A Shocking Delight (CR 15) by Beverley Jo

Author:Beverley, Jo [Beverley, Jo]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, General, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780698144118
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2014-04-01T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

The next day David left the house early, not for the park, but to deal with some necessary business regarding the estate’s debts. When he returned in the afternoon, Susan steered him into the drawing room and shut the door.

“What’s happening?” she demanded.

“In what respect?”

“You and Miss Potter!”

“Is it any of your business?”

“Of course it is. I can’t be completely happy until you are, too.”

“Don’t place that burden on me.”

She bit her lip. “I’m sorry. I won’t. But how can I not care? You used to be so carefree.”

“Boyishly irresponsible.”

“We certainly corrected that, all of us. Miss Potter?” she asked gently.

“I as good as committed myself to her last night.”

“And she?”

“Replied in kind.”

“Why is this not good news?”

“She may be mistaking her heart.”

“She doesn’t strike me as weak-minded.”

He laughed drily. “No, she’s certainly not. She dreamed of being her father’s partner and heir.”

“In business?”

“Et tu Brute? I would have expected you to be more sympathetic.”

“Having fought the way things are, I know the pain more clearly.” True enough. When younger she’d fought against the restrictions put upon girls and women.

“Why did she imagine such a thing?” she asked.

“I should have pieced together the clues for myself. She told me she was her father’s daughter, trained by him. She negotiated a bargain with calm expertise. She was his only child and clearly he involved her. Why shouldn’t she expect that to continue?”

“But then her mother died,” Susan said, “and now he’s to remarry.”

“And can expect to have a son. She’s been suddenly cast adrift and she’s seeking a new harbor, but she’s not fit to make a decision that will affect her whole life. Not so quickly.”

“So you want to wait.”

“I intend to return to Devon.”

“Why, for heaven’s sake?”

“So she can think clearly, and can’t tempt me to take all decision away.”

“As bad as that?”

“Every bit.”

“If you leave, some other man might snatch her.”

“If she’s willingly snatched, it will be better for her. A normal gentleman with a pleasant country estate within easy traveling distance of London, her family, and friends.”

“Love matters. You can make her happy.”

“She’ll come to her senses.”

“Why are you being so disastrously noble?”

“You made me an earl, remember?”

“Oh, I wish Mel were here! He’d knock some sense into you!”

“Sense? Mel led a risky run because the Horde lost patience with being confined by the navy, which is why he’s in Botany Bay.”

“I give up!”

“Good.”

“Very well, be stupidly noble, but when you’re miserable, don’t come to me for comfort!”

David watched his sister storm out, smiling wryly. She’d always been more fiery than he, and far less cautious, which is why she’d fallen into sinful passion with Con when they were both fifteen. When she’d told him last year he’d been shocked by the insanity of it, but now he could understand.

He wouldn’t let Lucy fall into the same trap. Susan’s madness could have been disastrous, just as their mother’s would have been if not for Mel and the kindness of Uncle Nathaniel and Aunt Miriam. Luck had to run out at some point.

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