The Marriage Spell Read Free

Always he was the center of a group of friends. Though he wasn’t the most handsome or the most fashionably dressed, he always drew her eye. His magnetic personality compelled attention like the sun attracted flowers.
    The closest Abby had ever come to Langdon was the day she was leaving the draper’s shop with bundles of tied fabric and almost tripped over him. He had laughed off the incident while collecting her bundles and apologizing for being in the way. In other words, he had been a perfect gentleman, but the friendly smile he’d given her had gone beyond mere courtesy. Langdon had actually seen her as a person, not as an anonymous local female. That was rare among the Meltonian hunting set.
    She had been so flustered that she hadn’t done a proper reading on him, and she had never come so close again. They certainly wouldn’t meet socially—a viscount would never condescend to appear in any company that included a wizard’s daughter. Especially one who was gifted herself.
    But he had been tall and broad enough to make her feel petite and feminine, and when he hadn’t known who she was, his smile had been most charming….
    Across the valley, a horn sounded and the hunt was on. Hounds streamed down the hill, followed by exhilarated riders on horses bred to run. Jack Langdon and his fellows dropped out of sight behind a rise.
    Smiling at her foolishness, Abby covered the telescope and returned to her still room. Time for an honest wizard to return to work on her potions and remedies and leave the idle rich to their frivolous pursuits.
    I t was a grand morning for hunting. Less grand was the tedium when the first fox escaped and the hunters had to wait until the hounds drew another. But Jack was enjoying the day too thoroughly to mind the wait. His gaze passed over the rolling hills, their lush contours defined by neatly hedged fields and an endless variety of fences. Though he’d hunted in Spain, no place could match the Shires. Hurling himself heedlessly after the hounds, savoring the excitement of pushing the limits of courage and common sense—in this he found freedom from the intractable problems of life.
    His sense of well-being faded. After he finished his hunting holiday, he would have to return to Yorkshire. He had been cowardly for too long already.
    His friend Ashby, who had dismounted, remarked, “You look like you can’t wait to risk your neck again, Jack. Even if you don’t need a breather, Dancer does.”
    â€œNonsense.” Jack patted his mount’s neck affectionately. The dark bay was one of the largest horses in the field, which was necessary for a rider of Jack’s weight. “Dancer is good for a twenty-mile run. I hope we get that. Buying a hunting box here is the cleverest thing I ever did.”
    Ransom, his other houseguest, said with a wicked glint, “Your cleverest act was inviting Ashby and me to Melton so we can show you the way to the hounds.”
    Jack laughed, unoffended. “I’ll be glad when Lucas arrives. He’s always the best at cutting you down to size.” He glanced at the manor house that crested a hill farther down the valley. “I don’t recall hunting this particular land before. The owners maintain good coverts. How are the fences?”
    â€œThere are a couple of oxers that will give even you pause, Jack. Or at least they should,” Ashby replied. Not being in the army, he had hunted the area more often than his companions. He nodded toward the manor house. “The local wizard, Sir Andrew Barton, lives there. A very well regarded fellow. Maybe that’s why the hedges grow with such vigor.”
    Jack felt the chill that came with any mention of magic and wizards. Stonebridge Academy had done its job well. He hated to think how fascinated he’d been by the corrupt temptations of magic when he was a weak-willed boy. Thank God for the academy.
    A deep voice called