Lord Wraybourne's Betrothed Read Online Free Page A

book.
    It was as well it wasn’t a love match, however. He had no wish for David to be distracted in the next few weeks. Perhaps he’d have a word with Maria too, for all the good it would do. If she could keep Sophie in line, then maybe Lord Wraybourne would apply his mind to the problem. Overall, Mr. Moulton-Scrope was in an optimistic frame of mind as he entered the lofty halls of the Home Office that day.

2
    I T WAS A day later that the crucial issue of the Post arrived in Gloucestershire and Jane Sandiford read the announcement of her betrothal.
    As she was preparing to change for dinner, an early meal, of course, for they kept country hours, she was summoned to her mother’s boudoir. Jane was past childhood and her height and shapely figure made her look very much a woman but visits to her mother’s room were still associated with punishment and she had to suppress her nervousness as she approached the heavy paneled door. Lady Sandiford was in a rare state of geniality, however, and her thin lips even curled in a smile as she proffered the paper to her daughter.
    “You will wish to see this, Jane. It contains your announcement.”
    Jane took it but realized after a moment that she was supposed to read it then and there. Suddenly daring, she asked, “May I keep this, Mama—as a memento?”
    Lady Sandiford rarely expressed her feelings in movement. Perhaps she felt it might jeopardize the precision of her posture and demeanor, but this request caused an eyebrow to twitch infinitesimally.
    “You have been most carefully reared, Jane. Where did you acquire so trite a notion? I am forced to wonder whether Mrs. Hawley has followed my directions for your upbringing as I would wish.”
    Her mother’s slightest displeasure still had the ability to throw Jane into a panic, for it had so often meant the removal of a treasured object or occupation. Soon she would have to lose her companion and friend but not yet, she hoped. Carefully, she formed phrases which would be acceptable and yet still achieve her end.
    “I am sure Mrs. Hawley has always done exactly as she ought, Mama, and I am grateful to you for your care of me. Surely a little sentiment is permissible at such a time as this. I would wish to treasure this sign of my future dignity.”
    It seemed her expressions were acceptable for once. Apart from saying acidly, “The sign of your future dignity is the ring you wear, Jane,” her mother raised no further cavil and Jane was free to escape with her prize.
    In truth it was the paper itself, and not the betrothal announcement, which was the prize. The newssheets were not allowed in the schoolroom. The idea of having one in her possession—to read every article without censor—was both novel and exciting; but first there was her announcement.
    Safe in the quiet upper corridor, Jane looked for the words which predicted her future. How happy those words might once have made her. Now they seemed only to promise a further extension of her misery.
    When Jane first realized that her mother was thinking of a marriage for her, she had been astonished and thrilled. Though she knew it was the usual lot of women to marry, especially when they were heiresses and the sole continuance of a proud bloodline, it had never seemed possible that something so momentous would happen to herself. Nothing ever happened at Carne.
    Though her mother never discussed the subject, Jane had nonetheless gleaned scraps of information pertaining to her future. She discovered that her mother had queried her acquaintances, seeking an eligible bachelor of high position and impeccable morals. What Jane never heard was the results of the inquiries. She had a vague notion that she would end up as the wife of a bishop and was a little disappointed that he would doubtless be old. She had managed, despite her stringently regulated upbringing, to gather the raw materials for very typical romantic dreams, and she would have preferred a young, handsome