Cupid's Mistake (Cupid Regency Romance) Read Free

mistaken at all, and to say so would be a lie."
    " Yes, well, my dear, sometimes one must make allowances—"
    Cassandra 's gaze turned reproachful. "Must I make allowances for cruelty? Have you and Papa not said many times that lying is wrong and cruelty worse?"
    " Yes, of course, Cassandra, but, but . . ." Lady Hathaway drew to a faltering stop in the face of her daughter's attentive and inquiring expression. She sighed. How did one explain the need for discretion in society? It was not something her daughter had learned in the country or in all the lessons taught at her father's knee. "Well, I suppose I should be grateful that you remembered not to talk of your climbing boys."
    Her daughter shifted in her seat and looked away.
    "Oh, Cassandra! You have not taken in yet another one?"
    Cassandra rose and her hands twisted together anxiously. "But, Mama, he was so little, and so hurt! He had sores on his feet and could hardly walk!" Tears formed in her eyes and she swallowed. "I have only sent four to the Dower house at home. Only four! And it does not take a great deal to feed and clothe them, I am sure."
    Lady Hathaway gazed at her daughter, exasperated. "You have no idea how much it takes to feed children, especially boys! Why, I often feared your brother would eat us out of house and home when he was a child!" She pulled her shawl closer around her and sighed. "I suppose you are completely out of your pin money this quarter, too?"
    Cassandra looked up at her mother and smiled. "Oh, no! I have thought of a famous scheme! I wrote to our vicar last month and enlisted his aid. He was very approving of it, and so has got up a collection for the boys. So I only spent what it took to send little Tommy home."
    Lady Hathaway groaned and sank into a chair.
    "Is there something the matter, Mama?" Cassandra asked, a worried frown creasing her brow.
    " No, of course not," Lady Hathaway replied, and she could not help the irony that crept into her voice. "Only that Vicar Thomason is one of the worst gossips in our county. I can depend upon him to spread the news of your generosity all over the village, and everyone will think you more of an eccentric than before. Heavens, why do you do these things, girl?"
    Cassandra looked at her mother earnestly. "But if you had only seen little Tommy, Mama! He was so thin, and shaking with cold and pain. And that monster of a chimney sweep! He asked the most exorbitant price for him, and then he hit Tommy when the child did not come to me straightaway!"
    Lady Hathaway 's heart melted, though she kept her face stern. "Well . . . well, I suppose in this instance it would have been difficult to ignore. But, Cassandra, do try not to be so impulsive! And don't mention your activities to anyone in the ton , if you please!"
    " But I do not see—"
    The door opened, and Sir John wandered in, spectacles at the end of his nose, brandishing a dry quill. He looked vaguely about, and then his gaze sharpened as he spied his quarry. "Ah! Thucydides! Now how did it come to be in the parlor, and on this table? I know I had the book in my study yesterday." He gazed severely at his wife and daughter, as if somehow they had stolen into his inner sanctum and taken it for some nefarious purpose.
    Lady Hathaway felt bewildered, but Cassandra smiled fondly at her father. "Papa, you know you brought it down this morning. You were looking for Euripides, and exchanged Thucydides for it."
    " Oh, is that how it was?" Sir John's brow cleared, and his smile encompassed both Lady Hathaway and Cassandra in its beam. "Well, then, I shall be more careful, and not leave my books laying about." He put down his quill on the table, and picking up the book, he opened it. "Yes. Here it is. . ." he mused, and walked in the direction of the parlor door, leaving his quill behind.
    " Oh, my love!" Lady Hathaway called to him.
    " Eh?"
    " I wish you would speak to your daughter!"
    Sir John looked at his wife over his spectacles. "But I just did