[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
more closely around her, pretending there weren't tearstains on her
cheeks. "And now I have the headache, my lord. I know you will
understand and excuse me. It has been a long day."
The earl understood all too well: he'd be sleeping alone tonight,
confound it. Lord Carroll had a few good years left in him, and by George,
he meant to spend a goodly portion of them in his wife's bed.
She'd come around soon enough, he knew. Bess's tempests blew
themselves out quickly. By tomorrow she'd be rapt in her lists of what to
purchase in London, what to have refurbished at home, consulting with
him when they all knew Bartholemew made all the decisions. The hidden
hurt would remain forever, he supposed in regret, but she'd bury tonight's
anger in the depths of tomorrow's details.
But the earl couldn't forget about the child, or his plan to bring him
home. His Bess had a warm heart, he knew she did, and big enough for
one little boy, if only he could reach it. Meantime, his own bed loomed all
too big, and all too cold.
PART TWO:
Beaux of Holly
Chapter Twelve
« ^ »
olly pushed the spectacles farther up her nose. Joia might be correct
H
that her sister looked better without them, but Holly definitely saw better
with them, especially nearby things like the chess set. Besides, no one was
here to notice her looks one way or the other except Papa. Usually Holly
needed every advantage she could find when playing against her father,
but today the earl did not seem to be concentrating. "What is it, Papa? Is
your foot bothering you again?"
"What's that, poppet, my foot? No, no, just wool-gathering. I expect we
should have stayed on in London."
"You're missing Mama, is all. You know she had to stay in Town for the
final fittings of Joia's wedding gown and to purchase the rest of her
trousseau. There is the party at Princess Lieven's, also. Mama couldn't
very well slight the Russian ambassador, could she?"
"Of course not, when the do's in Joia's honor. Still, I hadn't ought to
have dragged you back to Winterpark two weeks early, just because my
gout was plaguing me."
"What, I should have stayed for yet another affair where one waits an
hour to make one's curtsy, then spends an hour trying to leave the
premises through the hordes of other guests? Two weeks of that was
enough to last a lifetime, though I suspect Mama will have us all back in
Town in the spring."
They both sighed.
"But all females love shopping," the earl said, moving to protect his
queen. "I shouldn't have taken you away from all that."
"You didn't abduct me so you'd have a chess partner, Papa. I begged
Mama to let me accompany you. Since Madame Celeste already has my
measurements, even she agreed there was no call for me to spend endless
hours being poked and prodded. No, thank you, Papa, I'd much rather be
in the country with you, overseeing some of Mama's projects for the
wedding."
"What, instead of dancing with all the young bucks at Almack's or
riding out in the park?"
"You know I don't care much for that kind of thing, Papa. The haut
monde is Joia's milieu, not mine."
"No, you'd rather be in the lending library or attending a dry-as-dust
lecture."
"Actually," she said with a smile, easily countering his move, "I'd rather
be at university, but I am resigned to my lot. I did get to visit some of the
museums and such, showing Merry about, to her dismay, I might add. I'm
sure she wasn't sorry to see me go. But are you sorry we were forced to
come home early without Mama and the others?"
"Lud, no. One more afternoon sitting around drinking catlap with all
those old biddies and I'd have driven Joia and Comfort over the border
myself."
"That wouldn't be how you happened to trip over Merry's dog, would
it?"
The earl studied the board more carefully. "Fool animal shouldn't have
been in London in the first place."
"And you shouldn't have been feeding him scraps of bacon on the sly to
keep him underfoot. But don't worry, I won't tell Mama."
"Your mother always knows everything there is to know, young lady,
and it's only two weeks before she returns. We might have some company
before then anyway, so we won't be rattling around by ourselves. I invited
young Rendell to bring some friends for the hunting. Someone might as
well be enjoying my horses while I can't."
"What, did you see Evan in London? I never did. Is he down from
university, then?"
"Never saw the boy. Saw his father, though, extended the invite through
him."
"I didn't know Mr. Rendell was back in this country. Evan's last letter
never mentioned it."
"He is, saw him at m'club. Chap's as brown as those coffee beans he's
been importing." He brushed that aside, with one of her pawns, to get to
the meat of the matter. "But about Evan. Seems he and Cambridge have [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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more closely around her, pretending there weren't tearstains on her
cheeks. "And now I have the headache, my lord. I know you will
understand and excuse me. It has been a long day."
