Read Online The Bridal Contract (Darrington family Book 3) by Sandra Sookoo - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Sandra Sookoo
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will.”
“How do I skirt the very real possibility that I might inadvertently compromise said woman?” When Daniela approached him, with the doll clutched tight under her arm, he drew her to his side. Pleasure snaked through him when she didn’t dance away, but instead, leaned on his leg.
Felix attempted to quell a grin but failed. “Don’t put yourself into a position that’ll you’ll truly need to come up to scratch. The trick is to choose a woman you’d never find yourself attracted to.”
“I see.” Not to mention the fact he didn’t know any eligible women in Brighton to begin with. Perhaps he should accept those dinner invitations after all. Bugger it.
Daniela patted his leg. “Where is Isa?”
It was as if the heavens opened and provided his answer. What better woman to pick than one who was so completely and utterly the opposite of his usual type? “Actually, pet, I think we’ll pay Eloisa a visit later today. Would you like that?” When the girl nodded then decided to use his leg as a surrogate horse for her doll, he grinned at his brother. “I know just the one. She’s pretty enough that Mother won’t know right off it’s a ruse, but she is actually desperate for coin. She has her own familial situation and I know she won’t refuse the offer.”
No one was as wrong of a match for him as his prim and prissy next door neighbor.
Chapter Five
Eloisa wanted nothing more than to strangle the overbearing and overweight Lord Everly then finish off the morning by throttling her wimpy brother, but she did neither. She sat composed on a settee in the parlor. With her hands clenched tightly in her lap, Helen sat next to her while Charles occupied the settee opposite. The corpulent lord had propped himself by the window, and unfortunately, the morning sun did nothing to soften his chin rolls.
“Charles, surely you can understand how ridiculous this plan is,” she attempted to reason with her sibling yet again. “Helen is too young to be tossed into Lord Everly’s lap merely to pay off your gambling debts. How vulgar this whole business is.”
“I could have married her off well before, you know,” he reminded her.
“Yet you didn’t, so why now, and to him ?”
“Enough, Eloisa. Don’t insult him,” Charles begged. He darted a fearful look at the lord, whose maroon waistcoat strained over his bulging midsection. “You have no idea just how far gone I went at the tables last month,” he explained in a hushed voice. “If Everly hadn’t intervened and covered my debt…”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to hear your maudlin tale again.” Perhaps a throttling was too good for him. He needed a right good slap across the face to wake him up from the destruction of his life. “You never learn and you never listen. At this rate, you’ll bankrupt us all and then what?”
“You don’t understand.” Desperation lined his face. “I have no choice.”
“Oh, posh. Everyone has a choice. Why can you not sell the London town house and pay Lord Everly off with the proceeds?”
“I…” Charles slanted his gaze away.
A horrid thought occurred to her. It tightened her stomach. “Dear heavens, you don’t own the property in London any longer, do you? That’s the real reason we had to remove to Brighton, not for your wife’s health.”
Beside her, Helen gasped. “Oh no!”
Everything made sense now. The hasty departure from London to Brighton. Doddering Aunt Beatrice having been pressed upon to do the accounts instead of making use of the man of business Charles usually used. The refusal of her sister-in-law to entertain lest the gossips glean information about their reduced situation. The knowledge she and Helen were not to order dresses, gowns, or hats this year and that he’d revisit the feasibility of such at the time of the Little Season, not that they usually partook of London’s social scene anyway.
She stared at her brother as the truth dawned.
“How do I skirt the very real possibility that I might inadvertently compromise said woman?” When Daniela approached him, with the doll clutched tight under her arm, he drew her to his side. Pleasure snaked through him when she didn’t dance away, but instead, leaned on his leg.
Felix attempted to quell a grin but failed. “Don’t put yourself into a position that’ll you’ll truly need to come up to scratch. The trick is to choose a woman you’d never find yourself attracted to.”
“I see.” Not to mention the fact he didn’t know any eligible women in Brighton to begin with. Perhaps he should accept those dinner invitations after all. Bugger it.
Daniela patted his leg. “Where is Isa?”
It was as if the heavens opened and provided his answer. What better woman to pick than one who was so completely and utterly the opposite of his usual type? “Actually, pet, I think we’ll pay Eloisa a visit later today. Would you like that?” When the girl nodded then decided to use his leg as a surrogate horse for her doll, he grinned at his brother. “I know just the one. She’s pretty enough that Mother won’t know right off it’s a ruse, but she is actually desperate for coin. She has her own familial situation and I know she won’t refuse the offer.”
No one was as wrong of a match for him as his prim and prissy next door neighbor.
Chapter Five
Eloisa wanted nothing more than to strangle the overbearing and overweight Lord Everly then finish off the morning by throttling her wimpy brother, but she did neither. She sat composed on a settee in the parlor. With her hands clenched tightly in her lap, Helen sat next to her while Charles occupied the settee opposite. The corpulent lord had propped himself by the window, and unfortunately, the morning sun did nothing to soften his chin rolls.
“Charles, surely you can understand how ridiculous this plan is,” she attempted to reason with her sibling yet again. “Helen is too young to be tossed into Lord Everly’s lap merely to pay off your gambling debts. How vulgar this whole business is.”
“I could have married her off well before, you know,” he reminded her.
“Yet you didn’t, so why now, and to him ?”
“Enough, Eloisa. Don’t insult him,” Charles begged. He darted a fearful look at the lord, whose maroon waistcoat strained over his bulging midsection. “You have no idea just how far gone I went at the tables last month,” he explained in a hushed voice. “If Everly hadn’t intervened and covered my debt…”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to hear your maudlin tale again.” Perhaps a throttling was too good for him. He needed a right good slap across the face to wake him up from the destruction of his life. “You never learn and you never listen. At this rate, you’ll bankrupt us all and then what?”
“You don’t understand.” Desperation lined his face. “I have no choice.”
“Oh, posh. Everyone has a choice. Why can you not sell the London town house and pay Lord Everly off with the proceeds?”
“I…” Charles slanted his gaze away.
A horrid thought occurred to her. It tightened her stomach. “Dear heavens, you don’t own the property in London any longer, do you? That’s the real reason we had to remove to Brighton, not for your wife’s health.”
Beside her, Helen gasped. “Oh no!”
Everything made sense now. The hasty departure from London to Brighton. Doddering Aunt Beatrice having been pressed upon to do the accounts instead of making use of the man of business Charles usually used. The refusal of her sister-in-law to entertain lest the gossips glean information about their reduced situation. The knowledge she and Helen were not to order dresses, gowns, or hats this year and that he’d revisit the feasibility of such at the time of the Little Season, not that they usually partook of London’s social scene anyway.
She stared at her brother as the truth dawned.
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