Never Too Late by Christina Courtenay

Author:Christina Courtenay [Courtenay, Christina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical, adventure
Publisher: Choc Lit
Published: 2018-01-19T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

The knock on Maude’s bedroom door was peremptory and she hurried to open it. When she found Luke outside, however, she frowned. ‘My lord? Is there something wrong?’ A thought struck her. ‘It’s not Anna, is it? Is she hurt?’

‘No, everything is fine and as far as I know, nothing’s happened to Anna.’ To Maude’s surprise, Luke swept past her and headed across her room to the wardrobe. Before she had time to protest at this intrusion, he flung open both doors and started to rifle through the contents.

‘My lord, do you mind? You can’t just barge in here and go through my possessions like that. What are you looking for?’

‘A gown.’

‘I beg your pardon?’ Maude was seriously confused now and was beginning to wonder if he’d lost his senses. ‘What would you need a gown for?’

‘You.’ Luke finished his evaluation of her clothes and turned to look at her. ‘So Eliza was right. You really don’t have anything to wear.’

‘What nonsense is this? I have plenty of clothes, thank you very much. Or are you saying you find fault with the way I dress?’ Maude put her hands on her hips, becoming angry now. She had no idea what had got into him and he wasn’t making sense.

‘Not in general, no, but I want you to come to the ball with us and I can see that there’s nothing here that could be made to serve as a ball gown.’

‘I told you, I have no wish to go ...’

‘Whether you’re acting as my housekeeper or not, you’re still Lady Hexham, and as such, you have every right to attend. How would it look if I was seen to exclude you? People would think it was deuced odd and just imagine the gossip that would give rise to.’

‘Well, I ... hadn’t thought of that.’

‘No, I wager you hadn’t.’ He strode towards the door. ‘This afternoon we’ll go into the nearest town. There must be a seamstress there capable of making a gown quickly. If we set off directly after lunch, we should have plenty of time, and Anna can come for the ride. She’d like that, wouldn’t she?’

‘Yes, of course, but I really don’t want to be beholden to you for a gown. We’ll have to go to the pawn shop first.’

‘Pawn shop? Whatever for?’

‘So that I can exchange my mother’s diamonds for some money.’

‘Absolutely not! Wear them.’

With that order and without waiting for her reply, he left the room and Maude could only stare after him.

She ought to be pleased that someone wanted to provide her with some decent clothing at last. For years she’d waited for there to be enough money left over for her, but Edward had squandered it all. He’d thought nothing of ordering exquisite silk waistcoats for himself, as well as every other item of apparel he thought necessary for his London sojourns, but Maude’s needs never came into it.

‘What do you want with new gowns?’ he’d sneered. ‘You never go anywhere.’

Which was true, but then one thing was dependent on the other to a certain degree.

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