A Lord for the Wallflower Widow by Ann Lethbridge

Author:Ann Lethbridge
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-08-21T19:21:10+00:00

Chapter Nine

Avery had never enjoyed going to the theatre as much as he had this evening. Fortunately, he’d won the use of the box at the tables the previous night, something he’d deliberately set out to do. Not that he was going to mention that to Carrie, who had been delightful company. She didn’t chatter during the performance, but instead watched and listened intently. In fact, she rarely chattered about anything. Something he really liked about her. Something else.

He gazed at her sitting opposite him in the carriage. There were a great many things he liked about Carrie Greystoke. If he hadn’t sworn off marriage altogether, she was just the sort of woman he might have liked for a wife.

He recalled, with discomfort, the note he had received earlier in the day. A request from his father that he visit. When he had asked his brother what it might be about, Bart had looked grim. ‘He’s heard about your widow.’

‘She is not my anything.’ Even if he wished she was. A cold sensation had filled the pit of his stomach. ‘Is the old fellow getting worse?’

Bart had sighed. ‘Not really, but he did have a letter from a distant relative earlier in the week. Seems you’ve been seen all over the place with this woman.’

He gritted his teeth. And the gossips would have a field day with this evening’s outing. He was going to have to bring his association with Carrie to a close before he ruined her reputation instead of helping her business.

‘Is something wrong?’ Carrie asked.

Damn. He’d let his thoughts show on his face. Since when did he let down his guard around one of his ladies? But that was the whole point. Carrie was not one of his ladies. She was different. Better. More important somehow.

‘I had a bit of bad news today.’

‘Oh, I am sorry to hear it.’

‘I am sorry to let it spoil our evening. I don’t have to ask if you enjoyed the play, I could see from your face during the performance that you did.’

‘Mrs Siddons was really quite wonderful, I must say. She lived up to her reputation.’ A lantern on the street caught her smiling and he tried to capture that expression in his mind. A memory to treasure. Bah, what nonsense.

‘I have never been to the theatre before. I enjoyed it immensely, though I suppose it is terribly gauche of me to say so.’

‘Not at all. It delights me that you are pleased.’

She laughed as if she did not quite believe him, but that the compliment was welcome all the same.

‘I mean it,’ he said, moving from his side of the carriage to sit beside her.

The atmosphere in the carriage seemed to change. It grew warmer and crackled with tension. The attraction between them had not diminished in the slightest. Indeed, it seemed to have flourished.

He took her gloved hand in his, stroking the cotton-covered palm with his thumb.

A little sound like a quick indrawn breath reached his ears. He smiled.

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