One Perfect Dance (A Twist Upon a Regency Tale Book 2) by Jude Knight

Author:Jude Knight [Knight, Jude]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc
Published: 2023-05-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Ash and Rex debated their possible enemies all the way home but came to no conclusion.

Ash shrugged. “It was probably just a poorly secured stone, and someone at the other end rocked the plank. I am taking Mrs. Paddimore out in half an hour. I’ll have to go straight there.”

Rex pointed at Ash. “Not in those clothes, you won’t.”

Fair point. All one side was smeared with mud and other substances from the courtyard. Rex was likewise grimy.

By the time Ash had washed, changed, made some arrangements to ensure her safety, and driven to Regina’s house, he was ten minutes late. He tossed the reins to the groom and hurried up to knock on the door.

Regina was just coming down the stairs as the butler admitted him, in a delightful ensemble of a shade to complement her eyes. She took his breath away every time he saw her. Would familiarity dull the impact? It had not done so yet.

“Mr. Ashby! I was concerned that I had kept you waiting.”

“Sadly no, Mrs. Paddimore. I arrived but a moment ago, full of apologies because I was delayed. I inadvertently got mud on my trousers and had to go home to make good, so I was fit to be your escort.”

She let her eyes rove over his apparel and said, “Well worth the wait.”

Two could play at that game. He scanned her slowly from the toe of her pretty boots to the delightful bonnet that framed her face, and replied, “My sentiments exactly.” He could only hope that the exchange heated her as much as it did him.

*

“Go away, Ash,” Rithya told him when he had delivered Regina safely to her drawing room. “Mrs. Paddimore and I have much to talk about, and do not wish to have an audience. Rex is in your study.”

There Rex was, attempting to read the draft of the chapter that Ash had finished when he woke up this morning—the one that they had scoped out one evening earlier in the week. That was the way they worked. They would decide together what the chapter would cover, then tell each other stories while Ash made notes. Then Ash would go away and write a first draft. After that, he’d read the chapter aloud to Rex and they would both suggest refinements.

Rex was frowning at the draft. “I cannot make head or tail of this,” he grumbled.

“No need,” Ash reminded him. “That’s what you have me for.”

“Dellborough has arranged for us to speak to his club.” From his voice, the engagement was for the guillotine. “Said he was proud of me. Said he didn’t know I had it in me.” He looked up from the sheets of paper in his hands, his eyes bleak. “He thinks I am an author.”

“You are as much of the author of our books as I am,” Ash protested. “Mine might be the hand on the quill, but they write your words as often as mine. You see things that I don’t. Your descriptions are much more detailed than mine.

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