A Study in Scandal by Caroline Linden

Author:Caroline Linden
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Historical Romance, romance novella
Publisher: Caroline Linden
Published: 2016-02-15T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Gray knew Mrs. Willis would extract a pound of flesh—in pounds sterling—for his wild offer to Samantha. His landlady would put the most rapacious moneylender to shame. He’d taken the rooms in her house because of the excellent light in the large topmost room, which made an ideal studio, and because it was very convenient to the Strand, which bustled with artistic life and supply shops. His apartments on the floor below, nothing more than a bedroom and a sitting room, were functional, and his rent included dinner if he wished it. It was the perfect situation for a bachelor artist, but now he’d gone and upset the whole arrangement by promising indefinite shelter to a well-born young woman of nebulous history.

He didn’t care. He could no more turn out Samantha than he could give up painting. The stark, frozen look on her face when she’d turned and walked out of the coaching yard had shocked him and made him want to commit assault on the person who had so terrified her. Not that he had any idea who that was; he’d gone after her the moment she turned, and had snatched only a quick searching glance back at the busy yard. It could have been any of a dozen people, but it didn’t really matter.

Her story only confirmed his suspicion. By now Gray had put together enough to make him feel very protective toward her. She was a lady, groomed to make an advantageous match; the thought of marrying a man she didn’t know well was probably not foreign to her, and yet she’d run away, and then lost her nerve even after declaring she was ready to go home and face it. He could think of a few so-called eligible gentlemen who fit her description of cruel and mad, but he had a harder time thinking of a peer, or even a gentleman, who would willingly wed a daughter to any of them. Perhaps her father was banking on a wealthy husband for her, to save his own fortunes. Gray made a mental note to ask his mother if she knew anyone near Richmond who fit that description.

Back in Stanhope Street, he left Samantha in the parlor and went directly to find Mrs. Willis. It was always best to catch her off guard; she’d extort her price, but on no account was she going to refuse.

It took some doing, with several mentions of Samantha’s genteel background and appeals to Mrs. Willis’s sense of Christian charity, but in the end she agreed Samantha could stay for an extra guinea a week. Since that was far more than Gray’s own rent, he argued successfully that it would include both breakfast and dinner every day, so Samantha wouldn’t need to leave the house if she didn’t want to, and for Mrs. Willis to procure suitable clothing for his guest.

He was thankful, however, that it was nearly quarter day when his father would pay his allowance. He’d spent liberally on canvases and paints recently, and this was going to cost him dearly.

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