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Westcliff looked a feature?"
Both sisters considered the question "He has nice teeth," Daisy finally said grudgingly
"Hoould you know?" Lillian asked "He never smiles!"
"Your assessment of him is severe," Westcliff reed since you last saw him"
"Not so much that I would ever consent to marry him," Daisy said
"You won’t have to marry Swift if you don’t wish it," Lillian said veheht, Westcliff?"
"Yes, love," heher hair back from her face
"And you won’t let Father take Daisy away fro can always be negotiated"
Lillian subsided against hi absolute faith in her husband’s abilities "There," she mumbled to Daisy "No need to worry…see? Westcliff has everything…" She paused to yaidely "…well in hand…"
Seeing the way her sister’s eyelids drooped, Daisy saze over Lillian’s head, and motioned that she would leave He responded with a courteous nod, his attention returning compulsively to Lillian’s drowsy face And Daisy couldn’t help but wonder if any ht of her was precious in his arms
Daisy was certain that Westcliff would try to help her in any way he could, if only for Lillian’s sake But her faith in the earl’s influence was tee of her own father’s inflexible will
Although she would defy hi the odds were not in her favor
She paused at the threshold of the room and looked back at the pair on the settee with a troubled frown Lillian had fallen fast asleep, her head centered heavily on Westcliff’s chest As the earl aze, one of his brows raised in silent inquiry
"My father…" Daisy began, then bit her lip This man was her father’s business partner It was not appropriate to run to Westcliff with coed her to continue "He calledher voice soft to avoid disturbing Lillian "He asked me to tell him how the world has benefitted from my existence, or what I had ever done for anyone"
"And your reply?" Westcliff asked
"I…couldn’t think of anything to say"
Westcliff’s coffee-colored eyes were unfathoesture for her to approach the settee, and she obeyed To her astonishripped it war before
"Daisy," Westcliff said gently, "reat achievements They are measured by an infinite number of s a s Never doubt your value, little friend The world would be a disue that StonyCrossPark was one of the land The Hampshire estate sustained an infinite variety of terrain from near-impenetrable forests to brilliantly flowered wet s to the stalwart honey-colored stonethe Itchen river
Life flourished everywhere, pale shoots springing from the carpet of decayed leaves at the foot of fissured oaks and cedar, stands of bluebells glowing in a darker part of the forest
Red grasshoppers vaulted through meadows filled ild primrose and lady’s-smock, while translucent blue da bean flowers It s, the air saturated with the scent of sweet box hedge and tender green lawn
After a twelve-hour carriage ride that Lillian described as a journey through hell, the Westcliffs, Bowratified to reach StonyCrossPark at last
The sky was a different color in Hampshire, a softer blue, and the air was filled with blissful quiet There were no clangs of wheels and hooves on paved streets, or vendors or beggars, or factory whistles, or any of the commotion that constantly assaulted the ears in town Here there was only the chirping of robins in the hedgerows, the rattle of green woodpeckers afishers fro river reeds
Lillian, who had once considered the country deadly dull, was overjoyed to be back at the estate She thrived in the atht at the manor she looked and felt nancy could no longer easily be concealed by high-waisted gowns, she was entering confineo out in public On her own estate, however, Lillian would have relative freedouests to sht she was installed in her favorite bedrooed to Lord Westcliff’s sister Lady Aline, who now resided in A feature of the bedrooht over froinally come from a seventeenth-century chateau and had been fitted with a chaise that was perfect for napping or reading
Curled with one of her books in a corner of the chaise, Daisy felt as if she were hidden from the rest of the world Oh, if only she could stay here at Stony Cross and live with her sister forever! But even as the thought occurred to her she knew she would never be completely happy that way She wanted her own life…her own husband, her own children
For the first time in Daisy’s memory she and her mother had become allies They were united in their desire to prevent aman," Mercedes had exclaimed "I’ve no doubt he put the entire blasted notion in your father’s head…I’ve always suspected he…"
"Suspected what?" Daisy asked, but her ether until they foruest list, she inforentle at the manor "Even if they aren’t all directly in line for titles, they are from noble families," Mercedes said "And one never knows…Soe accidents Several members of the family could be wiped out at once and then your husband could becoht of a cala Daisy’s future in-laws, Mercedes pored more closely over her list
Daisy was impatient for Evie and St Vincent to appear later in the week She missed Evie dreadfully, especially since Annabelle was occupied with her baby and Lillian was too slow- to accompany her on the brisk walks she enjoyed