That Miscreant Marquess by Fish Aileen

Author:Fish, Aileen
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Aspendawn Press
Published: 2017-10-08T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

On the ride to Lord Adam’s home, Mattie gave her new friend the abbreviated version of the recent events involving Markham, which took them right to the door of the town house they’d been invited to. Not dissimilar to her father’s town house, this was in an area more in demand, with a parkland in the lot down the road.

Lady Adam St. Peters greeted Mattie with a hug. “Call me Mary Jane, please. A friend to Charlotte is most certainly a friend to me.”

“As I told you, Mattie, she’s quite excited to meet you.”

“I’m an old married woman now,” Mary Jane said. “I no longer attend the majority of assemblies, so I don’t meet as many new people as I wish.”

She led the girls into the drawing room and motioned for them to sit. “My husband will join us shortly. And we’ve invited a few others to spend the evening with us. Do you know the Duke of Thornton and Lord Markham?”

Mattie’s chest froze and she couldn’t inhale.

Charlotte saved her. “I met Lord Markham at his sister’s wedding, but Mattie has known him for some time.”

“Yes,” Mattie squeaked. She cleared her throat. “We’ve been acquainted many years.”

The irony! While she had come there to avoid boredom, she’d hoped to cross paths with Markham at some point. To have it happen so soon in her visits was better than she’d imagined.

She tried to focus on conversation, and blamed her travels for her inattention, when either woman asked. Tiredness couldn’t explain why she jumped at every sound from the street, or footsteps in the hall. When would he arrive?

Finally, the butler announced the two men.

Thornton entered first and Mattie joined the other two women in curtseying. He was handsome enough, but he didn’t compare to Markham in the least.

Markham, himself, entered next, looking more handsome than she remembered. Well, she’d gone longer than a few weeks without seeing him and noticed no change, so her attraction to him must be what had changed.

He smiled, even in his eyes, when he met her gaze. “Lady Matilda, I had no idea you were in Town.”

“I only arrived today. I’m staying with Miss Harrow. You remember her from the wedding?”

“Yes.” He nodded to her. “I’ve known her for some time. Are you acquainted with His Grace? Thornton, Lady Matilda is one of my sister’s dearest friends.”

One of his sister’s dearest friend. No mention of their own friendship. That should be all she needed to hear to put aside all thought of him.

But she’d thought of him so long, she didn’t believe she could ever stop.

Lord Adam entered behind his friends, and Mattie was introduced to him, too. Not long after, they ate a splendid meal with four courses, and returned to the drawing room sated.

Markham stood behind Mattie’s shoulder, resting a hand on the back of her chair. “What brings you to Town? Merely your friend, Charlotte?”

“Yes. We got on quite well at Stanhope Abbey.”

“How charming. And what will you do for entertainment?”

She was about to claim she wasn’t easily bored, but that was precisely her reason for coming.

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