London Explorers 1 - In Search of Scandal by Lord Susanne

Author:Lord, Susanne [Lord, Susanne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Romance
ISBN: 9781393113898
Google: OYDczQEACAAJ
Publisher: Susanne Lord
Published: 2016-04-15T04:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

“Now that we’ve launched our London gossipmongers, there will be no stopping the rumors,” Wally said as the last coach rolled from Windmere onto the drive.

Charlotte exhaled a sigh of relief she did not know she had held. The last of the guests—gone. All finally gone, except for John and Liz, who waited with a sort of bemused anticipation of their son’s upcoming nuptials.

“People will be kind, I think,” she said. “And why would they not? They left content and with stories to tell—and not only of me. They witnessed nothing of you, Lucy, and Ben that was not good and respectable.”

“The party was a success, but there is no telling if the reports will be met by friendly ears.”

She said nothing. After the trial, her brother had been hurt terribly by the rejection of the ton, as had Ben and Lucy. Their bitterness ran far deeper than hers—but her hope that Society would embrace her family was undiminished.

After all, the years spent in London’s finest private seminaries, cloistered with the daughters of Britain’s loftiest aristocrats, had taught her the workings of the ton, for good or ill.

She would marry the beautiful, heroic Will Repton. And he would leave her.

And she knew exactly what her acquaintance would do then.

They would sigh publicly, and plot ways to cheer her, and send invitations to prove their compassion. And the former Mrs. William Repton would attend every assembly with Lucy and Ben and even Wally until, like a war of attrition, their presence was tolerated. And hopefully welcomed.

That was the only way forward now.

She would wear her broken heart like a crown.

Rather than continue into the house, Wally sat upon the sun-warmed stone rail. “With the wedding a week away, we’ll be far too busy to attend to the tittle-tattle spreading through London anyway.”

The look of sad concern in his eyes was hard to ignore. She must not allow her family to worry over her. “The worst they will call me is capricious. And most will sympathize knowing the heart cannot be controlled.” She smiled. “Especially those who have seen my fiancé in the flesh.”

Before Wally could dwell, she jumped to her feet. “Let us call the carriage. I would like to search for new gloves for my gown, and later you will help me write the invitations for the wedding breakfast.”

There were errands to run and letters to compose and visits to the parson, and she was grateful for every one of those distractions.

She shared with no one how she truly missed Will. Each day stretched long and colorless without the hope of seeing him bent over his papers or rubbing his temple the way he did when he was concentrating, or standing against the wall to read because he could never sit still for long. Tomorrow, finally, he had promised to return.

But the day came and went without him. And then the next. And only on the next was a letter delivered to her—a brief, horrid little note from Will saying he had been delayed and not to expect him until the day before the wedding.

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