Connie (The Daughters of Allamont Hall Book 3) by Mary Kingswood Page A

fall in love with her? She had one comfort, that her behaviour had never been such as to court reproof.
    But no matter how much she told herself that her heart was still whole, the tears were unaccountably close to the surface, and she was glad when Lady Harriet left, and she could creep away to her room and weep in earnest in Dulcie’s sympathetic arms.
    The following morning brought Lady Harriet again, and Lord Reginald too. Lady Sara had taken Belle to Brinchester for fittings for her wedding clothes, and Grace and Hope had gone to the village with Miss Bellows, so only Connie and Dulcie were in the winter parlour when the visitors arrived.
    “Ah, excellent,” said Lady Harriet, surveying the two of them as they bobbed their curtsies. “Dulcie, dear, I wonder if you would be so good as to leave us for a moment, for we wish to talk to Constance alone.”
    Dulcie’s eyes were huge with speculation, but she hastily did as she was bid.
    “Now then, dear,” Lady Harriet said, sitting down on a sofa and waving Connie to the seat beside her, “let us talk seriously about this business.”
    Connie could not pretend to misunderstand her meaning, although she was not sure what remained to be said about it, since the Marquess seemed to have concluded the matter most decisively.
    “Reggie and I have been considering the situation, and really, it will not do. Miss Drummond is all very well in her way, but she is hardly a suitable Marchioness of Carrbridge. We are both agreed that you would be a far more appropriate choice.”
    “Surely it is a little late for that?” Connie burst out.
    Lady Harriet and Lord Reginald laughed. “You may think so, but we know what Dev is like. He plans to whisk Jess off to Drummoor to present her to Grandmama and the great-aunts, and you may be sure he will receive no warmer reception than he obtained from Great-aunt Augusta. Naturally, they will point out to him all the disastrous aspects of this proposed marriage, and he will begin to waver. Now, so long as Jess is there, in sole possession of the field, so to speak, she will keep hold of him, you may be sure. However, if we can present him — and Grandmama — with a far more suitable alternative, we may be able to prise him out of Jess Drummond’s grasp.”
    “I do not think…” Connie began, her voice tremulous. Then, taking a deep breath, she went on, “I believe the Marquess has made his choice. I do not wish to… to prise him from the woman he loves.”
    “Ah, but is it love?” Lord Reginald said. “Infatuation, more like. Dev has been dazzled by this woman, but he will come to realise that he has made a dreadful mistake. All that is required of you, Miss Constance, is to be there when he begins to understand his error.”
    “But I do not see—” Connie began. “Are you inviting me to Drummoor, my lady?”
    “In a manner of speaking,” Lady Harriet said. “Now, if you just come for a visit, that would look too particular, as if you were chasing after him, you know, and that would never do. But Reggie and I have come up with a very clever trick. Dev and Jess are secretly betrothed, so why should not you and Reggie be secretly betrothed, too? We will pretend there is an understanding between you, and then you may come to Drummoor as Reggie’s soon-to-be betrothed, and that would be quite unexceptional. No one could possibly object to that. ”
    Connie thought it very likely that a number of people could object, namely the Marquess himself, who would see at once what she was about, not to mention the dragons. It was an outrageous idea.
    “I do not much like the idea of pretending,” she said quietly. “It all seems dreadfully complicated and… a little dishonest.”
    “Ah, your scruples do you credit,” Lord Reginald said. “How admirable! But there is nothing dishonest about it in the slightest. Hatty, do explain it to Miss Constance.”
    “All perfectly above reproach,” Lady Harriet said firmly. “You will