The Reckless Love of an Heir: An epic historical romance perfect for fans of period drama Victoria. Jane Lark

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ Alethea as his father came to welcome Uncle Casper more heartily.

      He liked her considerably. She was amusing company, funny and entertaining, and she was polite and genteel; she would make the perfect countess when he inherited his father’s title. She was good with people, confident and jolly. He knew full well she would manage a house admirably. She had all the qualities of a wife.

      But he was not ready to marry. He was too young. Yet he could feel the nets being set about him.

      Four times this week she had hinted at the fact she was not going to wait forever for him to ask and Uncle Casper’s gaze stated that nor did he wish Alethea to have to keep waiting. They were becoming impatient with him.

      Well let them. He would not be forced. His father may call such an attitude careless. Henry would call it wise.

      “Good evening, Henry. I trust you are feeling better?”

      Henry turned to face Aunt Julie. “I am, thank you.”

      She gave him a look which seemed anxious, before touching his shoulders and lifting to her toes to better reach to kiss his cheek. On a normal evening, in the past, her arms would have wrapped around his neck and her exclamation would have been, “my darling boy!” before she pressed a kiss on his cheek. She had no sons, so Aunt Julie had treated him as though he was her son since his birth. But perhaps her calmness was out of awareness for his injuries.

      “It is good to see you again,” he said, before kissing her cheek in return.

      A very abnormal half-hearted smile stirred her lips.

      They had hoped he would announce his and Alethea’s engagement tonight. That was it. They had received the invitation to dine and misconstrued its meaning.

      Damn it, Alethea must have been waiting for him to ask all bloody week and now she had told them he’d said nothing.

      “You are looking very well despite your accident.”

      “Thank you, Aunt.”

      She was definitely restrained—unhappy with him.

      He looked at Alethea. She smiled at him, but even her smile was not quite so full.

      There had been a conversation about him in the carriage, he’d lay a bet on it. One that had berated his lack of a proposal. But he would not be bloody pushed into it. He would propose when he was ready to be settled, not before.

      Yet he was not immune to a sense of guilt.

      He turned to face her, as she came to him, holding out her hands. He took hold of them, then kissed the back of them in turn, before leaning forward and kissing her cheek. “Hello, you look very beautiful,” he whispered towards her ear before he straightened.

      She blushed, and smiled more naturally. “Hello.”

      He smiled too, looking into her very blue eyes, then let her hands slip from his and turned to greet Susan.

      He did not normally greet her in anyway, they were too close for formal greetings, and they had no other reason to greet each other with any special welcome. But tonight… He had welcomed her parents having not seen them for months and it would seem odd after that not to say a particular good evening to Susan too.

      “Susan.” She blushed, not deeply, but there were very definite roses blooming in her cheeks. She had been blushing every time she saw him since their long conversation in the library, or rather since her visit to his room.

      She did not offer her hand. He took it from where it hovered by her waist anyway, and kissed the back of her fingers. Her hand trembled and her grey eyes looked directly into his for a moment before she looked at his fingers holding hers.

      She was a funny anomaly.

      He let her go, then turned his attention back to Alethea, and offered his arm.

      His family and the Forths turned towards the drawing room.

      “We shall have a glass of wine before we go through to dinner, Casper, Julie.”

      Henry wondered if his father had picked up upon the atmosphere and read it correctly too. If so then Henry would be in for a lecture after they had left.

      “You are fully dressed…” Alethea whispered.

      “I could hardly dine with your parents in my shirt.”

      “They would not have minded.”

      “I would have felt a fool, and I think I might have made them feel foolish too.” Sarah had taken charge of Susan and was walking with her. Christine walked beside Aunt Julie, with Henry’s mother, while his father spoke with Uncle Casper. “Were they expecting me to announce our engagement tonight?” He’d learned as young as his boarding school years that it was always better to be direct when dealing with an awkward situation, otherwise awkward situations festered.

      She blushed a deep crimson, much darker than the colour Susan had been turning for the last couple of days. Yes, then.

      “Yes. I am sorry—”

      “You have no need to be sorry. But I am not going to propose to you while I am home. I’m not ready to settle yet, I am young, Alethea, it is too soon, and I will not apologise for it.” He’d slowed his pace, so that the others walked on ahead, then he stopped and faced her. “I am sorry if that distresses you. I know you will make a good wife but I will not commit until I know I would make a good husband and I think that will be when I am older.”

      She looked into his eyes—searching for answers—perhaps to understand his feelings. What were hers? Did she think more of him than he thought of her? That thought was a little petrifying.

      “But I am getting older too, Henry,” she said quietly. “It is different for a woman. If I wait much longer I shall become too old to be considered. What if you change your mind then? Then I will not have another chance.”

      They had always known there was this obligation upon them and neither of them had expressed any disagreement, and yet this was the first time they had spoken about their marriage openly.

      “When will you ask me? I will not wait for you for years. I wish to be married and settled.”

      There, his speaking openly had led her to do so too. This was the sentiment she had been hinting at ever since he’d returned—that she would not continue to wait.

      “I cannot say, or rather I will not, I suppose, because I do not know; someday in the future. You will have to choose whether or not you wait.”

      Uncertainty shone in the blackness at the heart of her eyes. “I do not know if I can wait.” Her hand slipped off his arm and she walked ahead.

      Touché. He laughed internally, and followed.

      When Henry entered the formal drawing room his father was already offering Alethea a glass of wine. The footman poured it as his father turned and asked Susan if she would like a glass.

      Susan had removed her shawl. The dove grey colour of her dress suited both her hair and her eyes, and oddly her light grey eyes СКАЧАТЬ