How to Turn a Frog into a Prince (Happy Ever Regency Book 5) by Bree Wolf

Author:Bree Wolf [Wolf, Bree]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: Romance, Historical, Fiction
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2020-11-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Eight

A Dance in the Meadow

Nathanial stood in front of the mirror and stared at his reflection.

What he saw was a man without a jacket or necktie. A man with rolled-up sleeves. A man in old, worn breeches, his hair tousled and a wide smile upon his face.

A man without shoes!

It was a man Nathanial hardly recognized.

Three weeks had passed since his arrival at Markham Hall, and Nathanial had loved every minute of it. Yes, he had been reluctant at first. These days, he woke every morning with a deep longing to begin the day. He could not remember when he had last felt like this. Neither could he remember when he had last slept so well or so much. His insomnia seemed to have retreated a little more every day, his nights now peaceful and refreshing, his limbs rested when he awoke in the morning. Charlaine, as well as the children, had swept him off his feet, pushing him out into the world, demanding he join them.

And he had.

Nathanial was strangely proud of himself. Life at Markham Hall had made it easy.

In London or Boston, Nathanial would have felt self-conscious walking through the house without shoes. It would have felt highly inappropriate, and even the servants would have cast disapproving looks at him. As would have Albert. He, however, had remained in London to see to the management of Caroline’s orphanage.

Indeed, Markham Hall seemed like straight out of a fairy tale.

While Pierce and Caroline were lord and lady of the house, they never acted as such. Pierce, too, walked around in casual dress, and Caroline never saw any reason to change her gown three times a day. Everyone wore what was convenient, comfortable and cared not at all about how they were perceived.

Markham Hall was a tight-knit family, including Donahue, the one-armed butler, who often chased Daphne and Susan across the lawns, howling like a wolf and snapping at their heels as the girls squealed with laughter. Mrs. Colden, the cook, sat down to tea with them every day, her hawk-eyes ever watchful as she gathered the information she needed to run her household smoothly. Sarah, Caroline’s lady’s maid and best friend, spoke freely even to Pierce, her head never bowed in fear, her shoulders never hunched with tension. At Markham Hall, servants were people with hearts and voices, not shadows or ghosts, unseen and unacknowledged.

Pierce and Caroline treated them as they would the lords and ladies of London and, in return, they received loyalty and devotion.

Nathanial had never seen anything quite like it.

But he loved it.

He could not imagine ever leaving, and so he pushed thoughts of the kind away, chased them into a little box and locked it with everything he had. Why not live in a fairy tale for a little while and pretend the world was good and would always be thus?

Nathanial offered Charlaine his arm as they walked down the small slope leading from the terrace into the gardens. “Where are the children?” he asked, craning his neck.

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