Tales of Timeless Romance: A Dragonblade Historical Romance Anthology 2023 (The Write Track Anthologies) by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2024-08-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

“What the fuck is this?”

Peter woke to a man’s voice shouting obscenities. He was buried in cushions; a fat, silken pillow covered his face, blinding him. He flung it away, rubbed his bleary eyes, and when his vision cleared, saw Fulbert looming over him. The older man’s expression was murderous, his thin brows twisted and his neck flushed pink. Sarah hovered behind him, trying ineffectually to tug Fulbert away by the elbow. Heloise stood before the bench, facing down her uncle.

“It’s none of your concern,” Heloise said, right to Fulbert’s furious face.

“The hell it isn’t!” Fulbert was almost salmon colored. “Anything that threatens my business is my concern. What if my investors hear of this?”

Heloise seemed completely nonplussed. She smoothed her hair and wound it up into its usual twist. “They won’t.”

“No one’s going to trust me with their money if they get wind of a scandal. I could lose clients.” Fulbert’s voice held a peevish, wheedling tone, which Heloise ignored.

No one in the room had looked at or addressed Peter. He struggled out of the nest of cushions and stood beside Heloise, doing his best to smooth his sleep-wrinkled waistcoat and cravat. “Sir—”

“Quiet.” Heloise tossed the word over her shoulder, then slipped a hairpin into her twist. Peter shut his mouth.

Fulbert and Heloise stared each other down, Fulbert breathing hard, Heloise with her chin set at a stubborn angle. Sarah had withdrawn to the back of the library and was watching the proceedings with her hands in the pockets of her white apron.

“You said this wouldn’t be a distraction,” Fulbert ground out. Peter guessed that the ‘this’ in question was him. “But you’ve been pretty bloody distracted.”

“I take full responsibility,” Peter said. Though the scene was playing out oddly, and he had the nagging suspicion that he was missing something, he felt compelled to defend Heloise.

“Shut it, you reprobate,” Fulbert replied. “Do you seduce all your female pupils, or only the rich ones?”

“I seduced him!” Heloise snapped. In the back of the room, Sarah coughed and cleared her throat.

“Well, it’s over.” Fulbert crossed his arms and looked down his narrow nose at Heloise. “The man’s too much of a liability.”

Peter felt an icy panic slide over his skin. Heloise stood to his left, her posture casual. Meanwhile, sweat had broken out on Peter’s scalp at the prospect of being parted from her. He had realized that nothing was more important than being with Heloise. His appointment at the college, his dreams of scholarly revenge; none of it seemed of the least consequence, compared to what was between them. He had only just grasped the significance of their attachment, and now it would be snatched away. His pulse thudded in his ears, and his mind grasped for a solution.

“We intend to marry,” Peter said.

All the anger drained from Fulbert’s features, replaced by stark shock. “You do?”

Peter nodded eagerly. “I’ll take back my position at the college. We’ll find a house to rent. We can…” he turned to Heloise, hoping she might contribute some suggestions.

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