Found and Bound_A Victorian Romance Novella by R. G. Winter

Author:R. G. Winter [Winter, R. G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-05-10T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

“By God you didn’t!”

Winston stared from Madelaine to the letter crumpled in his hands. He smoothed it out, read the words again and then looked back at her face. “Why…I’m speechless! I cannot fathom how you pulled it off!”

“It was simple. I asked Mama if she might come to visit, wrote a lovely letter to her expressing how much I enjoyed meeting her last spring, and asked her to visit.”

He blinked, frowned, blinked again. “You didn’t meet her last spring.”

“No. But she knows exactly who I am. Her parents or sisters may read her letters too. Mama and Papa may read mine, at this point I can’t say I would blame them. She wrote back, as you can see, that she truly enjoyed my company as well and is thrilled to say she will be able to visit us starting tomorrow.”

He ran his hands through his hair, hugged her, tripped over a small footstool, righted himself and dashed off, muttering about a barber.

She watched him go with a smile but her smile quickly dropped away when Reginald was announced. She righted the footstool and took a seat, expecting to see him and one of her parents enter the room she was pleased to see that it was Victoria who would be chaperoning them that afternoon.

Reginald came to her gave her hand a brief and perfunctory kiss then took a seat. Victoria rang for refreshments and asked if he would like sherry rather than tea, to which he said no.

Madelaine sat helpless and exhausted in her chair. She could not summon up even the slightest bit of care or regard for him. He was a nice man, and he deserved better than a wife that had little more than two words for him at any time.

He asked her how she was. “I’m fine sir. How are you?”

“Equally fine.”

The silence deepened. Panic set in. Was this how she was going to spend eternity? Sitting across from someone she was unable to speak to?

Oh how she longed for the long conversations that she had had with Jonathan!

Victoria cleared her throat. “Your Lordship, you were talking about the tenants on your property yesterday…”

He smiled. “Yes, my tenants. They are quite reasonable people.”

Victoria leaned forward. “I imagine your home to be so grand!”

“So it is. Now that my parents are settling more into life in the country and away from London they are finding much to enjoy there.”

“Your parents?” Madelaine put in.

Reginald nodded. “Yes, but of course. My father was not directly in the line to inherit as he married my mother after she was widowed. Her title did not confer to him, only to me, but he was a wonderful manager of our affairs and things have grown under his care.

“My mother has had enough of London, however. She’s had to live in the city for far longer than she would have liked every year due to my father’s business interests. I’m glad that I can live in London longer in the year. I rather prefer the place out of Season.

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