Raven's Ransom Read Free Page A

“Excellent. That should keep you out of mischief And now, I shall bid you farewell.”
    “Where are you going?’ Lady Rochester’s tone was sharp. ”You are not forgetting Almack’s tonight?”
    Gareth shuddered. “Mama, I shall do everything in my power to do precisely that! Those rooms are overrated, they serve the vilest of drinks, the food is more often stale than not, their master of ceremonies is the greatest jackanapes I have ever come across, and the ladies are insipid.”
    “Gareth! You shock me!”
    “Very well, Mama, you shall have to be shocked. You go. No doubt you will have an edifying time finding me a bride. I, however, shall not.”
    “Your uncle is in Bath, Gareth. He cannot escort me and I despise going with Jaspers. He fills me with misgiving.”
    Her son’s deep sapphire eyes softened a little. “I can’t blame you, Mama. He is a surly creature. Shall I give him his notice?”
    “No, for I know that he is excellent with your cattle.”
    “Indeed he is. He has an unerring eye for detail.” Gareth sighed loudly. “I suppose, then, you shall have it your way. I shall take you.”
    Lady Rochester smiled gently. She rang for a fresh brew of tea. Years of practice had taught her, she knew, how to tame her man.
     
     
    True to his reliable self, Mr. Anchorage wasted no time in expediting Lord Raven’s wishes. If he thought them strange and rather crackpot, he had the wisdom to hold his peace, commenting only very mildly that the proceeding was “unusual.” For which trouble he received an acid retort from the old man, wheezing himself into fits from the comfort of his great twelfth-century four-poster bed.
    “You are certain this is your wish, my lord? It would be more practicable, perhaps, to split the estate into three equal shares. Alternately . . .”
    “A pox on your musings, man! Hand the paper up that I may sign!”
    “You shall need witnesses, my lord.”
    “Well find them, then!”
    “Richmond?”
    The valet stepped out from the shadows. “Ha, I thought the walls had ears! No doubt you find my last will and testament very edifying!”
    “Certainly I do, sir.” Richmond’s answer was as smooth as silk. He did not blink at the aspersions cast upon his character. He was used to them and inclined to feel that a thousand of Lord Raven’s curses were worth a hundred of any other employer’s praises. Besides, he had been eavesdropping. He would be an extremely unnatural sort of fellow had he not been.
    “Excellent. Then you shall stand as witness and call that other lazy good-for-nothing in to do the same.”
    “Betty, sir?”
    “Who else?”
    The valet bowed. “Very good, sir. I believe she is sweeping out the upper chambers. I shall find her at once. And may I say, sir ...”
    “Yes?” Beady eyes snapped in his direction.
    “For the purposes you have in mind, I would suggest the jewelled tricorne rather than one of your beavers. It has a sense of occasion, I feel.”
    “By Jupiter, Richmond, I believe you are right. Did you hear that, Anchorage? Write it in, write it in.”
    The long-suffering lawyer looked daggers at both master and servant. They were both, in his opinion, as mad as hatters. The tricorne indeed! Still, if my lord wished to play ducks and drakes with his fortune, it was not his concern. All he needed to do was write. And so he did.

Two
    “Lord Holden, Lord Witherspoon, Captain Stanley, and Sir Lancelot Danvers have all left cards. The blue receiving room is filled to the brim with flowers and I have left Mr. Harold Stanridge below stairs. He is this very moment rehearsing a piece of poetry to your glorious eyes, Miss Lily.”
    “Is he? How delightful! They are not as round as Daisy’s, nor as fashionable a color, but I do believe they are worthy of a sonnet or two! I shall go down at once!”
    The housekeeper pressed her hands together nervously. “I do wish Miss Daisy and Miss Primrose were home! These are strange goings-on. I am quite at my