Cloudy with a Chance of Marriage by Kramer Kieran

Author:Kramer, Kieran [Kramer, Kieran]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Published: 2011-04-15T05:00:00+00:00

Miss Jones looked out the window almost the entire time they were in the hackney. Her profile was mesmerizing. Stephen enjoyed watching her bob up and down gently with the rhythm of the wheels, too. Her feet were pressed tightly together and her hands folded neatly in her lap.

She was such a lady.

Such a tempting lady.

He looked out his window, too, only occasionally sneaking peeks at her. The one time he spoke to her was when they crossed Waterloo Bridge. “A fine view, isn’t it?”

She finally looked at him. “Yes,” she said. “Very fine.”

And that was that.

When they reached the theater, they couldn’t find Pratt and the Hartleys in the crowd. They’d arrived too late for the dramatic performance, but they caught a pantomime and enjoyed the subsequent harlequinade immensely. Miss Jones especially laughed at Harlequin’s antics when Pantaloon chased him across the stage and pummeled him so hard with his hat that Harlequin snatched it and punched his fist through the crown.

After it was over, they went backstage, where they did finally meet up with Pratt, the Hartleys, and the small, elite acting troupe known as the Canterbury Cousins.

“So nice to see you, Captain!” Lady Hartley said. She took his arm possessively.

“Shouldn’t you be working on the house?” Sir Ned frowned. “The damned bats need to be got rid of, and the beam in the breakfast room and in Miranda’s bedchamber are still rotting away. Why’d you come here?”

“The house repairs and the bats will have to wait.” Stephen held his annoyance at bay. Of course he should have stayed home and seen to his own affairs. But he wasn’t going to have an obnoxious distant relative tell him what to do.

“The street fair is primo, Sir Ned,” Pratt said in his melodious accent. “Miss Jones and Captain Arrow have taken it upon themselves to oversee the planning. You are uomo vecchio already, eh?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sir Ned narrowed his eyes.

“You are an old man.” Pratt smiled his beautiful white smile. “You forget things.”

Sir Ned’s mouth dropped open. “I’m not an old man!”

“Then shut your lips.” Pratt extended his palms toward Sir Ned. “In my country, people who talk too much get no wine. No women. No songs.”

Surprisingly, Sir Ned did stop talking.

Miss Hartley stared at Pratt in wonder, then took her father’s arm. “Yes, Papa, we need Miss Jones and Captain Arrow. They need to get the actors to come and perform for free.”

“Free?” a red-bearded man said. “We can’t perform for free.”

“But sirs,” Miss Jones said, “we’ve no money to pay you. Consider this an opportunity to become better known around London.”

“Sorry, we’re too good a troupe to work for no pay,” said another actor.

“But Prinny’s coming!” Miss Hartley said.

The actors all looked at each other.

“The Prince Regent?” the red-bearded man said in a disbelieving tone.

Stephen cleared his throat. “Yes,” he told the actor. “He’s coming. We’re to make the arrangements tonight.”

The actors took themselves off for a moment and came back.

“We’ll do it,” said the red-bearded man.

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.