The Gentleman's Muse by Summer Devon

Author:Summer Devon [Devon, Summer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical gay romance, romance 1880s, cross class romance, artist model romance, upstairs downstairs romance, victorian mm romance
Publisher: Kate Rothwell
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

David had worked at building sites that crawled with busy men hammering, shouting, raising walls. He left the peaceful upstairs studio and walked downstairs into exactly such a controlled mayhem.

“So much fuss for one night,” he whispered to Bethie.

The three of them, David, Bethie, and Jensen, stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking around.

“I think you’re not needed after all.” Jensen sounded cheerful. “Why don’t we go out for a ride? I can show you some of the sights of London, Miss Lewis.”

She protested and David joined in, but Jensen barely heeded them. He led them out the door. “We’ll take a hack. I used to keep a carriage in London, but sent it back to the country.”

“A cab seems most extravagant,” Bethie said. “We might walk.”

“If you’d rather. I don’t mind the fare of a cab, but the afternoon is pleasant enough for a stroll. It is entirely up to you, Miss Lewis.” Jensen treated them with more than civility. “What would you care to see? What have you seen in the past?”

“’Tis my first time in the city,” she admitted.

“That settles it, then. We must take a cab. We’ll drive past the usual sites, and you’ll tell us when we shall stop and explore by foot.”

He quickly found a cabbie glad to be hired for a couple of hours of easy work. After that, Jensen the taskmaster painter behaved as if David and Bethie were honored guests up from the country at his most earnest requests for their company. True, he hadn’t given them the choice to say no to the tour, but once they set out, he paid full attention to their wishes. He seemed eager to point out the silly and interesting points of interest in his city.

They got out to explore the clock tower and the Tower of London. They entered a bookshop and purchased a guide to London.

Bethie relaxed and her eyes sparkled with interest at everything around her. It had been such a time that she appeared to be a carefree girl. She laughed at Jensen’s recounting the list of the Tower’s ghosts, which included a bear. For the sound of his sister’s laughter alone, David could have kissed Jensen.

“We couldn’t pay for a better guide than you,” Bethie told Jensen as they got back into the carriage and continued the ride away from the river. She apparently had left behind her suspicion about the gentleman, but David couldn’t help wondering why someone, who seemingly lived to paint, would be willing to use the last of his free time to walk out of his studio without a look back. And such a driven man turned soft for the two of them. A changeable nature, the pursuit of them both, reminded him too much of George.

“I wonder why you’re not taking us to look at art,” he said.

“Another time. This is for Miss Lewis to play the part of tourist.”

“And what part are you playing?”

Jensen shot him a glance with a raised eyebrow—annoyed or perhaps amused.

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