His Cinderella Bride by Annie Burrows

Author:Annie Burrows
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-07-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

‘Miss Dean does not think it is the influenza at all,’ Lady Gregory informed his lordship over the pudding. ‘Just a chill from being out in that snowstorm. She will soon be on the mend, so, you see, there was really no need to send for the doctor after all,’ she persisted in the face of Lord Lensborough’s implacable ill humour. ‘She does so detest having a fuss made.’

‘We could go to the village and procure lemons, don’t you think, Mama?’ Julia glanced towards Lord Lensborough to gauge his response. ‘To make her a soothing drink.’

They were still twittering about the best remedies for a chill as they withdrew, leaving Lord Lensborough alone with Sir Thomas.

Seizing the port and pouring himself a generous measure, Lord Lensborough braced himself for the confrontation he was determined to have with his host.

But Sir Thomas forestalled him. ‘You do not really wish to marry either of my daughters, do you?’

‘No,’ he replied, taking a large gulp from his glass.

Sir Thomas pressed on. ‘In fact, it seems to be my niece who has caught your eye.’

‘I dare say you wish to remind me we had an agreement.’

‘Don’t be absurd, man. You cannot condemn yourself to a lifetime of regret because you made a pledge regarding girls you had not even met.’

‘That is…most generous of you, Sir Thomas.’

‘Don’t imagine I am doing it for your sake. I am not. I do it for Hester. My girls won’t ever have any trouble finding a husband, but Hester is a different kettle of fish.’ He grinned. ‘To be frank, I don’t think she has ever taken to any man the way she has taken to you. When Miss Dean related her reaction to you storming her rooms and hauling her downstairs, well, I wanted to break out the champagne there and then. Nestled into your chest.’ He laughed. ‘Then permitted you to sit by her bedside, holding her hand. Never thought the day would come. I’ve seen her looking as though she were about to cast up her accounts when some greasy fortune hunter smarmed round her, or wiping her hand down her skirts when some bold fellow tried to take liberties with it.’

‘I beg your pardon…did you say, fortune hunter?’

‘Hah!’ Sir Thomas slapped the table top. ‘You did not even know of it, did you?’

When Lord Lensborough shook his head dumbly, Sir Thomas chortled. ‘Oh, this gets better and better.’ He stretched out his legs, crossing one ankle over the other. ‘Hester is a very wealthy woman, will be even richer on her marriage. You see, her brother made a will in her favour as soon as he became Viscount Vosbey. My younger sister, Hester and Gerard’s mother, married very well. Had Gerard ever married and had legitimate children…but of course, he didn’t. So on his death, all his estates went to her, since he was the last male of that line, besides the land she already had from her mother, The Lady’s Acres, which run adjacent to my own land.

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