The earl understood all too well: he'd be sleeping alone tonight,
confound it. Lord Carroll had a few good years left in him, and by George,
he meant to spend a goodly portion of them in his wife's bed.
She'd come around soon enough, he knew. Bess's tempests blew
themselves out quickly. By tomorrow she'd be rapt in her lists of what to
purchase in London, what to have refurbished at home, consulting with
him when they all knew Bartholemew made all the decisions. The hidden
hurt would remain forever, he supposed in regret, but she'd bury tonight's
anger in the depths of tomorrow's details.
But the earl couldn't forget about the child, or his plan to bring him
home. His Bess had a warm heart, he knew she did, and big enough for
one little boy, if only he could reach it. Meantime, his own bed loomed all
too big, and all too cold.
PART TWO:
Beaux of Holly
Chapter Twelve
« ^ »
olly pushed the spectacles farther up her nose. Joia might be correct
H
that her sister looked better without them, but Holly definitely saw better
with them, especially nearby things like the chess set. Besides, no one was
here to notice her looks one way or the other except Papa. Usually Holly
needed every advantage she could find when playing against her father,
but today the earl did not seem to be concentrating. "What is it, Papa? Is
your foot bothering you again?"
"What's that, poppet, my foot? No, no, just wool-gathering. I expect we
should have stayed on in London."
"You're missing Mama, is all. You know she had to stay in Town for the
final fittings of Joia's wedding gown and to purchase the rest of her
trousseau. There is the party at Princess Lieven's, also. Mama couldn't
very well slight the Russian ambassador, could she?"
"Of course not, when the do's in Joia's honor. Still, I hadn't ought to
have dragged you back to Winterpark two weeks early, just because my
gout was plaguing me."
"What, I should have stayed for yet another affair where one waits an
hour to make one's curtsy, then spends an hour trying to leave the
premises through the hordes of other guests? Two weeks of that was
enough to last a lifetime, though I suspect Mama will have us all back in
Town in the spring."
They both sighed.
"But all females love shopping," the earl said, moving to protect his
queen. "I shouldn't have taken you away from all that."
"You didn't abduct me so you'd have a chess partner, Papa. I begged
Mama to let me accompany you. Since Madame Celeste already has my
measurements, even she agreed there was no call for me to spend endless
hours being poked and prodded. No, thank you, Papa, I'd much rather be
in the country with you, overseeing some of Mama's projects for the
wedding."
"What, instead of dancing with all the young bucks at Almack's or
riding out in the park?"
"You know I don't care much for that kind of thing, Papa. The haut
monde is Joia's milieu, not mine."
"No, you'd rather be in the lending library or attending a dry-as-dust
lecture."
"Actually," she said with a smile, easily countering his move, "I'd rather
be at university, but I am resigned to my lot. I did get to visit some of the
museums and such, showing Merry about, to her dismay, I might add. I'm
sure she wasn't sorry to see me go. But are you sorry we were forced to
come home early without Mama and the others?"
"Lud, no. One more afternoon sitting around drinking catlap with all
those old biddies and I'd have driven Joia and Comfort over the border
myself."
"That wouldn't be how you happened to trip over Merry's dog, would
it?"
The earl studied the board more carefully. "Fool animal shouldn't have
been in London in the first place."
"And you shouldn't have been feeding him scraps of bacon on the sly to
keep him underfoot. But don't worry, I won't tell Mama."
"Your mother always knows everything there is to know, young lady,
and it's only two weeks before she returns. We might have some company
before then anyway, so we won't be rattling around by ourselves. I invited
young Rendell to bring some friends for the hunting. Someone might as
well be enjoying my horses while I can't."
"What, did you see Evan in London? I never did. Is he down from
university, then?"
"Never saw the boy. Saw his father, though, extended the invite through
him."
"I didn't know Mr. Rendell was back in this country. Evan's last letter
never mentioned it."
"He is, saw him at m'club. Chap's as brown as those coffee beans he's
been importing." He brushed that aside, with one of her pawns, to get to
the meat of the matter. "But about Evan. Seems he and Cambridge have [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]