To Win the Lady Read Online Free

nothing of the ways of London Society. If the Rowan Park stud was sunk
then so were they and none fancied being among the ranks of the unemployed,
swollen by returning soldiers.
    Today Georgie
had helped a new filly enter the world and she was as proud as if it had been a
daughter of her own. She acknowledged, with a wry smile, that horses were
likely to be the only children she would have; at twenty-six she was already
firmly on the shelf. No man would look twice at her. For a start, her
complexion lacked the pale fragility that was fashionable and she was too tall,
overtopping her sister by a head. She was also the equal of any male when it
came to horsemanship and there were few who excelled her; it was enough to
deter any man from offering for her.
    She sighed as
she knelt to fondle the new filly, drawing a neigh of protest from its mother.
If she could not have a husband and family of her own, then she would make sure
of being a success in her chosen sphere. She would be the best horse-breeder in
England. And she would make sure that Felicity wanted for nothing. A husband
for her sister before the year was out would be her goal.
    Felicity
herself did not disagree. She loved Georgie and was no more selfish than any
other young lady who had been cosseted since birth and it never occurred to her
that her sister might not be entirely happy with the way their lives were
shaping, for she never complained. As far as Felicity was concerned, Georgie
preferred horses to people and liked nothing better than mucking out a stable
dressed in breeches. Her sister did not, as far as Felicity knew, hanker for a
husband and a family of her own. Having explained this to her horrified aunt,
she gave herself up to the enjoyment of planning her wardrobe and looking
forward eagerly to all the social occasions Mrs Bertram could devise for her.
    ‘There are some
exceedingly handsome officers in my husband’s regiment,’ Mrs Bertram told her
as they journeyed towards the capital the following day. ‘Some I am
well-acquainted with, for they have been close to my husband, the colonel;
others I do not know so well but I shall contrive to learn all I can about
them. They will need to be well up in the stirrups, of course; that goes
without saying.’
    ‘It doesn’t
matter about being rich, Aunt,’ Felicity said. ‘So long as I love him.’
    ‘Love him!’
exclaimed her aunt. ‘What foolishness is this? We will find someone suitable,
from a good family with an independent income and a title if possible, and if
all goes well and he offers and you accept, then you can think about love. Ten
to one that will not come until after the wedding, so you may set your mind at
rest on that score.’
    ‘Did you love
Uncle Edward when you married him?’
    ‘No, of course
not, but he was agreeable and kind and we came to depend on each other. I would
not change him for the world.’
    ‘And Mama and
Papa?’
    ‘The same.’
    ‘Oh. Do you
suppose Georgie knows that?’
    ‘Of course she
does; your sister is not a ninnyhammer, for all her cork-brained ways.’
    ‘Could you not
find someone for her too? I should not like to think she was left to be an
ape-leader; she is not like that at all, you know. She pretends to be hard
because she doesn’t like anyone to know how soft she really is, but I have seen
her cry over an injured horse and when old Bucephalus had to be put down she
mourned for weeks.’
    ‘Horses!’
expostulated Mrs Bertram. ‘Horses are not people.’
    Felicity, who
had often been constrained to say the same thing, made no comment on that.
Instead she continued to extol her sister’s virtues. ‘She is very pretty, you
know, when she takes the trouble to dress and arrange her hair.’
    ‘Then why she
did not make the effort long before this I cannot conceive.’ Mrs Bertram sighed
heavily. ‘I blame my brother-in-law...’
    ‘I don’t
suppose Papa even noticed how she looked.’
    ‘No, I do not
suppose he did.’ Mrs Bertram