Arabella of Mars Read Online Free Page A

supper.
    â€œBy all means, William. I wish you a safe journey home, and look forward to seeing you again in two weeks.”
    *   *   *
    At dinner that afternoon, after Jane had taken away the bowls from the rather thin and unsatisfactory soup, Beatrice said, “I believe we shall go berry-picking upon the morrow. Would you care to join us? It will be little Sophie’s first such occasion.”
    At the mention of his infant daughter, to Arabella’s surprise, Simon’s face clouded. Surely this reminder of the recent addition to his family should raise his spirits, not lower them?
    â€œIs berry-picking a suitable activity for small children?” Arabella asked, not certain how to interpret her host’s sudden change of emotion.
    Beatrice smiled. “She will not be taking an active part, to be sure; she will simply be carried along, to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.”
    Arabella ran a finger under the scratchy cuff of her stiff mourning costume. Even her favorite dresses had been taken away by her father’s death, for Venusian silk did not accept dye. They had all been replaced by heavy, rustling outfits of black bombazine, more suitable for mourning but exceedingly uncomfortable. “Forgive me my ignorance. It is not a thing I have done before.”
    Beatrice tilted her head inquiringly. “Do they not have berries on Mars?”
    â€œNot as such. We have khula , which I suppose you would consider a fungus, and gethown , which is a tuber … they are quite sweet and succulent, but they must be dug up, not picked from a vine.” For a moment Arabella lost herself in memory, recalling happy days with her beloved Michael, digging khula together with pail and shovel.
    She wondered, as she often did, what Michael might be doing at this very moment. Most likely he was engaged in some serious activity, directing the harvest or balancing the accounts, as befitted the head of the family. He would attain his majority in just a few months; until then his godfather Mr. Trombley, the family solicitor and a dependable man of sober stolidity, would act as his legal guardian.
    No one doubted that Michael was entirely capable of managing the Ashby household and plantations as well as his father had done, but still she worried about him. He must be overwhelmed by his new responsibilities, as well as torn with grief from his father’s loss. How she wished she could be with him now, to comfort and aid him in this difficult time!
    â€œMr. Ashby and I met while picking berries,” Beatrice said, interrupting Arabella’s thoughts. “Perhaps you will be as fortunate.” She smiled and inclined her head coquettishly. “There are many eligible bachelors in Oxfordshire.…”
    â€œHeavens no!” Arabella gasped, then immediately regretted her outburst. “That is … I mean to say … I am sure you are very happy together, but I … I have no interest in male companionship at this time.”
    â€œTruly?” Beatrice replied with unfeigned astonishment. Simon, Arabella noted, was silent and still appeared distracted. “I have never heard before of a healthy girl of seventeen years being uninterested in the other sex. Are you already engaged, then?”
    Arabella frowned and shook her head.
    â€œBut what of your sisters? They will require you to introduce them into society.”
    â€œI am keenly aware of this.” Arabella sighed. “Ever since my father’s passing, my mother has made it abundantly clear that I am to be married as soon as possible, for my sisters’ sake if not my own. But every suitor she has presented to me has been … entirely unsuitable.” The best young men England had to offer were, it seemed, barely comparable to her most ordinary acquaintances on Mars, and could not begin to hold a candle to her brother. Vapid empty-headed dandies the lot of them, knowing nothing of