The Misplaced Husband by Murdoch Emily E K

Author:Murdoch, Emily E K
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2022-04-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Opal breathed in the evening air. She blinked into the darkness, growing accustomed to the dimness after the bright candlelight of Lady Romeril’s hallway.

“Well,” she said softly. “That went reasonably well.”

A tad of an understatement. Opal had desired a successful dinner, one that would introduce Jasper to her new London circle without any difficulty. A little light conversation, perhaps a jest or two, smiles all round, a pleasant meal, and they could slip away at the end of the evening with their heads held high.

But once again, this was a social situation she was leaving with Jasper that had not gone at all according to plan. That was the trouble with having a swift and biting tongue.

“Hiding your husband from us, Mrs. de Petras. Even going so far as to have him declared dead, you tease! Dangling your hook in the water to see if you could catch a bigger fish?”

Lady Romeril was the same as ever, and Opal should have known the more elegant woman would have attempted something to unsettle her.

Dangling your hook in the water, indeed…

Opal sighed heavily. She had been sorely provoked it was true, and she was proud of standing up for herself. Besides, there were advantages to such an outburst.

Smiling, Opal’s fingers tightened around her reticule, weighed down with numerous cards which had been slipped into her palm discreetly as the evening went on. It appeared she had been right when she had told Jasper they had won the admiration of everyone there.

Lady Romeril may never invite her back, it was true, but there would be plenty of other dining rooms now opened to the de Petras name.

Opal lifted her head to the heavens and wished—not for the first time—that London did not have so many fires and candles in the evenings. The smokey orange haze made it impossible, especially on cloudy nights like this, to see the stars.

They were there, somewhere. In Rome, one had only to travel a few miles from the city to see the splendor of—

“I thought the carriage would be here.”

Opal lowered her head and smiled at Jasper, who was looking along the street. “I sent it home.”

Jasper turned to her, a puzzled expression on his face. “Home?”

She nodded. “Well, no reason to keep the driver up into the small hours—we had no idea when Lady Romeril would release…I mean, when the dinner party would be over.”

A smile danced across her lips, and Opal knew she was acting far more mischievously than she had any right to. She was a wife, a mother of three children. A mother should not be flirting in the street with the man who had been her husband.

Yet, something had shifted within Opal. Perhaps it was having Jasper by her side at dinner. She saw the envious looks shot her way by ladies up and down the table—and not merely those who were eligible and hoping for a handsome proposal.

No, even a few of the married ladies seemed astonished that such a man had been her husband, and Opal had to admit if only to herself, he was handsome.

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