"Hiatt, Brenda - Daring Deception" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hiatt Brenda)

"Wrong? Of course not, Freddie. Quite the opposite, in fact. I've come to
offer you my heartiest congratulations."

Frederica stiffened in her brother's clasp, drawing back to regard him warily.

"Congratulations?

Congratulations for what, Thomas? " " Why, on your betrothal to the Earl of
Sea brooke. Quite a respectable match, considering you've not been to Town,
eh? Imagine, my little sister a countess! "

"Have you taken leave of your senses?" she demanded, pulling free of him.

"How can I possibly be betrothed to a man I have never met?" Examining
Thomas through narrowed eyes, she wondered whether he might be foxed, early
in the day though it was.

"No, Frederica, I have finally come to my senses," declared Thomas stoutly,
though he refused to meet his sister's gaze.

"I have come to realize that i've been shirking many of my
responsibilities--to the estate and especially, to you."

Fablefica stared at her brother open mouthed She had never seen him in this
mood before and found herself, uncharacteristically, at a loss for words.

"I'm aman now, and it is time I had a care for your future," Thomas went on,
in what was beginning to sound suspiciously like a rehearsed speech.

"You cannot spend your life running my household, you know. You are far too
capable-and pretty--to settle for that. No, it is time you had a household
of your own, one worthy of your merit.

"I shall require you to go over the accounts with me, so that I may
familiarize myself with the workings of the estate. Then I'll have a
conference with our steward--what's his name?" He faltered briefly, looking
to her for assistance. "Bridges," replied Frederica dazedly, undecided
whether to be outraged or amused at Thomas's sudden decision to grow up.

"Bridges. Of course." He clasped his hands behind his back and began to
pace the room.

"He can continue to oversee all the day-to-day details, but he will now
answer to me instead of you. I can't imagine what Father was thinking of to
suggest that you manage the estate in the first place. It's hardly fitting
for a woman." Frederica knew very well what their father had been thinking
when he stipulated in his will that she have the handling of Maple Hill and
the surrounding estate. During the five years before his death, from the
time she was barely in her teens, it had been Frederiea rather than Thomas