Great Aunt Seraphina..." Boney promptly put his head under his wing and went back to sleep.
"Very good, then. We shall see you tomorrow evening, but you must excuse me, the post has just arrived and I must consult with Diana about something."
"Yes, yes, of course. I only wished to deliver this parcel to Lady Diana, but I must be on my way. Until tomorrow." The viscount emerged abruptly from his rapt contemplation of an entire evening spent at his adored one's side and grabbed for his hat, worried lest he had overstayed his welcome or that the length of his visit had extended beyond the bounds of propriety. "Good-bye. I look forward to escorting you," he 54
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reiterated as he hurried out the door leaving Diana to stare suspiciously at her relative.
"Well, I had to do something. I could see you and Boney were like to perish of boredom," Aunt Seraphina defended herself.
"After consigning me to an entire evening in his company." Her niece was not to be mollified.
"Pooh! You know you will enjoy the opera, and he won't dare interrupt your intense concentration," her aunt replied not the least abashed.
Diana laughed. "You are a dreadful conniver, Aunt Seraphina. No wonder the men of the city quake in their boots when you enter their domain."
Seraphina chuckled ruefully. "Now that my poor Thomas is gone, I am afraid I do rather manage everyone who comes in my path."
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55
The Willful Widow
by Evelyn Richardson
Chapter 6
Lady Diana was not the only one suffering the affliction of managing relatives. The very next day after his visit to the
"harpy," Justin was enduring yet another visit from his brother. Though it had only been two days since their conversation, Alfred, unable to wait any longer, had called on his brother at an hour only slightly more fashionable than that of his first visit. Close on the heels of Preston, he burst into the room demanding, "Well? Have you seen her? What did she say?"
"Alfred, what a surprise. I had thought you so eager to be off to the country." Justin, just back from an invigorating ride in the park, glanced idly through the morning post before turning to greet his brother.
Still puffing from his hurried climb up the stairs, the earl reiterated impatiently, "Well? What do you think?" His brother cocked his head speculatively. "What do I think?" he paused ruminating, "I think brown is unbecoming to a man of your complexion, Alfred. You would do better to wear dark blue or green."
"Damn it, Justin, you are the most exasperating..." "I know. I apologize, but the temptation was irresistible, you know." The gray eyes glinted with amusement. "You asked what the ... er ... harpy said. To put it bluntly, she doesn't give a rap whether the family approves or not. Says she and Reginald are both of age, and as she doesn't care for his 56
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relations above half, she prefers it that she is not acceptable to them."
"But, but..." the earl was speechless with the effrontery of it all. Not wish to be honored by the Earl of Winterbourne?
The idea of such a thing was impossible to grasp. "But she cannot! To risk being unacknowledged by the Earl of Winterbourne? She must be mad!"
His brother's amusement deepened. "Difficult as it is for you to accept, Alfred, the cachet of easy intimacy with the Earl of Winterbourne is not the height of everyone's aspirations. I don't think she'll cry off."
"Never say she is in love with my son?" Alfred was incredulous.
"No, I don't think she is the least bit in love with him. Judging from what little I saw of the lady, she could have Reginald for breakfast. I would venture so much as to say that she can run rings around him and most probably finds him rather dull." He held up an admonitory hand. "Now don't fly up in the boughs. Reginald is all that one could wish in the future Earl of Winterbourne, but even you must admit that he is rather a dull dog." The earl
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