It Happened One Midnight: Pennyroyal Green Series by Julie Anne Long

Author:Julie Anne Long [Long, Julie Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical romance, Fiction
ISBN: 9780062118080
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2013-06-24T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

KLAUS WAS TINKERING WITH his press when the bell of the shop jangled. He glanced up idly.

Then shot to an upright position immediately.

An angel was standing in the doorway.

He gawked momentarily, basking in the flawless, serene English Rose beauty: the golden hair, the round blue eyes, the complexion of cream.

His beleaguered first few months in England suddenly seemed worth it. Jonathan Redmond was surely a genius.

He bowed, low and elegant and deferential.

“Good afternoon, madam, and welcome to my humble establishment. I would be delighted to be of some service to you today, if I may.”

“I am Lady Grace Worthington, Mr. Liebman. And . . . I received a message . . .

She had indeed received a message, on Klaus Liebman & Co. stationery:

Your name was submitted to us privately by more than one gentleman as an example of all that a Diamond of the First Water should be. We would be honored if you would accept our invitation to pose for a very special edition deck of fine playing cards paying homage to the loveliest young ladies in London. An appointment will be set for you at two o’clock Wednesday next, should you wish to be immortalized thusly.

She paused and blushed, fidgeting with her reticule.

But this first arrival was bold, despite her blush. She was apparently unaccompanied, and she kept glancing over her shoulder.

“Ah, Lady Grace. Say no more. It is obvious to any man with eyes why you are here. You honor Klaus Liebman & Co. by accepting our humble invitation. It will not take our skilled portraitist very long to capture the purity of your beauty, if that is what you wish. A sketch will be all that is necessary. If you will please have a seat in the window, like so, where the light will make the most of your complexion, and our Mr. Wyndham will join you presently. May I bring you a cup of tea?”

“Tea would be lovely, thank you.”

Lady Grace Worthington settled into the chair by the window and folded her hands demurely, while Klaus ducked into the back room, and via a series of eyebrow wags and chin nudges communicated her arrival to Mr. Wyndham, who had agreed to sketch for a percentage of the profits.

He peered out, looked back at Klaus and mimed a whistle, and Klaus grinned.

At half past the hour, Miss Marianne Linley strolled by in the company of her brother, Mr. Harry Linley. The two of them had been invited by Lord Argosy to meet in a tea house just next door to the printer at precisely that hour.

Marianne Linley’s brother came to an abrupt halt at the vision that was Lady Grace Worthington rising from chair in the window to admire what appeared to be a sketch held by a man who had the eyes of a rogue, the hair of a fox, and the shirt of a painter—splashed profligately with color.

“Oh, this must be the printer Argosy mentioned! The Diamonds of the First Water decks.”

Marianne, a petite brunette with snapping dark eyes, was immediately alert.

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