Art of Temptation (Regency Chase Family Series, Book 3) by Royal Lauren

Author:Royal, Lauren [Royal, Lauren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Romance
ISBN: 9781938907128
Publisher: Novelty Books
Published: 2012-10-05T04:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-TWO

HER GRANDFATHER was here somewhere.

Nervously smoothing the lavender dress she'd chosen to wear—after trying and rejecting six others—Rachael gazed down the length of the Royal Hospital's great hall. The black-and-white marble floor seemed to stretch forever. "Which one is Colonel Thomas Grimbald?" she asked the guard at the door.

It was early evening—dinnertime, to be precise. Covered in spotless white cloth, sixteen long tables crowded the hall, each seating twenty-six pensioners. Every man wore the same outfit: a scarlet coat and tricorn hat based on the service uniform of the Duke of Marlborough's time. They were all sixty-five or older, and they all, to Rachael's eye, looked alike.

Maybe none of them was her grandfather. Maybe Griffin had been wrong.

"I'll show you to Grimbald, milady," the guard said. Griffin offered his arm, and she clutched it tightly as they followed him. Cutlery clinked, and the hall rang with the deep voices of so many men. The chandeliers overhead seemed too few to light the towering chamber, but the last of the day's sunshine streamed through its many tall, arched windows.

The guard stopped at one end of a table. "Colonel Grimbald?"

A gray-haired man glanced up—a man who looked eerily familiar.

Griffin hadn't been wrong.

"This fine lady and gentleman are here to see you," the guard told him and walked off.

The man blinked and rose, standing at attention, his narrow chest puffed out in the smart red coat. He was medium height, with a long nose in a long, pleasant face. He had Rachael's dented chin and, beneath the black tricorn, Rachael's sky blue eyes.

But they were blank.

"Who are you?" he asked, not rudely but not in a welcoming tone, either.

Griffin took Rachael's hand. "I'm the Marquess of Cainewood, and this is my cousin, Lady Rachael Chase. Your son's daughter."

"Hmmph." He reclaimed his seat and picked up his fork, silently dismissing them. "My son has no daughter."

Would he send her away without even listening? Rachael looked to Griffin and back to the man. Her grandfather. "Sir." She swallowed hard. "I know this must come as a shock, since your son—my father—is dead, but—"

"Thomas isn't dead." He lifted a tankard and took a swallow of beer.

"Sir." Rachael felt tears sting her eyes and cursed herself. It would have been nice to be welcomed with open arms, but if that wasn't to be, she at least wanted some answers. "I know your son did something shameful, but I just want to ask you—"

"My son has done nothing wrong." The words weren't said angrily but rather matter-of-factly, his blue gaze unfocused on his dinner. "Thomas will be an important man someday; just you wait and see. He'll be marrying John Cartwright's daughter, he will. Lord John Cartwright's daughter. Course, the gel ain't yet born, so I cannot be telling you her name." He glanced back up, cocking his head in apparent confusion. "Who are you?"

Flustered, Rachael freed her hand from Griffin's so she could dig in the beaded reticule that matched her lavender dress. "I'm your granddaughter." She pulled out her father's badge and held it out toward the man.

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