The Duke & the Cowgirl by Cynthia Wright

Author:Cynthia Wright
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boxwood Manor Books
Published: 2012-02-14T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

“I couldn’t be more relieved to have Christmas behind us,” remarked the Marquess of Sandhurst as he went into his dressing room to slip into the impeccably tailored charcoal-gray jacket that Manypenny was holding. “Don’t you agree, old fellow? All that congeniality, coupled with the endless repetition of holiday customs, becomes tedious beyond endurance.” He waited while the manservant whisked microscopic bits of lint from his back with a small silver-handled brush. “I’ll confess to you that my future in-laws are even more trying than my own parents. Of course, it’s only because of the impending wedding that I was subjected to so much Christmas celebration—” The sight of Manypenny’s barely perceptible flick of an eyebrow brought Geoff up short. “What was that about?”

“I have no idea to what you are referring, my lord.”

“You arched your eyebrow; it’s no use denying it, I am attuned to every nuance of your being.”

“I am flattered to hear it, my lord.”

His jaw hardened. “Manypenny, answer me!”

“I was just thinking that there might be at least one person in this world who could persuade you to sing carols and drink wassail and decorate the entire house with pine boughs… and you wouldn’t find any of it trying in the least.”

Geoff closed his eyes against the pain. Sometimes he wondered if his heart was truly damaged, for memories of Shelby could pierce him like a dagger. But he was learning how to recover more quickly from such episodes. He clenched his jaw, took a deep breath, then opened his eyes… and saw the newspaper lying on his dressing table. It was open to an article with an unmistakable headline:

Wild West Show Opens Today at Earl’s Court.

“My lord, are you ill?”

Picking up the paper, he threw it into the waste bin. “Manypenny, I do not appreciate these decidedly unsubtle hints that I break all my promises here and dash back to Wyoming. You may as well face reality; I have.”

“Allow me to beg your pardon, sir, if I have offended you. I only thought that you might wish to visit Earl’s Court for a slight taste of that other world….”

“If you assume that I have not been aware for weeks that Cody and the Wild West troupe were returning to London, you gravely underestimate my powers of observation. The city has been covered with advertising posters.” His tone was cold. “I am going out. Where is my umbrella?”

“Here, my lord.” He watched his master stride out of the dressing room: wide-shouldered, lean-muscled, and defiantly civilized in his superbly tailored and tasteful clothing. It gave the old manservant a lump in his throat just to watch him. When they left Wyoming, Manypenny had believed that the future was sadly unalterable, but slowly he had begun to reconsider.

“Oh, incidentally…” Halfway across the spacious bedchamber, Geoff turned and looked back through the doorway. “I am off to Gloucestershire this afternoon, and I believe I shall ask Charles and Lady Clem to come along. London is a dead bore. You’ll have to pack us up, Manypenny.

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