Enchanted Summer: (Regency Romance) Read Free

said Celia, "the estate of the Earl of Shelton."
    "You know this, Celia?" asked Mrs. Meade with great interest. "Did you have the opportunity to visit?"
    "The Earl of Shelton is the father of Lord Robert Merrick, Viscount Merrick. The viscount title is his father’s secondary title, but as his father’s heir, Lord Robert will be the Earl of Shelton on his father’s death. Caroline pursues Lord Merrick without the slightest regard for propriety," said Celia, and added wryly, "Had I had the temerity of proposing a visit to Shelton Hall, I’m certain Caroline would have tied me down to prevent me from it.
    “Miss Molly, Caroline and Sylvia’s companion and who was formerly their governess, told me that Lord Merrick and his father are very close. Lord Merrick’s mother died more than a decade ago and shortly after her death Lord Shelton suffered an apoplexy that left him with his left arm paralyzed. Then shortly after that he suffered another one and that stroke took his ability to walk.
    “Lord Merrick, who had been at the front leading a regiment, returned home to take care of his father and the management of the estate. He takes great care of his father, who has become very different from what he once was. Lord Shelton often becomes loud and difficult to manage. Miss Molly recounted all this for me without the slightest prompting.”
    Mrs. Meade sighed and ignoring everything Celia had said about Lord Shelton’s difficulties, expressed with glee: “It will be so good for our Bella to be a neighbor to such a personage, Mrs. Bundy, imagine, the Earl of Shelton!” She turned to her favorite and gazing tenderly at her, exclaimed,
    "Bella, dear, you'll be able to come out next season in London. It is too late for this one, as we’re nearing the end of spring."
    "A London Season requires a great deal of money, Mama," said Celia. "It’s enough that Uncle Worth has offered us his home. We should not expect him to also fund a season for Bella. It would not do to anticipate or expect more than he is willing to extend. But I’m so happy he has allowed you the running of his household."
    "Celia, dear," said her mother, "don’t try to put a damper on everything I say. It’s clear from Worth's letter that I shall run his house as if I were its mistress. He intends, from the tone of his letter, to give us all the advantages we have until now been denied. I expect this to mean that we shall not be allowed to dress as paupers while under his care and that our Bella will be furnished with a season in London."
    "I hope you’re right," said Celia, without much conviction.
    "Indeed I’m right," said Mrs. Meade excitedly.
    Fred walked in at that moment, for they had been in the parlor for more than two hours and after he was made aware of the momentous news the letter contained, he settled to have his tea with them, exclaiming at the changes wrought to their lives.
    "Dearest Fred," said Mrs. Bundy, "You will now be able to hunt and ride with your cousin Tom and live the life you were meant for."
    Fred was a pale lanky youth with delicate features and mint green eyes. He took a lot of space in Mrs. Bundy’s large, kind heart for she had lost the only child she had borne, a son, at birth.
    "Yes, Mrs. Bundy," he said and added with a wink, "If my cousins allow it. Celia says Caroline is a hoity-toity chit, so there may be some problems. But I’ve heard that my cousin Tom is bang up to the mark. I wouldn’t mind making friends with him.”
    “Fred, dear, this manner of speaking,” interposed his mother. “You must not adopt such cant from those scruffy fellows you hang about with in the square.”
    “Why, Madam,” said Fred with a laugh, “Freckle-face Jake, Cowlick and Bingo a scruffy set? Why, they have appeared in Court, no less.”
    “The church court yard is not Court, Fred,” said Celia laughing. “And they were probably shooting dice there, which Vicar Lloyd has often told them not to. I have seen them chased away