A Home for Helena (The Lady P Chronicles Book 2) by Susana Ellis

Author:Susana Ellis [Ellis, Susana]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9780990863823
Publisher: Golden Age Publishing
Published: 2016-03-29T06:00:00+00:00

9

Melbourne Manor

Langley Heath

Kent

The next morning

What a bloody nasty day!

After spending the night in his study half-passed out from the brandy he’d consumed following his return from the ball, he’d thought a good morning ride might clear his head, only to be stopped at the door by a loud clap of thunder. Since then, it had been raining like cats and dogs. The expression she had used that day on the gardens at Leeds Castle.

Bloody hell! Why couldn’t he get that blasted woman out of his mind? She was—well, he wasn’t sure exactly what she was—a loose woman, a freethinker, a follower of Mary Wollstonecraft, or something else entirely—but one thing he did know was that she was not for him. Even if he were in the market for a wife—and he definitely was not—it wouldn’t be someone like Helena Lloyd, an opinionated, bad-tempered, odd-speaking, American harridan.

Nothing else signified, not the way she’d felt in his arms, the softness of her lips, the angry sparks flying from her green eyes as she’d struck him and strode away. He’d been left standing there, furious, indignant, scandalized and—bereft. He’d stood there for quite some time, long after she’d disappeared from view, attempting to sort out his emotions. By the time he’d returned to the ballroom, he’d nearly convinced himself that he’d done nothing wrong and didn’t care in the slightest about Helena Lloyd. However, all the time he danced with other ladies and chatted with his friends and neighbors, he found himself searching the ballroom for a certain green-eyed governess who was conspicuous by her absence. When she did not appear for their scheduled supper dance, Lady Sarah, in response to his inquiry, apprised him that Miss Lloyd had been stricken by a megrim and been returned to Newsome Grange by carriage. He’d sent his best wishes for her recovery and spent the remainder of the evening in the card room, where he’d drunk too much and lost nearly ten guineas too, which was not at all like him, after having sworn against gambling.

“Might I get you some coffee, sir?”

Mrs. Fenwick regarded him anxiously from the doorway.

“Your morning meal will be served shortly in the morning room, but since you are—" she swallowed as she recognized his formal attire from the previous night’s ball—“awake so early, I thought perhaps a wee cup might be welcome?”

“Coffee. Yes, Mrs. Fenwick, that would be most welcome." The very thought of food made his stomach roil like the storm that raged outside and also in his head.

When she returned, his head was on the desk. She cleared her throat to alert him as to her presence, and then set the tray before him.

“Is there anything else, sir?”

James started to shake his head, and then he rubbed a hand over his temple. “Perhaps there is something after all. Mrs. Fenwick—Eliza—please take a seat.”

He opened a drawer and took out a pile of papers.

“These are all letters from applicants sent to me by the agency in London. I have read them all, but find myself reluctant to trust my own judgment.

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