Tempted by Fire by Thea Devine

Author:Thea Devine [Devine, Thea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Lady Waynflete, feeling exasperated that she never could predict if Nick took her requests seriously, sent around a note to Berkeley Square the following morning, stressing the urgency of her desire to see him in person.

Of course, boy that he was at heart, such a remonstrative command could have sent him out of town for the day, since he took much rebellious pleasure in following no one's path but his own.

But she was amazed and rather mollified to see him present gratifyingly early on her doorstep, immaculately dressed in his usual black morning coat, buff pantaloons and top boots.

Nick wasn't a dandy, she thought admiringly, watching him as he entered the parlor where she sat, as was her morning custom, close by the fire with a pot of chocolate at hand. He wore his clothes simply and never affected the vagaries of fashion. No one dictated to Nick, and Nick, in spite of the fact he did not put himself through the exacting contortions of fashioning his neckcloth or wearing skin-tight coats and breeches, still had style and countenance. Moreover, he always looked like he was a man on his way somewhere, a posture decidedly at odds with the usual languid attitude of most young men of fashion.

Including Jeremy, she thought mournfully. It would have done Jeremy worlds of good to copy Nick's attitude and not his habits. But the other hand was that Jeremy had been right to be distrustful of the mysterious Miss Bowman from a Brighton gaming house.

"Good morning, Nick," she said lightly.

"Lucretia." He inhaled the scent of chocolate the instant he entered the room, as it fused with the scent of his sex and Lucretia's uncertainty.

"Won't you sit down? I won't be able to think if you pace around here like a caged animal."

Nicholas sat; plainly it would not do to antagonize Lucretia.

"Something to drink? Chocolate? I can ring Blexter to bring us some coffee."

"Lucretia — cut to the chase."

She sniffed. Nick hated the roundabout niceties that were supposed to cushion unpleasant things.

"Very well, Nick, if you must have it point blank at first dawn: I cannot have Miss Bowman with me any longer."

And this was what she most disliked about Nick: he yawned.

"Really, Lucretia? But it's been barely a month."

"The girl is impossible. You are wasting your time and your money with her, Nick, let me tell you," Lady Waynflete burst out in a rush. "Not that I can understand anything you ever do, but this caper positively defies comprehension. She has a mouth like a taproom bawd, she will not take advice, and no matter what she does, she has men hanging all over her every which way she moves. I tell you, Nicholas, I was fit to be tied last night, and all out embarrassed for the scene she made with those men. And all those lovely girls trying to get a word in edgewise, with their mothers pushing and trying to prise through the crowd ... it was indecent, and so I told your Miss Bowman.

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