The Hopeless Hoyden Read Free

Park. 
                  “Where are my august guests?"
                  “The men have gone down to the lake to fish, my lord, while the ladies are congregated on the back lawn for tea."
                  “Good, I will be in my rooms until dinner.  Assign a footman to attend me until Tilden arrives with the luggage."  Gabriel then gave Jeb orders to see to the repairs to the curricle.  He cautiously made his way, unassisted, across the black and white marble tiled foyer and, with perseverance, managed the stairs to reach the second floor. 
                  As he was headed down the hall for his rooms, Gabriel encountered a young woman.  Neatly dressed, her clothes showed some wear.  This and the fact that she carried a folded silk shawl over one arm lead Gabriel to guess she was a companion of one of his guests. 
                  “Lord Lindemann, are you just arriving?"
                  “I'm afraid you've the better of me, madam," he replied, wishing he could just get to his room. 
                  “My name is Jane Taber, my lord.  I am cousin to Lady Sylvia Raines."
                  “A pleasure, Miss Taber," he returned and was rewarded with a shy smile.  “May I beg a favor, Miss Taber?"
                  “Anything, my lord."
                  “I've no wish to let the others know I've arrived just yet, especially Lord Fordyce.  He'll come to plague the devil out of me even as I try to rid my travel dirt."
                  “Since the gentlemen have all gone off, there is no worry that any will bother you," she answered with a pretty smile.  "And you have my solemn promise not to breathe a whisper of your arrival to another soul."
                  Bidding her adieu until dinner, Gabriel made his way down the hall. 
                  Later, after a good rest, he felt much more the thing.  Tilden, his valet had arrived and prepared a hot bath.  Once bathed and dressed, Gabriel felt prepared to greet the rest of his guests before dinner.
                  At first glance, the drawing room appeared empty.  Then as Gabriel entered, a lean, dark featured gentleman slowly rose from the deep, wing back chair facing the fireplace.  With a glass of Madeira in one hand, he stood and bore the Viscount's close scrutiny.
                  “So, you finally showed up."  Cecil Caldwell was the first to break the uncomfortable silence.  Though he smiled, his iron gray eyes remained cold, unfeeling.
                  “As you were the one responsible for overrunning my house with guests, I saw little need to curtail my stay in town.  Besides, I had unfinished business to tend."
                  “And of course, it could not have waited," Cecil commented derisively.
                  “Unfortunately, no."  Gabriel kept his tone neutral.  "My man of business had already been kept waiting for the better part of two years."
                  “Ah, ever the loyal and dutiful soldier, now you’ve returned from the wars to become the benevolent and dutiful landowner."  Cecil sneered, one corner of his lower lip pulled down.  "You do like to dirty your hands."
                  “Honest labor can only make one stronger.  Besides, Cousin, my devotion to duty, which you are so quick to deride, is responsible for your present comfort at Lindemann Park."
                  Cecil glared at Gabriel for one long moment. “Just so," he finally said with an elegant bow from the waist.  "And while it seems I should thank you for your diligence to drudgery, you, in turn, may thank me for acting host in your stead." 
                  If Cecil expected a reply from the Viscount, he was doomed for disappointment.  Just how long the cousins would have stood glowering at each other was