A Suitable Bride by Fenella J Miller Page A

better part of a day already she was wide awake and had no wish to return to her bed. What she did want was something to eat and she could hardly go in search of food at this time of night.
    She made her way into her sitting room and was delighted to discover a tray, the contents carefully covered with a damp cloth, waiting for her on a side table. She devoured the contents with relish and when she was done was ready to get dressed. She was perfectly capable of finding her own ensemble and so there was no need for her to wander about in her state of undress until her maid arrived in the morning.
    There was an oil lamp in the dressing room and she quickly removed the glass, trimmed the wick and lit this. It gave a safer and better light in which she could go through her garments and find herself an outfit that would not require the services of Annie.
    Before she dressed she washed and removed her bandage. The doctor was right, she could arrange her hair in such a way that the stitches were almost invisible. As she intended to exercise Rufus at first light she put on her riding habit. She wore men’s breeches beneath the skirt as this meant she could ride astride or side-saddle without revealing an indecorous amount of ankle.
    Obviously she never rode astride when she was likely to be seen. She hoped the dogs were being taken care of in her absence and that the three servants she had brought with her had been given decent accommodation outside.
    Her ablutions and dressing had only taken an hour and it would be another four hours at least before she could venture downstairs. Good grief! She’d no idea in which direction to go when she left this apartment as she’d had her eyes closed when she’d been carried here. Did this mean she must remain where she was until there were servants around to direct her?
    She’d noticed an escritoire and if this held the necessary items for letter writing she would spend the time penning a missive to her best friend, Charlotte, and also to Collins to ask him to keep her informed about the progress of her brood mares and foals. She would send a short note to her parents informing them that she’d arrived safely.
    When she’d finished her task she folded each letter and sealed the back with a blob of melted wax. Then she wrote the address for each one on the front. At DuPont Manor there was a silver salver kept on a table by the front door for outgoing mail. She supposed there must be something similar here, but being a peer of the realm, the duke could frank her letters and they would go without extra cost.
    She wondered, in retrospect, whether she had said rather too much about Lord Sheldon in her letter to Charlotte – would her friend misinterpret this and think she was really in the running for the position as his wife?
    Although she had taken her time with her task the hour was still too early to leave her chambers. Perhaps she could go at five o’clock – surely someone would be around by then to let her out of the house and direct her to the stable yard?
    What should she do for the next two hours? Perhaps there was something of interest in one of the glass-fronted bookcases that stood either side of the door that led into the passageway. There were certainly plenty of books to choose from so there must be something there that would keep her busy until she could leave.
    Unfortunately most of the volumes were religious texts, mathematical treatises and on other boring subjects. There didn’t seem to be a novel anywhere that would keep her occupied. The trunks were already unpacked so she couldn’t busy herself with that. After pacing up and down the room for half an hour she decided she would try and find her way to a side door and let herself out for surely she would go mad with ennui if she remained cooped up in here another minute.
    After tossing the skirt of her habit over one arm, she picked up her gloves and riding whip and headed for the door. With a candlestick in the