Most Rebellious Debutante Read Online Free

remember you having had it and I dare not run the risk of returning you to Mama with your face marked with pox scars just a few months before your Season.’
    Lucy stilled the hand that was about to draw off her second glove. ‘Then, what am I to do, Marissa? Am I to return home? Only, it is rather late and my whole body aches from the uncomfortable journey as it is.’
    ‘Dear me, no!’ Marissa laughed. ‘Since it was too late to put off your visit, I have arranged for you to spend a week or so with a near neighbour, the Countess of Montcliffe. Did you meet her or the dowager countess on your previous visits? Probably not, as you weren’t then out of the schoolroom . Lady Montcliffe doesn’t entertain a great deal at the moment, but she is willing to have you stay, owing to our difficult circumstances. And don’t worry, my dear, neither of her sons is in residence at present.’
    Lucy recalled the tales she had heard of the wild escapades of the two sons of the late Earl of Montcliffe. Her most vivid memories of the two brothers concerned their wild dashes through the countryside and the nearby village on their fine thoroughbreds, and the whispered tales she overheard about their equally wild behaviour in the localtaverns and beyond. She fleetingly thought it might be quite exciting if one or other of them
were
in residence, but then she remembered her broken heart and decided that she would prefer to live in seclusion until it mended, for how could she mourn her lost love if she were being daily entertained by a hot-blooded buck?
    ‘I am sorry to send you on your way so swiftly, Lucy,’ she realized Marissa was saying to her, ‘but Lady Montcliffe and the dowager countess keep country hours and I don’t want your late arrival to cause their ladyships any discomfort . I will send for you as soon as Dr Walmsley says our household is free of infection. Give Lady Montcliffe and the dowager countess my felicitations, Lucy, and I will see you as soon as I am able. Goodbye, my dear.’
    And so, with no more ado, Lucy was escorted back down the steps by Farrell and handed up into her carriage once more. She flopped down upon the seat she had vacated less than ten minutes previously feeling more than a little sorry for herself. Did
nobody
really want her?
     
    Montcliffe Hall was a large mellow stone building that nestled against a backdrop of trees and was surrounded by well-kept gardens. A large rectangular pool was the centrepiece. Its edges were flagged, with small statuettes and stone urns placed at regular intervals along the two longer sides, creating an avenue that drew the eye to the front of the house. In the centre of the pool, a magnificent fountain played. It all looked so grand that Lucy began to feel a little nervous, but she need not have worried. Lady Montcliffe received her very graciously.
    She was a slender, elegant lady of middle years, dressed in a gown of royal-blue sarsnet, the colour of whichperfectly matched her eyes. She was still a beautiful woman and her dark hair was styled in a modish fashion.
    ‘Welcome, my dear,’ she said, in a melodious voice. ‘I hope you will be happy for the duration of your visit. It will be like a breath of fresh air to have someone young around the place … and you must treat Montcliffe Hall as your home whilst you are with us. Now, if you will go upstairs with Mrs Grant, I think you will find that all is ready for your maid to help you change out of your travelling clothes. We are dining informally at present as only myself and the dowager countess are in residence.’
    Lucy followed the housekeeper along the wide, brightly lit reception hall and up a curved staircase adorned with a variety of oil paintings and then along a number of passages until the housekeeper paused and opened a door.
    ‘Here is your room, Miss Templeton. When you have bathed and changed, instruct your maid to ring the bell and someone will come to take you to the small dining