The Regency Season Collection: Part Two. Кэрол Мортимер

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      ‘Since we’re being so protective of my sensibilities, why don’t you take this draught, sir, before I succumb to hysterics after such a long and trying day?’ Chloe asked, glaring at both men as she tried to understand their veiled references.

      ‘You don’t fight fair, do you, Lady Chloe?’ the patient asked with a wry smile that made her see why Daphne fell so deep in love with him.

      ‘How can I when there are so many unfair advantages on the other side, sir? Gentlemen have a monopoly on dashing about the country engaged on adventures you refuse to explain to us dim-witted females. If I can wait until tomorrow to find out the facts of my sister’s tragic love story, you can sleep and recover from your injuries and show a little patience as well. Verity and I wait on the whims of annoying males who feel they have a right to dictate our lives without asking us.’

      ‘I feel sure half that tirade was directed at me, Revereux. It would be diplomatic to restore your strength before she takes you on again though,’ Luke cautioned.

      ‘And you’ll swear to me my daughter is safe?’ he asked with such painful anxiety that Chloe softened a little and even smiled when he directed his question at her, instead of dominant, masculine Viscount Farenze.

      ‘I kept her so when nobody else cared a tinker’s curse what happened to her, Mr Revereux, I will do so for as long as she needs me to,’ she promised.

      ‘Very well, do your worst then,’ he murmured grudgingly and finally allowed himself to feel wretched.

      Chloe nodded at the waiting Culdrose, who managed to tip a healthy dose down the gentleman’s throat when he opened his mouth to argue he’d do it himself.

      ‘No better than a stubborn babe,’ Culdrose muttered grimly.

      ‘Nor much more use than one right now,’ he admitted wearily.

      ‘Then you’ll sleep like one if you know what’s good for you,’ Culdrose told him severely and sat in the chair by the bed as if settling in for the night to make sure he did as he was bid.

      ‘I think we can safely leave her to it,’ Luke whispered as he urged Chloe out of the room. ‘The poor fellow doesn’t stand a chance of stirring from that bed until he’s healthy as a horse once again.’

      ‘Would she could keep him there,’ Chloe murmured and met his steady gaze with a shrug. ‘I know, he’s Verity’s father. What if he wants to take her away, Luke?’

      ‘We’re still at war, Chloe, and I doubt he could leave the sea right now even if he wanted to. Verity has a perfectly good family to love and care for her and, in his shoes, I wouldn’t even try to prise the child away from a woman she has no intention of being parted from.’

      ‘Thank you for being ready to take us both on then, but I can’t pretend he doesn’t exist, can I?’

      ‘Hardly, but come downstairs and dine with me, my darling. If I manage to stay awake long enough, we can talk about where we shall live and love and, if we’re lucky, raise the rest of our vast tribe of children yet to be born.’

      ‘I haven’t officially agreed to marry you yet.’

      ‘Then you’d better do so, Lady Chloe Thessaly. I’ve waited long enough to be your lover and refuse to be gainsaid much longer.’

      ‘You’re too tired to make love to Venus herself, if she bothered to step down from Olympus for such a disagreeable bear as you are tonight,’ she told him as he took her hand and tucked it into the crook of his elbow. ‘But I’m saying yes anyway,’ she added.

      ‘Good, I’ve waited over a decade for one of those from you, Mrs Wheaton. I intend to hear you say it again and again as soon as I’ve got my ring on your finger.’

      ‘Not before then?’ she asked, all her scruples forgotten as she stared up at him with a scandalous invitation in her eyes.

      ‘In three days if I can get a licence quickly enough, lover,’ he said implacably.

      ‘You’re turning into a puritan,’ she said sulkily, rather insulted he could resist her now their marriage was so close. ‘Three days?’ she asked incredulously as that part of his statement finally got past the heady promises of their marriage bed.

      ‘Our courtship has been quite long enough, we can marry as soon as you’ve found a gown that isn’t made up from black bombazine.’

      ‘I have a very nice grey-stuff gown for best,’ she told him solemnly, running through an inventory of all the gowns unsuitable for a housekeeper Lady Virginia had pressed on her over the years in her head and selecting the most unsuitable of all.

      Luke did his best to hide his horror at the idea of meeting her at the altar dressed so and Chloe laughed, then met his tired eyes with a teasing smile.

      ‘It’s all right, love, the neighbours will be shocked when they see me walk up the aisle in the splendid white ball gown Virginia gave me for my last birthday. As they will already be reeling at the secrets we will have to reveal about my past, present and future by then, I suppose we might as well give them something else to wonder about.’

      ‘True. How do you feel about being the focus of gossip for miles around, my lady?’ he asked as Oakham opened the door of the Green Parlour the family used before dinner when not entertaining.

      ‘Indifferent on my own account, but a little worried about how it will affect Verity and Eve,’ she replied, then Eve and her governess greeted them with a flurry of questions about the Captain and Verity and even that concern was laid aside for another day.

      * * *

      It took Captain Revereux two days to evade his nurse and make his way downstairs without Culdrose knowing he’d gone. Luke found him ensconced in the family sitting room before dinner and began to dislike him all over again. Eve was busy finding cushions to make the chair by the fire where Luke usually sat more comfortable for the interloper and Chloe was ordering a feast fit for a king in honour of his recovery.

      Trying hard to be fair, Luke could see why an impressionable young girl like Daphne Thessaly would fall so hard for the young Adonis Revereux must have been, but couldn’t quite suppress a sting of jealousy when Chloe fussed over the man as if he were a fallen god. He felt much better when Revereux fidgeted uncomfortably at so much feminine attention, then wondered if he might even learn to like him one day when the man called a halt.

      ‘I am very well now and have always healed quickly,’ Revereux said, so they sat and wondered who would ask the rush of questions they all wanted answers to, but felt too polite to launch straight into as soon as the man was feeling well enough to come downstairs again.

      ‘When does your ship sail, Revereux?’ Luke asked, as genially as he could when he was trying not to wish it might be tomorrow.

      ‘In three weeks’ time,’ the Captain said with a frown and Luke felt a twinge of guilt at reminding a guest he would soon have to depart, but only a twinge. He was feeling very impatient to get on with his wedding. ‘She’s been in dry dock for a refit, then I am to get her back for sea trials in a fortnight and, all being as it should be, we will embark a week later.’

      ‘And where will you СКАЧАТЬ