Read Online The Summer of Wine and Scandal: A Novella by Shana Galen - Free Book Online Page A

Martin.” Lochley left them and crossed the street to the confectioner’s.
    When Gage returned and suggested the party make its way to the assembly, which was the reason they’d gone into Tunbridge Wells, Lochley cried off. He couldn’t imagine dancing and sipping tea while his head still whirled to make sense of what he now knew of Miss Martin.
    Unwilling to deprive the party of the carriage, he’d walked back to the Friar’s House. He’d never been much of a walker, but at times he saw the advantage. His head was much clearer, and so was his shame. Why had he not said anything to Caro? Whether what the men said about her was true or not, she’d been attacked on the street. He should have comforted her. He should have been the one to see her home.
    Instead, he’d stood there like a mute clodpole. He was an idiot, not just because of his behavior tonight, but because he now realized part of his shock had come from his feelings for her. If he’d cared nothing for her, he would have been merely surprised by the revelation of her past. As it was, he cared for her more than he had been aware. How else to explain the turmoil within him when his impression of her had not meshed with the reality?
    He was still awake when the Gages returned from the assembly and Bertie knocked on his door. “I saw your light,” Bertie said when Lochley opened the door.
    He’d changed into a brocade banyan with deep cuffs and which almost swept the floor when he paced. He’d paced quite a lot this night.
    He pushed the door wide. “Come in. Fancy a drink? I have an open bottle of wine.”
    “I wouldn’t say no. The refreshments at the assembly were awful.”
    Lochley handed him a glass of ruby wine. “I supposed they would be.”
    “You should have come. The music was at least decent, and the ladies were pretty enough.”
    “You’re probably right.”
    Lochley sipped his wine, while Bertie elaborated on the assembly—the neighbors who attended, the excitement for the fair next week, and whether or not Georgie had danced too much and must be forced to stay in bed the next day to rest.
    Lochley grunted his responses, and finally Bertie set the wine glass down and gave him a hard look. “Is it the Martin chit? Is that what’s bothering you?”
    “Nothing is bothering me.”
    “And I’m the King of Spain. You’ve barely said three words since we found her at the apothecary’s, and immediately after I returned from escorting her home, you decided to forgo the assembly. You’ve been going on about how banal the country is, but you cry off at the first chance for entertainment.”
    “I was tired.”
    “And yet you are not sleeping.” Gage sat in one of the chairs upholstered in damask. “I was as shocked as you, you know. But we don’t even know if the story is true. She didn’t speak on the way home, not that we could have spoken of it with her mother there.”
    “She didn’t deny it.” Lochley poured another glass of wine. He lifted the bottle toward Gage, who shook his head.
    “No, she didn’t, but still. To think Miss Martin was a...”
    “Whore?”
    Gage spread his hands. “For lack of a better word. I’ve never been to The Pleasure Den—”
    “Nor I.”
    “But I’ve heard stories. From what I know of Miss Martin, I can’t think she would have willingly gone to work there.”
    “I suppose now we know where she was during that absence of hers that fueled all the rumors.” Lochley drank deeply from his cup.
    Bertie watched him, his brown eyes narrowed. “Why the interest in Miss Martin? You dined with her once, and though Georgie did make an effort to throw the two of you together, I didn’t think it took. Besides, everyone knows you have an aversion to the country which extends to its misses.”
    “There’s nothing between us.”
    Gage’s brows rose. “That was said with a bit too much force. Is there something I don’t know?”
    Lochley sighed. “I met with Miss Martin accidentally while out