An Indecent Charade: Letitia's After Dark Regency Romance by Alicia Quigley

Author:Alicia Quigley [Quigley, Alicia]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: A Heyer Love
Published: 2015-02-28T19:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

The next morning the Marquess arose unusually early and spent considerable time pondering his next step. Should he visit Lady Morgan dressed as Mr. Markham or as the Marquess of Eynsford? To appear on her doorstep as the marquess would make the explanation of the matter easier; he would no longer be able to dissemble and a confession would be forced upon him. But this might make Lady Morgan uncomfortable, he reasoned. It would be better, perhaps, to appear as Mr. Markham and to break the news gently. She might be more likely to still see him as her friend, for his appearance would remain familiar, while the marquess would necessarily be a strange and perhaps forbidding figure.

Lord Eynsford summoned Boothby, who had long since become inured to dressing his master in the hated solicitor’s suit. He did so now with the frozen mien he always adopted when forced to undertake this distasteful task, and the marquess soon emerged in the part of Mr. Markham. Eynsford reflected that he would miss the solicitor; he had come to be rather comfortable in the role, and had enjoyed the strange sense of freedom that it had provided him. While Mr. Markham did not, of course, have the wealth and power of the marquess, he also did not have the attention of others fixed on his every move, and Mr. Markham had been able to befriend Lady Morgan where the marquess had been rejected.

Chisholm accepted his master’s appearance stoically, and sat silently as they drove to Kensington. Eynsford was too involved with his own thoughts to converse; he was wondering how exactly to broach the fact that he was a peer of the realm and an arbiter of fashion, and not a solicitor at all. “Pardon me, Lady Morgan, but I have been deceiving you as to my identity,” hardly seemed a promising opening, and “I beg to inform you that I am the Marquess of Eynsford,” was hardly better. He sighed. Chisholm gave him a sharp glance. So all was not well with the lovely gentlewoman? Well, his lordship could not say Chisholm had not warned him. The groom stared straight ahead, enjoying that certain glow that having been proven right brings.

Letitia started that morning feeling quite pleased with life. She had hopes that she might not see Dr. Wolfe again for several days, and her resolution of the afternoon before to go out into public more and meet more people still seemed well-advised. She wrote a short note to Isobel, describing the events that had followed her visit of the previous afternoon. Letty made it clear that, despite her consternation, she was able to find these amusing, and informed Isobel that she would be delighted to come to dinner at any time Isobel chose. “You may even,” she added, “invite others, including the dreaded Lord Eynsford.”

Letitia then repaired to the sitting room, where she set to work arranging the flowers Nellie had purchased at the market that morning. When Lord

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.