The Valentine Legacy Read Free

he wanted to tell her it wasn’t all that effective, at least on him. But he liked Alice, had known her since she was born. So he just smiled when she said, “You’re so nice to me, James, and I’m sorry you lost, but I’m glad Jessie won. Isn’t she wonderful? I was just telling Nelda how very much I admire Jessie. She does exactly what she wants without being bound down by all the endless rules.”
    â€œRules are to keep ladies protected,” Allen Belmonde said as he patted his wife’s shoulder. It wasn’t all that gentle a pat, James saw when Alice winced. “Ladies shouldn’t complain about rules.”
    â€œYes, well, Jessie will do as she pleases,” Ursula said. “Come along, James, we really must be leaving now. Nelda, our regards to your husband. Alice, you and Allen enjoy the rest of the day. We will see you in church tomorrow.”
    James grinned down at Nelda, who’d taken a step closer to him. “I smell like a horse, so you’d best keep your distance. If you see your father, tell him I’ll be at his stables tonight with a bottle of his favorite claret, though I’m sure he’s already counting on it. He can gloat all he wants.”
    â€œYou and my father still drink together?”
    â€œWhenever I beat him, he rides to Marathon, bringing me champagne.”
    â€œWhy then,” Alice said, “you should bring the claret to Jessie. She’s the one who beat you, not her father.”
    â€œIt’s his stable,” James said, wishing the brat were here so he could count her freckles again. That got her mouth shut quickly enough.
    â€œI’ll tell my mother,” Nelda said. “I don’t often see Father anymore. As for Jessie, well, why would I want to see her? She’s so very odd, you know. I do disagree with Alice, but she doesn’t mind that I do. Ladies need rules. It makes civilization, well, more civilized. We do need you charming gentlemen to protect us, to guide us, to tell us how to go on, to—”
    â€œThat’s really enough of a list,” Ursula said, squeezing her husband’s arm in impatience.
    James, who thought Jessie the most unnatural of females, said quickly, “She’s not at all odd, Nelda. And she’s your sister.” He turned to Giff. “I’ll see both of you tomorrow.”
    â€œYou’ll see Mother, too,” Ursula said, her voice as grave as a nun’s, her eyes as wicked as a sinner’s.
    â€œThere is that,” James said, gave them all a cocky smile, and strode off through the dwindling crowd.
    â€œWell,” Nelda Carlysle said all bright as the afternoon sun overhead, “I’ll be off then. Ursula, I do hope to see you again soon now that we’re both married ladies. Perhaps I can visit you in town? I’ve finally convinced Mr. Carlysle that a nice town house on George Street would be ever so convenient. That’s quite near to you, isn’t it?”
    â€œQuite near,” Ursula said, and thought, I’ll move to Fells Point if you come to town, Nelda. You could also be a bit more delicate about your overtures to my poor brother. Oh dear, that would certainly cause a tangle if Nelda managed to get her hooks into James. No, my brother would never poach on a husband’s preserves.
    Ursula and Giff watched Nelda lean down to speak to Alice, who was just a little bit of a thing, her hand on her sleeve, then give her a brief nod. She smiled up at Allen Belmonde, nodding pleasantly, though to Ursula’s knowledge, Nelda couldn’t stand him.
    â€œWhat are you thinking, Urs?”
    â€œWhat? Oh, just that Fells Point is a lovely spot.”
    â€œHave you been there lately?”
    â€œNo, but it doesn’t matter, just believe me.”

2
    If Lord Derby hadn’t won the coin toss in 1780, it’s possible that we’d call it the Kentucky Bunbury.
    â€”HISTORICAL OBSERVATION
    T HERE