Miss Wonderful Read Online Free Page A

thing gives
more trouble than it's worth."
    Alistair
took out his penknife and neatly sliced the ribbon. He longed to tear
the bonnet from her head, hack it to shreds, throw it down, and stomp
on it, then hurl it into the fire—and by the way, have the
milliner pilloried for making it in the first place.
    Instead,
he withdrew to a safe distance, put away his penknife, and told
himself to calm down.
    Miss
Oldridge snatched the bonnet from her head, stared at it for a
moment, then carelessly tossed it onto a nearby chair.
    "That's
better," she said, and beamed up at him once more. "I was
beginning to wonder if I must wear the thing for the rest of my
life."
    The
billowing cloud of fiery hair and the smile knocked Alistair's
thoughts about as though they were a lot of ninepins in his skull. He
firmly put them back to rights.
    "I
sincerely hope not," he said.
    "I
do apologize for bothering you with it," she said. "You
endured trials enough, I daresay, coming all this way for nothing.
Not that I know where you came from."
    "Matlock
Bath," he said. "Not a great ways by any means. A few
miles." At least twenty it had seemed, on filthy roads, under
skies spitting icy rain. "There is no harm done. I shall come
another day, when it is more convenient." When, he fervently
hoped, she would be detained elsewhere.
    "Unless
it is convenient for you to come as a pawpaw tree, it will be another
wasted journey," she said. "Even if  you should happen
to find my father at home, you shan't find him at home, if you take
my meaning."
    Alistair
didn't quite take it, but before he could ask her to explain, a pair
of servants entered, bearing trays laden with enough sustenance for a
company of Light Dragoons. "I beg you to partake of some
refreshment," she said, "while I withdraw for a moment to
make myself presentable. Since you've come all this way, you might as
well acquaint me with your errand. Perhaps I can help you."
    Alistair
was certain it would be fatal to spend any more time alone with her.
The smile muddled him horribly.
    "Really,
Miss Oldridge, it is no great matter," he said. "I can come
another day. I plan to stay in the area for some time." As long
as was necessary. He'd promised to take care of the problem, and he
would not return to London until he'd done so.
    "It
will be the same no matter what day you come." She started
toward the door. "Even if you do run Papa to ground, he won't
attend to anything you say." She paused to direct a questioning
look at him. "Unless you are vegetative?"
    "I
beg your pardon?"
    "Botanical,"
she said. "I was aware you had been in the army, but that
doesn't mean you haven't another occupation in civilian life. Are you
botanical?" "Not in the least," Alistair said. "Then
he won't attend." She continued to the door. Alistair was
beginning to wish he'd let her choke on the bonnet ribbons. He said,
"Miss Oldridge, I have a letter from your father, in which he
expresses not only a strong interest in my project, but a clear grasp
of its implications. I find it difficult to believe that the man who
wrote this letter will heed nothing I say."
    That
stopped her in her tracks. She turned fully toward him, blue eyes
wide. "My father has written to you?" "He replied to
my letter immediately." There was a longish pause before she
said, "It is about a project, you said. But not connected to
botany."
    "A
dull matter of business," he said. "A canal."
    She
paled a little, then her animated face hardened into a polite mask.
"Lord Gordmor's canal."
    "You
have heard about it, then."
    "Who
has not?"
    "Yes,
well, there seems to be some misunderstanding about his lordship's
plans."
    She
folded her hands at her waist. "A misunderstanding," she
said.
    The
temperature in the room was rapidly dropping.
    "I've
come to clear it up," Alistair said. "Lord Gordmor is ill
at present—the influenza—but I am a partner in the
enterprise and acquainted with every detail. I am sure I can ease
your father's apprehensions."
    "If
you think