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Authors: Gayle Buck
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revelation that she had steeled herself against; on the contrary, it was quite the opposite. “And had not Miss Chadwick a word to say against this disgusting and highhanded behavior?” Lady Cassandra asked.
The viscount’s lips twitched. “She had several words to say, actually,” he said ruefully. “But I refused to listen to any of her sensible arguments.”
“No, you did not. However—and it is most reprehensible of me—I did hearken to yours,” said Joan, glancing up at the viscount with the faintest of smiles on her face. She turned her gaze onto the formidable elderly lady who was regarding her and the viscount so steadily. “I fear that I was not stalwart enough to brave the censure that the time I had spent in his lordship’s company would cause for me, my lady. That was the full sum of it, that and that his lordship offered me a far more comfortable future than I had ever contemplated.”
Lady Cassandra was intrigued. “And what had you contemplated, my dear?”
“She was applying to become a governess,” said Lord Humphrey forcibly. “I told her that she wouldn’t last a fortnight, of course. No, Joan, not a word. I’ve already pointed out that how many languages one speaks has no bearing on the case at all. The plain truth is, my lady, is that Joan is out of the common way attractive. She would have run foul of some lecherous son of the house, and that would have been the end of it.”
“So you naturally decided to save Miss Chadwick from her ghastly fate and carried her off in a most improper fashion,” said Lady Cassandra, nodding as though in perfect understanding. She raised her brows as she looked over at her grandson’s bride, and she asked in a conspiratorial tone, “My dear, was he too awfully under the hatches?”
“If by that you mean was his lordship the worse for drink and horribly obstinate and unreasonable, why, yes, my lady,” Joan said, a twinkling light dawning in her brown eyes.
Lord Humphrey cleared his throat, distinctly uncomfortable. “As to that, I do admit to being four sheets to the wind. Otherwise I would not have run down Miss Chadwick in the road and gotten the notion to marry her at all. Why, I couldn’t have, never having met her before.”
“Ran her down! Do I understand you correctly, Edward?” asked Lady Cassandra. She looked sharply at the young woman seated in the chair beside her, searching for sign of injury.
Joan laughed, shaking her head. “I was not at all hurt, my lady. At least, it was only my ankle, and it is very much better. I think I was more shaken than anything. I then became quite angry when I realized that his lordship had no intention of letting me down again, so that I quite forgot all about being tossed into the ditch.”
The door to the library opened and Carruthers entered with the tea tray. He approached silently and set out the tea urn and the biscuits.
Lady Cassandra gave a contented sigh. There was a smile in her gray eyes, so like the viscount’s own in shape and color. “I think that I really must hear everything from the beginning. Will you pour, my dear?”
Chapter Seven
Lady Cassandra listened closely to the story that she was told. She could accept the account of a chance meeting. Stranger things could occur, as she well knew. However, she thought there was one glaring inconsistency to the narration. “You simply chanced to have in your pocket a special license, Edward?” she asked with exaggerated politeness.
“Er, yes,” Lord Humphrey said. He had thought it wisest not to mention the reason behind his journey down from London, but with his grandmother’s question he saw instantly how unlikely it was that he should happen to be carrying a special license. He cursed himself for not anticipating it, but he did not offer further explanation. He was strangely unwilling to reveal what to him was the worst part of the entire matter, which had been his drunken conviction that he had to wed in order to
The viscount’s lips twitched. “She had several words to say, actually,” he said ruefully. “But I refused to listen to any of her sensible arguments.”
“No, you did not. However—and it is most reprehensible of me—I did hearken to yours,” said Joan, glancing up at the viscount with the faintest of smiles on her face. She turned her gaze onto the formidable elderly lady who was regarding her and the viscount so steadily. “I fear that I was not stalwart enough to brave the censure that the time I had spent in his lordship’s company would cause for me, my lady. That was the full sum of it, that and that his lordship offered me a far more comfortable future than I had ever contemplated.”
Lady Cassandra was intrigued. “And what had you contemplated, my dear?”
“She was applying to become a governess,” said Lord Humphrey forcibly. “I told her that she wouldn’t last a fortnight, of course. No, Joan, not a word. I’ve already pointed out that how many languages one speaks has no bearing on the case at all. The plain truth is, my lady, is that Joan is out of the common way attractive. She would have run foul of some lecherous son of the house, and that would have been the end of it.”
“So you naturally decided to save Miss Chadwick from her ghastly fate and carried her off in a most improper fashion,” said Lady Cassandra, nodding as though in perfect understanding. She raised her brows as she looked over at her grandson’s bride, and she asked in a conspiratorial tone, “My dear, was he too awfully under the hatches?”
“If by that you mean was his lordship the worse for drink and horribly obstinate and unreasonable, why, yes, my lady,” Joan said, a twinkling light dawning in her brown eyes.
Lord Humphrey cleared his throat, distinctly uncomfortable. “As to that, I do admit to being four sheets to the wind. Otherwise I would not have run down Miss Chadwick in the road and gotten the notion to marry her at all. Why, I couldn’t have, never having met her before.”
“Ran her down! Do I understand you correctly, Edward?” asked Lady Cassandra. She looked sharply at the young woman seated in the chair beside her, searching for sign of injury.
Joan laughed, shaking her head. “I was not at all hurt, my lady. At least, it was only my ankle, and it is very much better. I think I was more shaken than anything. I then became quite angry when I realized that his lordship had no intention of letting me down again, so that I quite forgot all about being tossed into the ditch.”
The door to the library opened and Carruthers entered with the tea tray. He approached silently and set out the tea urn and the biscuits.
Lady Cassandra gave a contented sigh. There was a smile in her gray eyes, so like the viscount’s own in shape and color. “I think that I really must hear everything from the beginning. Will you pour, my dear?”
Chapter Seven
Lady Cassandra listened closely to the story that she was told. She could accept the account of a chance meeting. Stranger things could occur, as she well knew. However, she thought there was one glaring inconsistency to the narration. “You simply chanced to have in your pocket a special license, Edward?” she asked with exaggerated politeness.
“Er, yes,” Lord Humphrey said. He had thought it wisest not to mention the reason behind his journey down from London, but with his grandmother’s question he saw instantly how unlikely it was that he should happen to be carrying a special license. He cursed himself for not anticipating it, but he did not offer further explanation. He was strangely unwilling to reveal what to him was the worst part of the entire matter, which had been his drunken conviction that he had to wed in order to
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