Read Online The Duke's Christmas Greetings (Regency Christmas Summons Book 3) by Ava Stone, Rose Gordon, Lily George - Free Book Online Page A
Ads: Link
are you about?” the man growled.
What the devil was right. Matt shook out of the man’s hold and squared his jaw. “Who the devil are you?”
“Quentin Post. That was my sister just now, and I’d like to know exactly what’s going on.”
Damn it all. Matt hadn’t expected that in the least. Which of her brothers was which? “You’re the one who lives in a haunted castle.”
Post sized Matt up, his hazel eyes taking all of him in as if calculating how easy it might be to kill him and how quickly he might dispose of the body. “We’ve established who I am, but I still don’t have the pleasure of your name,” the man growled.
“Matthew,” he said quickly as Quentin Post didn’t seem to be the most patient fellow at the moment. “Doctor Matthew Campion.” And he lifted up his doctor’s bag as though to verify his identity.
It didn’t seem as though Post was expecting that answer and he took a slight step backward. “All right, Campion.” He nodded, not looking any happier than he had a moment ago. “Now would you care to explain why my step-mother just hurried my sister from your company as though the devil was chasing after them?”
“Lady Bradenham wouldn’t listen to reason,” he began.
“She rarely does. But that hardly explains why you were with my sister at an inn?”
“Well, Patience was helping me, you see,” Matt started to explain, which was apparently the wrong thing to say as Quentin Post’s eyes suddenly blazed.
“ Helping you? Is that the word being used these days?”
“Yes.” How else could he explain it? That was what she’d done, after all. “There was—”
“I’ll help you into an early grave. If you ever go near my sister again, I’ll kill you.”
Matt barely noted that a fist was coming his way before his world turned completely black.
Patience fell onto her bed, unable to stop crying. Not that she wanted to stop, She wanted to cry until she had no tears left and then she wanted to cry some more. It had been the best day, the most perfect day of her life and then Mama had ruined everything. She refused to listen to one word Patience had said and instead berated her the entire way back to Danby Castle. This sort of behavior was exactly why the four of them had been sent off to Yorkshire in the first place. Mama expected this sort of idiocy from Hope who never thought before she did anything, but she’d expected more from Patience. Mama was glad Papa hadn’t lived to see one of his daughters behave so abominably. And Mama had never been more disappointed in her life in any of her three children as she had been that afternoon and she wasn’t certain she ever wanted to lay eyes on Patience again. But she would make certain Patience never saw that unacceptable country doctor again, if it was the last thing she ever did.
From that moment on, Patience didn’t ever want to lay eyes on her mother either.
How could she? How could she have made such a scene back at the Sword and White Rose? How could she have said those things to Matt? How could she have ruined the only chance for happiness Patience had ever had? And how could she not even let Patience explain that nothing untoward had even happened.
If only Patience had spotted Quent. He was the most reasonable of her brothers, her most favorite, certainly. If she’d only been able to find him at the inn, he would have never let Mama behave in such a way. He would have listened to Patience. He would have been calm and reasonable and—
A knock came at her door, but she didn’t want to answer it. She wanted to be left alone and—
But it didn’t matter what she wanted as the door opened a second later, and both of her sisters bounded into the room.
“What happened?” Hope breathed out, dropping onto the bed beside Patience.
“I did not tell her where you were,” Grace said from the foot of the bed. “But you were gone so long and she talked to one of the stable boys and…”
It didn’t matter
What the devil was right. Matt shook out of the man’s hold and squared his jaw. “Who the devil are you?”
“Quentin Post. That was my sister just now, and I’d like to know exactly what’s going on.”
Damn it all. Matt hadn’t expected that in the least. Which of her brothers was which? “You’re the one who lives in a haunted castle.”
Post sized Matt up, his hazel eyes taking all of him in as if calculating how easy it might be to kill him and how quickly he might dispose of the body. “We’ve established who I am, but I still don’t have the pleasure of your name,” the man growled.
“Matthew,” he said quickly as Quentin Post didn’t seem to be the most patient fellow at the moment. “Doctor Matthew Campion.” And he lifted up his doctor’s bag as though to verify his identity.
It didn’t seem as though Post was expecting that answer and he took a slight step backward. “All right, Campion.” He nodded, not looking any happier than he had a moment ago. “Now would you care to explain why my step-mother just hurried my sister from your company as though the devil was chasing after them?”
“Lady Bradenham wouldn’t listen to reason,” he began.
“She rarely does. But that hardly explains why you were with my sister at an inn?”
“Well, Patience was helping me, you see,” Matt started to explain, which was apparently the wrong thing to say as Quentin Post’s eyes suddenly blazed.
“ Helping you? Is that the word being used these days?”
“Yes.” How else could he explain it? That was what she’d done, after all. “There was—”
“I’ll help you into an early grave. If you ever go near my sister again, I’ll kill you.”
Matt barely noted that a fist was coming his way before his world turned completely black.
Patience fell onto her bed, unable to stop crying. Not that she wanted to stop, She wanted to cry until she had no tears left and then she wanted to cry some more. It had been the best day, the most perfect day of her life and then Mama had ruined everything. She refused to listen to one word Patience had said and instead berated her the entire way back to Danby Castle. This sort of behavior was exactly why the four of them had been sent off to Yorkshire in the first place. Mama expected this sort of idiocy from Hope who never thought before she did anything, but she’d expected more from Patience. Mama was glad Papa hadn’t lived to see one of his daughters behave so abominably. And Mama had never been more disappointed in her life in any of her three children as she had been that afternoon and she wasn’t certain she ever wanted to lay eyes on Patience again. But she would make certain Patience never saw that unacceptable country doctor again, if it was the last thing she ever did.
From that moment on, Patience didn’t ever want to lay eyes on her mother either.
How could she? How could she have made such a scene back at the Sword and White Rose? How could she have said those things to Matt? How could she have ruined the only chance for happiness Patience had ever had? And how could she not even let Patience explain that nothing untoward had even happened.
If only Patience had spotted Quent. He was the most reasonable of her brothers, her most favorite, certainly. If she’d only been able to find him at the inn, he would have never let Mama behave in such a way. He would have listened to Patience. He would have been calm and reasonable and—
A knock came at her door, but she didn’t want to answer it. She wanted to be left alone and—
But it didn’t matter what she wanted as the door opened a second later, and both of her sisters bounded into the room.
“What happened?” Hope breathed out, dropping onto the bed beside Patience.
“I did not tell her where you were,” Grace said from the foot of the bed. “But you were gone so long and she talked to one of the stable boys and…”
It didn’t matter
Similar Books
