His Wicked Shadow: The Sins of Our Fathers, A Dark Historical Romance by Katherine Holt

Author:Katherine Holt [Holt, Katherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AK Publishing
Published: 2015-07-31T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

Spring had sprung, and it was under bright sunlight that the party congregated on Lady Lincoln’s lawn. A large white tablecloth was laid on the grass, its corners weighted down with stones to ward off the light breezes that stirred my skirts.

A row of trestle tables had been set up along the side of the cloth, heavily laden with pyramids of fruit and large glass bowls of lemonade and champagne punch. Ever mindful of the unseasonal heat, I had chosen to wear a loose, toga style dress, gathered in pleats at the waist with a thin, plaited cord. The sleeves had been tricky to fit, so as not to clash with the draped effect, but I fancied they had come off rather well.

‘You look like the goddess of spring,’ Juliet said, fanning herself lazily in the gentle heat. ‘Grecian is the latest thing, I hear. I might have to ask you to make one like that for me.’

I smiled. Juliet was already wearing a dress I had altered for her. She was so petite that everything seemed to look well on her. With her beauty and my money, we had not been seated together for long before a court duly surrounded us. For once, I didn’t mind. I had happily accepted plates of cold meat and a pile of strawberries, and was content to nibble and let the conversation of my companions drift over me. I was thinking about Mr Tillet.

He was yet to arrive, but I wasn’t looking for him. It was pleasant to feel confident that when he did, he would seek me out. I felt in control of the situation. It came, of course, of me not liking him as much as he liked me, but perhaps that was a good thing. I shouldn’t expect to feel the consuming passion of my first love with every man I cared for. It was a good situation to be in, being the one who was loved the most. It was certainly more comfortable than the constant doubts and fear that being in love with James had brought me.

‘May I?’ And suddenly Mr Tillet was at my elbow, proffering a glass of lemonade, shot through with a dash of pureed raspberry. Everything was good at that moment.

I didn’t mind that he left almost immediately to talk about politics and war with some of the older gentlemen. His priority upon arriving had been to see that I was comfortable, and I was pleased.

‘I should love to stretch my legs,’ Juliet said, loudly.

I looked over in her direction, surprised. She widened her eyes and stared at me.

‘Oh. Oh, yes, I should dearly love it above all things,’ I replied with a grin and a simper. ‘If you gentlemen would excuse us.’

We were offered escorts but declined politely. I wondered what Juliet wanted to talk about that was so secretive. Now we had our own London property I didn’t stay at Lincoln House half so often. It seemed like we rarely had time for a private chat.

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.