Rescuing Rosalind (Three Original Ladies and Their Gentlemen)

Rescuing Rosalind (Three Original Ladies and Their Gentlemen) Read Free

Book: Rescuing Rosalind (Three Original Ladies and Their Gentlemen) Read Free
Author: G.G. Vandagriff
Tags: Regency Romance
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ones. “How very ungallant of you.” Her jaw hardened.
    “Excuse my bluntness. I am used to saying what I think. A captain’s prerogative.”
    “Well, I do not intend to speak to you of my private affairs, but I can tell you this much: you are very wrong, indeed.” Thinking of the home she had escaped only weeks before, her bosom swelled at the injustice of this remark.
    “Forgive me, then.”
    The idea of reading Shakespeare with a man who thought her spoiled no longer appealed. “I acquit you of your debt. You may spend your day as you please.” With those words, Fanny turned her head and began speaking to her brother-in-law, the duke, who was seated at the end of the table on her other side. She recounted to Peter an amusing conversation she had had with his two year old son, Alistair, in the nursery that afternoon.
    When they gathered in the drawing room after the meal, Fanny chattered with simulated animation to her sister, all the time aware of the marquis’s every move. At length, she could not keep him from approaching her.
    Bowing, the captain said, “I beg your pardon if I upset you. I was unduly personal. It was not well done of me.”
    Fanny inclined her head cooly. “Yes. If we were better acquainted, you would have known how wrong you were.”
    “It is a shame I must leave so soon to rejoin my frigate. I think I must enjoy becoming better acquainted with you.”
    “Good night, Lord Deal,” Fanny said, nodding a regal dismissal. “I would retire now. I find I am quite fatigued.”
    * * *
     
    As soon as she awakened the next morning, Fanny got out of bed and ran to the window to check the weather. The snow had held off. She did not know whether to be glad or sorry.
    The thought of the captain’s deep green eyes registering warm approval as they rested upon her when she entered the drawing room still lingered. And oh, how she wished she could have had a chance to regain his good opinion and prove him wrong. She was not spoiled! Just impetuous. Anyone who had been raised by “Lady Hatchet” deserved a little fun when she finally escaped and, the need to be a lady aside, Fanny had only just started having fun.

{ 3 }
     
    T HREE YEARS LATER
    Buck walked into Lady Wyndham’s ballroom, the first time he had done such a thing in many years. He tried to remember what age he had been at the time of his last appearance before the ton, but he had been at war since he was twelve years old, and the intervening years had blended together. Only when his leaves had coincided with the spring Season had he ever had the leisure to see how society comported itself.
    In general, he found the frivolity not to his taste. During the past twenty years, his life had taken place against a large canvas, including voyages to the far side of the world. Cards and dancing were such tiny, meaningless occupations in comparison. With the war at an end and Napoleon imprisoned on St. Helena, there was black doubt in his mind as to whether he could ever adjust. He loved the sea. He relished battle. What in life could compare to the exultant feeling one experienced when one boarded an enemy ship with its defeated crew to raise the Union Jack?
    That afternoon, he had discussed the matter at White’s with his friend, Ruisdell.
    “Buck, you will want some time to adjust. I thought much as you when I was invalided out of the army. I found society a shallow thing, and was jaded and bored beyond belief.”
    “You seem contented enough now.”
    “I met Elise, and my world changed.”
    “One woman did that?”
    “I know it isn’t fashionable to speak of it, but love did that. Elise is remarkable. In addition to her obvious charms, she is forever involved in schemes to make life less of a burden for the poor.” Pausing, he lit a cigar and drew on it. “Not every enemy wears a French uniform. Elise has helped me to look closer to home. There are hunger, homelessness, dismemberment, and other evils caused by the war. My wife and her

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