picked at a plate of smoked duck breast. Madeleine scarcely ate. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate food. But she’d spent time in Paris before meeting Guy’s father, and the city had had an influence upon her, which included an obsession with being painfully thin. On a more positive note, it had left her with a knack for choosing accessories – a knotted silk scarf, an artfully draped pashmina, suede loafers and always, always real jewellery – that stopped her from becoming the caricature of an English country woman, but also gave her an air of Parisian froideur.
    Eventually she put her fork down and fixed him with a perspicacious glare.
    ‘So,’ she said. ‘Lunch out. What’s it all in aid of? I hope you’re not planning to bugger off again?’
    Guy took a slug of Honeycote Ale. It gave him both a hair of the dog and some Dutch courage before dropping his bombshell.
    ‘I’ve asked Richenda to marry me.’
    ‘I see.’ She surveyed him frostily, her eyes as chill andunforgiving as a winter’s morning. ‘This is all rather sudden, isn’t it?’
    Humour and cajoling, Guy knew, could restore her eyes to a softer blue. He smiled winningly.
    ‘We’ve known each other nearly six months.’
    Madeleine gave a disdainful sniff.
    ‘Hardly under normal circumstances. It’s not what you’d call a conventional courtship.’
    ‘Well, no…’
    ‘I mean, we’ve all been living in a fantasy world for the past few months. And I can see how easy it would be to imagine yourself in love…’
    ‘Mother. Please. Give me some credit.’
    ‘I’m just pointing out that when this circus has gone and you actually have to do some hard work, the reality might be different. For both of you.’
    ‘We have taken that into consideration.’ Guy lied glibly, infuriated with his mother for voicing fears he hadn’t even voiced to himself yet.
    She raised an elegant eyebrow.
    ‘I know how impulsive you can be.’
    ‘Impulsive, yes. But not stupid. I’m quite certain I’m doing the right thing.’
    ‘How can you be so sure?’
    Guy leaned forward, gesticulating with his knife.
    ‘Because Richenda knows who she is. She’s a person in her own right. She’s confident, talented, successful. And I don’t think she’ll be intimidated by Eversleigh. Or swept away by it.’ Guy chose his words carefully, knowing this was the only chance he had to convince his mother he was doing the right thing. ‘I think we’llbe an ideal partnership. We both have things in our lives that are incredibly important to us, that give us our identity. So we’ll be able to support each other. But at the same time give each other enough space to be who we are…’
    He cringed inwardly, knowing he was talking like some grim American chat-show host, but it seemed to do the trick. Madeleine sighed.
    ‘Well, I suppose television stars are the new aristocracy,’ she conceded, and lit a cigarette while he was still eating, another of her French affectations and one that Guy