Beth Andrews Read Free

entails?’
    ‘I will give you, say — one month — to become acquainted with the mysterious Miss Woodford and to use your considerable charm to win her affections.’
    Julian paled. ‘What!’ he cried, staring at his uncle. ‘Seduce a woman nobody’s ever seen?’
    ‘And one who is scarcely accessible!’ St George chuckled. ‘Beware, Julian. The abbey may even contain an ogre, which you will have to slay to win the hand of this elusive creature.’
    ‘Not an ogre, St George, but a dragon,’ Sir Jasper was eager to inform them. ‘She is one Miss Rosalind Powell, an indigent female who is Miss Woodford’s constant companion and guardian: a formidable woman in her own right.’
    Julian stared. ‘It sounds positively medieval, not to mention impossible.’
    ‘You cannot do it, then?’ Jasper’s smile broadened. ‘You refuse the wager?’
    Julian looked from Jasper’s smiling face to Richard’s raised brows. ‘Damme,’ he said, ‘I can’t let it be said I refused! For all I know, the girl may be hideously deformed. But though she have three eyes in her head and eight fingers on either hand, I will endeavour to woo her.’
    ‘Let me at least allay your fears on that head,’ Sir Jasper assured him. ‘I am one of the fortunate few who has seen Miss Woodford.  It was but a brief glimpse, to be sure, but a memorable one.’
    A mere three months before, he had been riding from town at dusk, having been to a blacksmith to have his favorite horse shod. When he encountered a most opulent carriage, he recognized it immediately as belonging to the Woodfords, having once seen it exiting the abbey gates. The blinds were not down and, as he drew abreast of it on the near-deserted stretch of road, he thought to see old Mr Woodford inside. Instead, as he turned his head, he was shocked to see a lovely young woman with golden curls and large blue eyes staring blankly out of the window. He had only a moment to enjoy the view, however, before her companion — almost certainly Miss Powell — reached over and closed the blind with such a vigorous snap that he was sure he heard it even above the pounding of the horses’ hooves.
    ‘Is she really a beauty?’ Julian enquired.
    ‘A veritable goddess.’
    ‘If you are trying to mislead me….’
    ‘What?’ Sir Jasper was reproachful. ‘Do you not trust your own uncle, whom you have known since you were in leading strings?’
    ‘Perhaps,’ St George suggested, ‘that is why he does not trust you.’
    ‘Well,’ Julian said, before his uncle could respond to this provocative remark, ‘I will accept your wager on one condition.’
    ‘And what is that?’
    ‘That St George here be allowed to accompany me and assist me in my ... quest.’
    Sir Jasper considered the matter. ‘I have no objection,’ he said at last, ‘if St George is willing to lend you his aid.’
    ‘Will you, Richard?’ Julian asked him. ‘If this Miss Powell is the old harridan my uncle describes, I shall certainly need help in winning her fair charge.’
    St George stood. ‘As your friend, I can hardly refuse. Besides which, I am undoubtedly intrigued by your uncle’s story. It is certainly more entertaining than anything I’ve heard for many a day.’
    ‘It seems to have cured your megrims,’ Julian said, with a smile.
    ‘For the moment.’
    ‘Then it is settled.’ Sir Jasper put out his hand. ‘The only thing that now remains is to state the terms.’
     

Chapter Two
     
    ‘Did Papa deliver a speech?’
    ‘One worthy of Hamlet himself,’ Rosalind Powell replied.
    ‘He expects us to succumb to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune the moment his back is turned, no doubt.’
    Rosalind folded her hands and raised her eyes roofward at the memory. ‘Dire prognostications fell from his lips at such length, and in such vivid detail, that I can only assume he had recently been reading the book of Revelation. ’
    Miss Cassandra Woodford furrowed her brow. ‘Now, my dear