Serena Read Online Free

however, as kindly as she could, “Indeed … I often go as the whim directs me.” He still held her hand, and she gently pulled out of his hold and said, “Do, Freddy … be seated while I pour some tea for us all.”
    Warren laughed and did, in fact, take a seat. Freddy eyed him and stayed right where he was at Serena’s side.
    “Oh no, Serena … allow me to serve you,” Freddy said hurriedly as he took the pot in hand and managed to pour without spilling a drop. “See … I have the knack of it. Do rest and be comfortable.”
    She laughed. “Freddy you are too kind, and I tell you what then, would you also pour a cup for Warren and yourself? That’s it, and I shall bring this platter of sweets to the table for us to munch on.”
    Managing both the plate of small cakes and her cup of tea, she took a seat beside Freddy on the sofa. She did not wish to encourage him, but she did not wish to slight him in front of Warren either.
    Freddy was a tall, nice looking young man without airs or conceit. He wore his dark blond hair in the youthful style of the day, windswept and long, hanging to his neckline. His heart was untainted by pride or false airs, and one day he would make some lovely a wonderful husband, but not yet. He was too young, and he needed to return to Oxford.
    As she sipped her tea, she almost choked when she noticed Freddy shooting Warren a superior look. Warren began getting a nasty look in his eye, and Serena said hurriedly, “Have you heard, Freddy, if Sir Newton found that hound pup he was looking for?”
    Freddy smiled broadly. “Indeed, I was at the kennel this morning, and they told me that Sir Newton rode over to Bournemouth to pick up the new puppy.” He eyed her shyly. “I thought perhaps you and I might ride over there tomorrow and have a look at the new addition?”
    Serena’s face lit up. “Oh yes, I would love that above all things.”
    “A puppy giving a tour of puppies …” Warren said mean-spiritedly.
    Serena turned a wicked eye on him, and he threw his hands up. “I beg your pardon, Serena, but … he should be at school, not dawdling about here hanging on your every word.”
    “You are a bleater and a cad!” Freddy said, somewhat red-faced, and Serena nearly choked again as she tried to hold back her giggles.
    She composed herself and said as severely as she could muster, “Faith, that is quite enough. I shan’t have this in my sitting room.” She pulled a face at both of them and got to her feet. “As far as I am concerned, you can take it outdoors, gentlemen. I am going up to have a visit with my uncle. I hope you enjoy the remainder of your day.” She turned and left them to one another, but she listened as she walked away.
    “Tomorrow then … promptly at eight?” Freddy called after her and was rewarded with a smile, to which he said. “She is magnificent.”
    “Aye, so she is, and she will never be yours, gapeseed!”
     

 
     
     
    ~ Four ~
     
    DANIEL PENDLETON RAPPED at the ceiling of his coach and called his driver to a halt. He had been traveling in the carriage for nearly three hours during a light rain and was heartily sick of the confinement.
    As the rain had at last withered into nothing more than a bit of damp, he meant to saddle Dragon, the dark roan gelding tethered at the back of his equipage, and ride for a bit.
    The coach slowed to a halt, and he jumped out and stretched his limbs. He undid the saddle from the boot and with its blanket laid it on his horse’s back before slipping the bit into Dragon’s mouth and soothing him. “It won’t be much longer now, Dragon … soon you’ll have a nice straw bed, hay and grain, and a quiet night, but for now … shall we?”
    Dragon nodded his head vigorously as his lordship donned his dark beaver hat jauntily over his black silken locks and pulled his two-tiered riding cloak around his shoulders. A moment later he put his foot in the stirrup, swung himself into the saddle, and gathered his