How to Wed an Earl Read Free Page A

finding an excellent governess. She correctly assumed that, as Lord Maitland’s daughter, you’d have expert judgment about who deserves the position.”
    Her friend’s considerate words sent a fierce streak of relief through Penelope, leaving her strangely giddy. “Exactly,” she agreed, nodding her head as a bubble of laughter escaped her. “Why, my father was so confident in my abilities that he never needed to leave London more than twice a year to visit Mama and me in Maitland Hall.”
    Mari giggled. “Don’t forget your uncle and your cousin! The present baron and his son are clearly impressed with your talents.” She paused to swipe away tears of mirth. “If they didn’t have such faith in your capabilities, their honorable nature and familial affection would oblige them to at least write to you once in a while.”
    “My noble relatives are
undeniably
in awe of my accomplishments.” Penelope laughed at the sheer absurdity of the entire situation while she affectionately stroked Nelson’s furry neck.
    Her friendship with Mari, she mused, flourished because of their mutual ability and conscious choice to laugh, instead of wallow, at the disadvantages life handed them. In this little village where the idyllic country life was disrupted only by the occasional trespassing sheep or carriage accident, women had to learn to cope if they wanted to survive in a society where entitlement to opportunities depended largely on nothing more than an accident of birth.
    If Penelope had been born a boy, she’d have been the valued heir. She would’ve secured her father’s affection, studied at university and inherited properties. Uncle Hugh wouldn’t have been able to cast her out of her own home merely weeks after Father died, and she wouldn’t be in the situation she was in now: rejected and forsaken.
    On the other hand, she would’ve never known the blessing of having a warm, caring stepfather or experienced the simple joy of finally seeing Mama’s smile, of witnessing the twins grow up.
    Thinking of the twins reminded Penelope of the actual reason for her visit to the inn that day. Reaching behind her chair, she pulled out a fistful of daisies, amused by the look of dread on Mari’s face.
    “Colin asked me to give you these.” Penelope released a theatrical sigh and handed the bouquet to her friend. “Yet another dozen flowers have sacrificed their lives for your beauty.”
    “Oh,
joy.
These daisies are lovely … but you shouldn’t encourage your brother, you know.” Mari grimaced as she accepted the bouquet and laid it on the table. “I like Colin. I don’t want to be the cause of any pain for the boy.”
    “You’re the cause of a lot of pain for most of the young men in Bouth.” Penelope shrugged. “Besides, Colin’s fifteen — he needs that kind of pain. He also wrote a poem. Would you like me to read it to you?”
    “No.”
    Penelope ignored her. With a grin, she took a crumpled sheet from her pocket and cleared her throat. She had just opened her mouth to utter the first line when Mari interrupted her.
    “I wonder how many flowers your earl will slay when he finally claims you,” Mari remarked in a teasing voice.
    Her grin faded.
Her earl, indeed
. After the Mrs. Bexley debacle, Mari was probably trying to remind Penelope of her own worth. Unfortunately, Mari’s tactic failed because these days she rarely thought of her fiancé — the man people referred to as “Raving Ravenstone.” There were only four things Penelope knew about her engagement to “her earl”:
    First, it was their fathers who had agreed on the betrothal, long before both she and the earl were old enough to understand or refuse.
    Second, never in the twenty-two years since the betrothal contract was signed had Lord Ravenstone given any indication he would honor the agreement, and she was quite certain he would never do so. Her usefulness as a baron’s daughter died with her father. Since status was everything to the