The Frost Fair Read Online Free Page B

face a roomful of dinner guests without knowing what to say to them. Wasn’t that a bit cruel?”
    Meg tried to look contrite. “I tried to tell him, really I did. ‘I don’t think we’ll suit,’ I said over and over again. Charles is simply incapable of hearing what he doesn’t want to hear. I did leave a note, you know.” A heartless giggle escaped her. “I wonder how long he’ll keep those poor people sitting at the table before he realizes we’ve gone?”
    Isabel, while disapproving of her niece’s irresponsible behavior, nevertheless had to bite her lip to keep from smiling at the vision of the disastrous scene probably taking place at that moment in the Isham dining room. “It was quite dreadful of you to end the betrothal in this way, Meg. It would serve you right if he followed us and demanded your return to help him face the dinner guests and to make proper explanations to them and to him.”
    â€œI hate explanations. And I hate dull dinner parties. That’s why I bolted.” She could detect the twitch at the corners of her aunt’s mouth. “He’ll never catch us, you know. By the time he realizes we’ve flown, we’ll have arrived at the inn at Masham. And by the time he decided to follow us—if he’s foolish enough to do so—we shall be at Harrogate. He’ll have no idea which route we’ve chosen or where we shall be stopping. So I haven’t a worry in the—”
    â€œGood Lord!” her aunt cried suddenly, staring out the window behind Meg. “What’s that?”
    Meg jumped, startled. “What, Aunt Bel?” she asked, whirling around to see if Charles had indeed decided to follow her and bring her to heel. “Is it—?”
    â€œLook! Didn’t I warn you?”
    Aunt Isabel had been right. Through the dimness of the October twilight they could discern a number of thick, white flakes floating by the carriage window. It was snowing.

Chapter Three
    â€œIt’s only a flurry,” Meg assured her aunt with firm optimism. “I wouldn’t give it another thought.”
    But by the time the groom had turned the carriage into the yard of the Horse With Three Tails Inn, the ground around them was buried under a thin cover of white. Meg, pretending that she was still unperturbed, let Roodle help her down. “Wait here in the carriage, love,” she said to Isabel, “until I hire another equipage. I mean to get us to Harrogate before we stop for the night.”
    â€œWhy Harrogate? It’s already become dark,” her aunt said worriedly.
    â€œHarrogate isn’t more than an hour’s ride. And the White Hart there will provide us with more comfortable lodgings than this forsaken place. Besides, I shall feel more at ease when I’ve put some distance between ourselves and Charles Isham.”
    She walked quickly through the snow to the inn. One look at its tiny taproom convinced her that she would not find sleeping accommodations to her satisfaction in this modest, out-of-the-way hostelry. There were only two patrons in the room; a few more and the place would have been crowded. If there were bedrooms upstairs, they would probably be completely unsuitable, and Meg was certain there was not a private parlor to be had on these unimposing premises. She took off her bonnet and shook it out, brushed back a heavy lock of damp red hair from her forehead and looked around her.
    A woman of florid complexion and wide girth was filling a tumbler with ale from a cask set on a shelf behind the bar near the door. There was no one else in the room who seemed to be in charge of the establishment, so Meg approached the woman. “I wish to hire a carriage to take me to Harrogate,” she said.
    The woman threw her a quick glance and shook her head. “Not t’night, ma’am. It’s comin’ down snow.” And without another glance at Meg, she