Read Online The Sins of Lord Easterbrook by Madeline Hunter - Free Book Online
Authors: Madeline Hunter
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he looking so stunned?”
“He is surprised to see me here. I do not partake of this social ritual often.” He told his coachman to pull aside and stop. “I should introduce you, I suppose.”
“If you only suppose, perhaps you should not.”
“The goal of this outing was to encourage introductions for you. We may as well start with my family.”
She accepted his hand and stepped down beside him. “Just how infrequently do you partake of this ritual?”
“Rarely.”
“When was the last time?”
He tucked her hand around his arm and strolled toward Elliot. “Let me think. I believe it was five—no, six—years ago.”
Lord Elliot Rothwell had swallowed his shock by the time Easterbrook hailed him. He bowed to Leona and listened with interest to the introduction.
“Macao, you say. How interesting.” Lord Elliot gave his older brother a deep, curious look. A peculiar awkwardness settled between the two men.
Lady Phaedra rushed to ease the moment. “More than interesting. I daresay fortuitous, for me at least. Let us take a turn together, Miss Montgomery, while I pepper you with some questions that I have about your experiences in the Far East.”
Lady Phaedra guided Leona away, leaving the two brothers alone under the tree. Lady Phaedra's strides caused her dress to flow around her body, revealing that she was with child.
Leona glanced back at Easterbrook and his brother. “Are they angry with each other?”
“The marquess is too peculiar to incite anger. Per plexity, yes. Confusion, often. Annoyance, daily. But not anger.”
“I have heard some rumors that agree with you.”
“People spin theories when they are not handed a story that explains what they see. In truth no one knows much about him. Not even his family. He shuns society and rarely leaves his house, or so we think. But we don't really know, do we? He does not suffer fools kindly, and can be autocratic, but any man of his station is like that. The fact is, even we do not know what he is about, or how he spends his time, or what he thinks about, or whether he thinks about anything at all.” She grinned mischievously. “Except
now
we know that he once visited China.”
Leona snuck another look at the brothers. Their conversation did not appear contentious, but it did not look convivial either.
“Enough about Easterbrook,” Lady Phaedra said. “I would much prefer to talk about you. I find it interesting that you journeyed here to act as an agent for your brother.”
Leona briefly told her story. She sensed that Lady Phaedra's mind was as unconventional as her appearance, and that the tale was received differently than it was by other women.
“What adventures you must have had,” Lady Phaedra said. “Just your journey here is remarkable, but your description of visiting India and the Far Eastern islands to secure trade while your brother was a minor is astonishing.”
“There was no choice except to do it.”
“There is always a choice, and most women would have made a different one.”
The only different one would have been total dependencyon her mother's family. However, she understood what Lady Phaedra meant. She had embraced the fate given her, and not sought too hard to alter it.
She was proud that she had succeeded more often than not. Necessity had forced her to conquer any fears, and be bolder than even her father would have expected. Nor had her duties truly ended when Gaspar reached his majority. Her father had taught her much of his business without really planning to, but Gaspar had been too young to absorb such lessons before their father's death. Her brother would probably manage this year while she was away, but he could not yet run that business on his own forever.
Lady Phaedra brought them up short in a patch of sunlight. “Do you have any talent with the pen?”
“An average amount. I do not write poetry, if that is what you mean.”
“I would guess that you probably write a good letter, though. I
“He is surprised to see me here. I do not partake of this social ritual often.” He told his coachman to pull aside and stop. “I should introduce you, I suppose.”
“If you only suppose, perhaps you should not.”
“The goal of this outing was to encourage introductions for you. We may as well start with my family.”
She accepted his hand and stepped down beside him. “Just how infrequently do you partake of this ritual?”
“Rarely.”
“When was the last time?”
He tucked her hand around his arm and strolled toward Elliot. “Let me think. I believe it was five—no, six—years ago.”
Lord Elliot Rothwell had swallowed his shock by the time Easterbrook hailed him. He bowed to Leona and listened with interest to the introduction.
“Macao, you say. How interesting.” Lord Elliot gave his older brother a deep, curious look. A peculiar awkwardness settled between the two men.
Lady Phaedra rushed to ease the moment. “More than interesting. I daresay fortuitous, for me at least. Let us take a turn together, Miss Montgomery, while I pepper you with some questions that I have about your experiences in the Far East.”
Lady Phaedra guided Leona away, leaving the two brothers alone under the tree. Lady Phaedra's strides caused her dress to flow around her body, revealing that she was with child.
Leona glanced back at Easterbrook and his brother. “Are they angry with each other?”
“The marquess is too peculiar to incite anger. Per plexity, yes. Confusion, often. Annoyance, daily. But not anger.”
“I have heard some rumors that agree with you.”
“People spin theories when they are not handed a story that explains what they see. In truth no one knows much about him. Not even his family. He shuns society and rarely leaves his house, or so we think. But we don't really know, do we? He does not suffer fools kindly, and can be autocratic, but any man of his station is like that. The fact is, even we do not know what he is about, or how he spends his time, or what he thinks about, or whether he thinks about anything at all.” She grinned mischievously. “Except
now
we know that he once visited China.”
Leona snuck another look at the brothers. Their conversation did not appear contentious, but it did not look convivial either.
“Enough about Easterbrook,” Lady Phaedra said. “I would much prefer to talk about you. I find it interesting that you journeyed here to act as an agent for your brother.”
Leona briefly told her story. She sensed that Lady Phaedra's mind was as unconventional as her appearance, and that the tale was received differently than it was by other women.
“What adventures you must have had,” Lady Phaedra said. “Just your journey here is remarkable, but your description of visiting India and the Far Eastern islands to secure trade while your brother was a minor is astonishing.”
“There was no choice except to do it.”
“There is always a choice, and most women would have made a different one.”
The only different one would have been total dependencyon her mother's family. However, she understood what Lady Phaedra meant. She had embraced the fate given her, and not sought too hard to alter it.
She was proud that she had succeeded more often than not. Necessity had forced her to conquer any fears, and be bolder than even her father would have expected. Nor had her duties truly ended when Gaspar reached his majority. Her father had taught her much of his business without really planning to, but Gaspar had been too young to absorb such lessons before their father's death. Her brother would probably manage this year while she was away, but he could not yet run that business on his own forever.
Lady Phaedra brought them up short in a patch of sunlight. “Do you have any talent with the pen?”
“An average amount. I do not write poetry, if that is what you mean.”
“I would guess that you probably write a good letter, though. I
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