The Adventures of Lady Susan Author:Cyrus Townsend Brady Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: - CHAPTER III SUSAN PLAYS A GAME THE greater climax came the night after. Xady Susan had declined to ride that day. She had business at home as the chat... more »elaine. Consequently no mishap had occurred during the daylight. Lord Strathgate had pleaded indisposition and had remained at the castle also, indifferent apparently to the black looks of his host as he rode away by the side of Lady Cecily. Mistress Debbie, who made not the faintest pretense of being interested in hounds, and who indeed cherished a growing sympathy for the fox, refused to ride in chase of Master Reynard, and Sir Francis Bloun- dell had made an ineffectual effort to do likewise only to be carried off by his host almost by violence and allotted to Mrs. Monbrant for the day's sport. Evening found the party assembled in the drawing-room. Everybody was in a bad humor. Strathgate because he had not been able to get a word alone with his hostess; Mornington, because Strathgate had been all day at home while he was abroad; Lady Cecily, because she had been unable to chase the frowns from her host's brow; Mrs. Mon- brant, because Sir Francis Bloundell had shown himself a distraught and indifferent cavalier; the Duke and Duchess, because while they had plenty to eat and drink, their hostess' scruples had prevented play; General Athelstrong for the same reason and Admiral Kephard, because he saw everybody playing at cross purposes. Debbie was wretched because her Bloundell had been appropriated by another. The only serene one was apparently Lady Susan. When the men joined the women in the drawing-room after the late supper, it was she herself who proposed cards. "But I thought, my dear child," began Lady Cecily with covert malice in voice andmanner, "that you did not approve of the— er—wicked little pastebo...« less