The Marriage Mishap. Judith Stacy

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ reckon that’s about it, Miss Haley.”

      “Thank you, Chrissy.” She watched the maid close the latches on the trunk. Petite, with a head full of auburn curls always escaping her white cap, the young maid had attended her since her arrival at Aunt Harriet’s. Haley would miss her bubbly personality, marked so strongly by her Georgia accent.

      “Lordy-day, Miss Haley, I hope you don’t mind, but I caught me a look at that new husband of yours.” Chrissy shook her head appreciatively. “He’s as handsome as Texas and as big as a bull on an auction block. Marriage to him is gonna be more fun than Christmas morning.”

      Haley sprang off the bed. “Thank you, Chrissy. That will be all.”

      “Oh, sure.” She turned, but paused with her hand on the doorknob. “I just want to say, Miss Haley, I’m privileged to have looked after you here. I kinda wish you weren’t going. But I hope good things come your way.”

      Suddenly Chrissy seemed very dear to her. The thought of going to a strange home, knowing no one, loomed, daunting, in her mind.

      A soft knock sounded on the door. Chrissy opened it, and Aunt Harriet stepped inside. She gazed at the trunks, then at Haley. “Mr. Harrington is waiting.”

      “I’m ready. No, wait, Chrissy, don’t go yet.” The young maid stopped in the doorway, and Haley turned to her aunt. “I’d like to take Chrissy with me, if you don’t mind. Just until I get settled.”

      Aunt Harriet considered the matter for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, that will be fine. Run along, Chrissy, and pack a bag. Mr. Harrington is growing impatient.”

      Chrissy squeezed her arms together, holding in a squeal of delight, and hurried away.

      Slowly, Aunt Harriet closed the door and turned to Haley. She drew in a deep breath and folded her hands together primly. “Haley, there is something we must discuss. Sit down.”

      “What’s wrong?” Haley perched on the edge of the bed.

      “Your mother should be speaking with you on the subject, but since she’s not here, I feel I must take matters into my own hands.” She nodded slowly. “I think that’s what she would want me to do.”

      Haley had no idea what her aunt was going on about, but if it delayed her departure, it was fine with her. “Yes, I’m sure Mother would agree.”

      “It’s about relations.” She pursed her lips meaningfully. Color rose in her cheeks. “Marital relations.”

      “Oh. That.” Haley didn’t know how to tell her aunt that she was about twenty-four hours late with this little talk.

      She drew herself up, forcing herself to go on. “You are a well-bred lady. Your mother has seen to that. You’re expected to act a certain way, conduct yourself with proper decorum, regardless of the circumstances.”

      She’d spent hours in etiquette classes, and many more reading from the volumes of books available on the subject. None of them, however, had mentioned the subject that was causing Aunt Harriet so much distress.

      “Husbands, well-bred gentlemen like Mr. Harrington, expect their wives to behave as ladies.” Aunt Harriet’s brows pulled together. “At all times.”

      Haley sat up straighter, and her gaze wandered across the bed. “They do?”

      She nodded wisely. “They do.”

      “But—” Now she was confused. What she could remember of last night, and what she knew of the condition she’d found herself in this morning and Adam’s response to it, she couldn’t have behaved in anything near a ladylike manner. But he’d seemed pleased by it. “Are you sure?”

      “Yes. You mustn’t abase yourself in such a manner. Mr. Harrington is expecting to marry a dignified, properly groomed lady, and that is what you must be.”

      Certainly, Aunt Harriet would know. Haley’s mother wouldn’t have entrusted her to her aunt’s care had she not been the epitome of gentlewomanhood. After all, it was Aunt Harriet whom her mother had relied on to take Haley out of San Francisco until the Farnsworth scandal died down.

      Haley rose from the bed. “All right, Aunt Harriet, if you say so.”

      “A lady at all times. Remember that.” She pointed a stern finger at her. “We mustn’t risk falling into disfavor with the Harringtons.”

      That was hardly Haley’s highest priority, but she kept the thought to herself as she followed her aunt out the door.

      Adam waited in the foyer, consulting his pocket watch as Haley descended the stairs. He looked mildly annoyed as he tucked it in his waistcoat, and that pleased her.

      The servants took her trunks to Adam’s carriage, and her aunt made a show of kissing her cheek and wishing her well as Adam assisted her with her cape and ushered her out the door. Chrissy went ahead and climbed up top with the driver.

      The spring evening was cool, and the interior of the carriage was dark as they settled into seats facing each other. Light from the street lamps cast dim shadows across the carriage as they made their way through the city. Haley felt Adam’s steady, unnerving gaze upon her as she stared at the passing scenery, pretending not to notice him.

      At length he drew a silver case from his inside jacket pocket and took out a cigarette. Sulfur filled the carriage as the match sprang to life, illuminating his features before he tossed it out the window. Smoke coiled around his head.

      “Isn’t there anything you want to ask me?”

      She jumped at the sound of his deep voice coming out of the darkness. “Such as?”

      He shrugged. “Such as…my family, my home.”

      “I assume you have both.”

      He chuckled. “A new house, actually. I designed it myself. Just moved in a few months ago.” He took a long drag on the cigarette and blew the smoke over his head. “You’ll run the house now, of course…thank goodness.”

      And didn’t it occur to him that might interfere with her life?

      “Wouldn’t it have been easier to simply hire a competent housekeeper?” She waved away the smoke coiling toward her.

      “I have a staff, all quite capable. But you’ll have a vested interest in the place. That’s what I want. Do with it whatever you like. I’m told it needs a woman’s touch.”

      So, there it was. Her first assignment in her new life. It didn’t sit well with her, but it was a role she had trained for most of her life.

      He stretched out his legs, long, muscular legs that took up most of the space between the seats. Haley scooted sideways to avoid him. Again, she waved away the white, hazy cigarette smoke. “Must you smoke in here? It’s a nasty habit, you know.”

      Adam studied the glowing tip of his cigarette, then tossed it out the window. “Don’t you want to know about my family?”

      No, she wanted to get out of this carriage and get back to her own family. “Certainly.”

СКАЧАТЬ