Will She Be Mine Read Free Page B

smiling with obvious relief. “In a
village this size too. The news would get around and the talk would begin.”
     
    “And you should not have to bear that sort of poker talk.
No. I agree entirely.” Thaddeus thought for a moment, all the while smoothing
the front of his plaid waistcoat, a habit he had while thinking. “An
alternative, then. I shall ask Farley to recommend someone. Is this
objectionable fellow coming to visit you again?”
    “Yes. Tomorrow afternoon.”
    “Not much time then.” Thaddeus clapped his hands together
and then rubbed them back and forth in anticipation of a satisfying victory. “I
shall send Angus the nine miles to Whitby as soon as I’ve written a letter to
Farley. There should be light for another three hours, plenty of time for his
journey. He’ll stay the night there, meet whomever Farley recommends, and
hopefully bring him back here in plenty of time for you to interview. What do
you say, Miss Horton?”
    He looked eagerly at Amelia and then sat down beside her,
not nearly at the farthest distance from her that he could have. Really he was
sitting quite close to her and the idea of how near she was caused his heart to
flip in his chest and his blood to race through his veins. “Will you permit me
to do this service for you?”
    “Is it too much of an intrusion, Mr. Milborough? I feel as
if I should refuse, yet I do not know what else to do.”
    “If that is your only scruple, Miss Horton, then I shall
leave you so I might compose the letter.”
    Thaddeus reluctantly rose from the bench and stepped away.
He nodded decisively and turned, only to come up short at the view of the
Misses White walking sedately down the public path. They caught sight of him
and nodded congenially. Then they noticed Amelia on the bench and stiffened.
Their middle-aged double chins rose into the air and they stopped, standing arm
in arm, twenty feet away from the bench.

Chapter Four
     
    “Miss Sadie. Miss Ann,” he called out in his calm, gentle
way as soon as he’d bowed to them. “Good evening. Have you been introduced to
my neighbor, Miss Horton?” He waved them forward, patiently waiting for them to
force themselves to come flush with the bench. “Permit me to make her known to
you, dear ladies.”
    Amelia reluctantly stood up, feeling awkward and exposed,
and turned toward the women whom Mrs. Edley had freely stigmatized as the worse
gossips of the North Riding. They ruled whatever society the village enjoyed
and she dreaded what they would say to her.
    “Miss Sadie White, Miss Ann White, may I present Miss Amelia
Horton of Rose Thorn Cottage?” The two women inclined their gray, bonneted
heads toward her but did not meet her eyes. They looked somewhere over her left
shoulder, studiously avoiding the evidence of her shame.
    “Miss Horton, this is Miss Sadie and Miss Ann White of Selby
Lane Cottage. They look after the flowers at the church and are the leaders of
our local Women’s Guild.”
    “Good evening, ladies,” Amelia managed, though her voice
sounded frightened to her own critical ears. “The flowers look lovely every
Sunday.”
    “Thank you,” Miss Sadie said through folded lips.
    Miss Ann unbent slightly toward this outcast from better
society. “I’ve seen that Mr. Shufflebottom is in town again.” She sniffed and
pursed her lips before continuing as though speaking was against her better
judgment. “He is putting up at the Runswick Bay Arms.”
    “I believe that is his habit,” Amelia agreed, casting an
agonized look at her neighbor. He smiled and nodded complacently. Did he not
understand how hard this was for her?
    “Ann. Enough said,” Miss Sadie whispered, attempting to drag
her sister away with her. However, Miss Ann was the heavier of the two and did
not budge easily.
    “Have you known Mr. Shufflebottom long, Miss Horton?” Miss
Ann asked, ignoring her sister’s impatient tugging.
    “Well, yes. He’s my family’s solicitor,” Amelia