A Winter Scandal Read Free

hair—well, it was nonsense, Thea knew, to rail against the fate that had given Thea her wayward curls, which often managed to escape from mere hairpins and frizz wildly all over her head until she looked a fright. The best way to subdue her unruly mane was to braid it and wind the plaits tightly into a coil atop the crown of her head. The style did not enhance her looks, but at least it was practical.
    Thea wore her spectacles for the same reason. When she was young, she had often abandoned her spectacles when she attended parties in an effort to show off her best feature, her large gray eyes. However, she had gotten over such vanity through the years. It was silly to sit through a dinner or go to a party and be unable to see clearly three feet from her face. And what good did it do, really, to pretend for a few hours that she did not look as she did?
    As Damaris excused herself from the other two women and came over to Thea, smiling, Thea pushed aside her moment’s longing for beauty. It was one’s heart and soul that mattered, after all, as her father had always told her.
    “Thea, I am so glad you have rescued me,” Damaris murmured as she slipped her arm through Thea’s and started to stroll away with her. “I vow I have been positively drowning in tales of Lord Morecombe.”
    Thea chuckled. “I have no doubt. Were they talking of the carriage full of women of doubtful character who drove over from Cheltenham? Or the wagonload of brandy and ale coming by night in a very suspicious manner?”
    “Smuggling in liquor to his cellars? I doubt that would raise many eyebrows around Chesley,” Damaris retorted. “Though the amount he brought in might. No, Mrs. Dinmont was regaling Mrs. Cliffe the younger with stories of shooting contests that involved picking out the candles of the chandelier. Mrs. Cliffe countered that the man has no maids in the house because no self-respecting female will work there. Of course, they both agreed that they are nevertheless waiting with bated breath to meet the legendary lord.”
    “Mm. Everyone seems to be.” Thea refused to think about her own dancing nerves. “I am sure his fortune and the fact that he is a bachelor will overcome any objections anyone may have to his moral character.”
    “I believe his face plays a role, as well. Everyone agrees he is as handsome as Lucifer before the fall.”
    “Yes. I suppose.” Thea could feel heat rising in her face, and she looked down at her glove, rebuttoning the little round button through its loop.
    “Have you ever seen him?” Damaris went on. “I have not.”
    Thea shrugged as she turned her gaze out on the crowd. “His friend Lord Wofford is my second cousin, though I scarcely know Cousin Ian more than to say hello.”
    Damaris looked at Thea thoughtfully, but if she found it odd that her friend had not really answered her question, she did not say so. “Well, I shall be interested to see him, I admit, but I am growing rather weary of hearing about our local lord. Let us turn to a more interesting topic. You will be pleased to know that I received a shipment of books this week. You shall have to come round and look at them.”
    “Really? How delightful.”
    “They included Cantos I and II of Lord Byron’s Don Juan .” When Thea did not respond, her friend glanced at her, surprised. “Thea?”
    “What? Oh, I am sorry.” Thea blushed. “I am afraid my mind wandered.”
    “Are you all right?”
    “Oh, yes, of course. I am just a bit distracted tonight. I am sorry. I fear you said something that I was not attending to—something about the books you received?”
    “Yes. I got in Lord Byron’s new poem.”
    “Did you?” Thea’s eyes widened appreciatively. She understood now why Damaris had been so startled by her lack of response to the news. Thea was an avid reader, and until Damaris arrived, no one else in Chesley shared her love of books except her brother, Daniel—and his tastes ran more to the scholarly. Books