A Capital Arrangement (THE ELLSWORTH ASSORTMENT #6)by Christina Dudley EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
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- Authors: Christina Dudley
- Language: English
- Genre: Historical Romance
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1814
No spot on the coast of England is perhaps better calculated for the two-fold purpose of sea-bathing
and retirement than Bognor…The smoothness of the sand, reminds the valetudinarian of a velvet
carpet, and invitingly draws him to the sea side…to enjoy his ride or walk, even at the reflux of the
tide, without the least risk, surprise, or interruption from the waves.
—John Feltham, A Guide to All the Watering and Seabathing Places, etc. (1815)
On a crisp day in early October, Miss Beatrice Ellsworth stood on the sandy
beach at Bognor. As the sunlight faintly penetrated her closed eyelids and
the fine sea air whipped loose strands of her light-brown hair, she had no
idea her being there was the result of her family’s well-meaning
machinations.
For Beatrice, the youngest of the Ellsworth Assortment of Winchester,
had not the least notion a secret family conference had been held to discuss
her, at which the decision was reached that, clearly, Something Must Be
Done.
Something must be done, for, at the still-fresh young age of one and
twenty, Beatrice showed premature signs of settling into contented spinsteraunthood.
“She has always been indifferent to balls and assemblies,” her
stepmother Mrs. Colin Wolfe sighed to her other stepdaughters and her
daughter-in-law, “but now that her friend Emmy Wright has married, Bea
says, hurrah, and how she ‘needn’t bother about all that now.’”
“It cannot be that none of the gentlemen showed interest in her,”
murmured Mrs. Robert Fairchild, Beatrice’s oldest sister. “With her
prettiness and connections and generous portion.”
“Certainly they showed interest, Flossie,” returned Mrs. Wolfe, who
had chaperoned both Beatrice and the former Miss Wright to the dances.
“But Colin says a man can only do so much when given no encouragement
whatsoever, and once he has been firmly refused, he can do nothing at all.”
“Exactly,” Mrs. Simon Kenner, née Lily Ellsworth, agreed. “And after
two years of Bea’s indifference and rejections, not only are the good
gentlemen already taken, but she is unlikely to change her mind about the
ones which remain. Therefore she must see a new crop altogether.”
“But where would such a crop be found?” asked her older sister.
“Isn’t it obvious, Flossie? If Aggie and Tyrone are going to Bognor for
a month, clearly they must take Beatrice with them.”
“That would be lovely!” Aggie clapped her hands. “My little Joan and
Margaret would be so glad to have their aunt along. There would be room
enough for her in the house we have rented, and Bognor has the usual
assembly room and such.” A nostalgic smile curved her lips. “Tyrone and I
cannot wait to see the sea again because it was at the seaside where he and
I…came to our understanding.”
“But Bea herself has no sentimental attachment to draw her and will
see no reason to go along with you, Aggie,” the third sister Araminta
observed with her usual practicality. “She’ll just stay at Beaumond and
continue to cling to Mama like a barnacle.” (With a nod at Mrs. Wolfe.)
“True,” conceded Lily, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “Too true. Then,
Aggie, you must insist that you require both her company and her
assistance.
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