Read Online The Lamplighter's Love by Delphine Dryden - Free Book Online Page A

his
own, and never get the chance to create one regarding her.
    Mary was feeling somewhat cheered by the
idea of Amberherst trying to explain his presence, howling and
clutching his genitals, in that particular hallway. For surely his
noise had awakened any of the ladies who might still be abed.
    But her watery cheer was snuffed out when
she arrived for her shift in the Chair that afternoon, and saw the
look on Nicholas’ face when she raised the screens.
    He was angry. Not just angry, livid. Jaw
clenched, eyes dark, lips pressed into a thin line that spoke as
loudly as any words might. And he didn’t say a word as she
unbuckled him. But he grabbed her hands as soon as he was free,
holding on far too tight.
    “Why didn’t you tell me?” he finally ground
out.
    Mary wasn’t sure what to say, because she
wasn’t sure what he’d learned. She shrugged instead, looking away
from his painful glare.
    “They’ll make a slave of you, Mary. Keep you
in the shadows while that arrogant son of a bitch gets all the
glory. No title. No standing. No extra benefits after you’ve
sacrificed your youth to them, your prospects, your health more
than likely. And for what? You would truly prefer that to the life
I could give you?” He gave her hands an urgent little shake.
    “Of course I wouldn’t,” she whispered.
    “Then why? I don’t understand. Smith says
you’ve made no objection, given him no reason to think you won’t
accept. Amberherst has already signed a contract, and yours is
waiting in Smith’s office for your signature. When were you
planning to tell me?”
    Lines of bitter regret marred the handsome
planes of his face, and Mary wanted more than anything to smooth
them away. Behind him, the machine that dominated both their lives
continued to clatter and whirr, conducting the business of the city
without them.
    “Shouldn’t somebody be checking on things?”
she whispered, nodding toward the Chair.
    “Hang the engines. Let them all keep their
own schedules for a minute or two. Mary, why won’t you
explain?”
    The bitterness faded into misery, and it was
more than she could bear. Something broke inside her, or turned
like a switch, and all the things she hadn’t said came tumbling out
at once.
    “I was doing it for you, Nicholas,” she
cried, “for you! Because I thought you needed a chance to see the
world outside this place first, and find a real countess. And then
after they told me, I hadn’t given you my answer yet, and I knew if
I went with you, you would be sure to find out what they’d tried to
do. And don’t you see, you could never have been sure I hadn’t done
it, married you, just to get away from this. And then while I still
wasn’t sure, Amberherst—”
    “Mary,” Nicholas said, tugging gently at her
hands until she stopped. “Mary. Of course I would have known,
darling.”
    “But I hadn’t even said I love you back
yet,” she wailed, mortified to realize that tears were splashing
over their combined fingers.
    “You were rather overcome by events at the
time,” he said, having the decency to look a little sheepish. “But
I knew. I’ve known for a long time. Probably longer than is
remotely proper, given your age.”
    “That could have just been hero-worship,
Nicholas.”
    “But it wasn’t. And do you want to know a
secret?” He leaned in, as though their conversation might feasibly
be overheard. “I knew I felt the same. Even before that day you
started coming down here and working in your underthings.”
    “Sir! How scandalous. I’m shocked.” She
fluttered her eyelashes, then reminded herself sternly that she was
supposed to be telling him goodbye forever. Flirting was not
usually a component of that. “But Nicholas, I’m not cut out to be a
countess. I don’t even know when to pour the wine, or which fork to
use, or what a second footman is for. My parents were hardly poor,
but we certainly weren’t quality. You need somebody who can help
you. Who knows what to do