9781618858467ASinfulEducationPimentel Read Free

The dreadful woman would niggle her way into Emily’s life, and
somehow find a way to hinder progress. Were it not for the fact that her mama
was her official guardian—for the time being—she would have found a way to stay
and live here at Stoughton Hall with her brother, his wife, and the twins.
    Another
nursemaid entered to collect the second twin, and Isabel rose with a stretch
and yawn. She held out her hand to Emily. “Come now, my dear. You and I shall
take a walk in the garden. I need to talk with you about some rumors I have
heard and could use the fresh air.”
    Emily
followed her sister-in-law out the side door and down the path where the roses
lie.
    “So, it has
come to my attention—well, at least the rumors—that the Duke of Downsbury has
returned to town. The servants have been whispering about his intentions to
find another duchess.”
    “What does
any of that have to do with me?”
    “Well, my
maid told me in confidence that she heard your mother discussing it with one of
the servants when you were dropped off this week. Apparently, she’s kept up
communication with his grace the entire time he was gone.”
    “I thought
he had gone off to the continent?” Permanently, she had desperately hoped.
    “He had for
a time, but he’s been back for a fortnight. I suspect your mother has been a
busybody.”
    That was not
a first. Her dear mama, up to no good, when she was probably knee-deep in sheep’s
manure. Of course she has… Would she
dream of doing anything else? Emily grumbled to herself.
    “What was
that?”
    Heat seared
Emily’s cheeks. She could not believe that she had spoken aloud. “Oh, nothing. Mama
just has a tendency to interfere where she doesn’t belong, and knowing her,
she’s plotting something devious.”
    Isabel
giggled. “Between you and me, I am ecstatic at her desire to no longer live
here. Albeit, it came at the cost of your departure. I know if Nathaniel could
have you here, he would. I will broach the subject with him tonight. Surely,
there is something he will be able to arrange.”
    To live here
would be a miracle, but so long as her mother lived and breathed, there’d be no
chance of her relinquishing Emily’s care to her brother. “So, what do you
propose we do in the meanwhile? Plan a picnic and have some fun, much to her
ire? Or should we host a dinner party and make her the guest of honor? We will
invite some of her female companions and secretly make fun of them.”
    Isabel
hooked her arm with Emily’s. “What a splendid idea. We could name the dishes
after her and her friends.”
    Emily was
lost in a fit of giggles when her brother approached.
    “Pray, what
evil plot are you ladies conspiring?”
    “Absolutely
nothing meant for your ears, my love.” Isabel unlatched her arm from Emily and
wrapped it around her husband, kissing him feverishly.
    Emily adored
them both, but seeing the two of them behaving like lovesick fools did nothing
but make her stomach turn. There were things to be seen, and this was not one
of them.
    “My, my,
such an expose for a married woman. I do not think my dear sister wishes to be
scandalized in such a manner.”
    Emily
snorted in the most unladylike way. “My dear and unsuspecting brother, I dare
say there isn’t much of anything you could do that would shock me.”
    “On the
contrary, Emily, there is much in this existence you do not know as of yet. But
with the right partner in life, the experience is limitless. Now, run along upstairs.
I am sure I heard your name being called.” Nathaniel winked. “I would like a
moment alone with my wife.”
    Of course he
did. They were married, after all, and she was a guest in their house.
    Emily turned
toward the estate and walked at a leisurely pace. She could not help but admire
the stroke of luck her brother had when he and Isabel were reunited. While she
was much younger at the time, only she knew of her brother sneaking off to meet
with Isabel in clandestine. It was all so