The Spy’s Convenient Bride by Erica Taylor

Author:Erica Taylor
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2020-02-03T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

VIVIAN WAS grateful for their hasty escape from the breakfast room, and even more so for the clean change of clothing provided by the timely arrival of Quan and a wagon carrying their luggage.

Luke had not said much to her in the intermediate minutes between his clumsy announcement and their retreat to rooms upstairs. He offered an encouraging smile, and jokingly declared, “Not to worry, my family will calm down. They will adore you.”

It wasn’t reassuring. This wasn’t how she’d wanted to meet Luke’s family. Despite her temporary status in Luke’s life, she didn’t want those months to be uncomfortable. And nothing made things more uncomfortable than family.

Vivian was bathed, dressed, and her hair reworked into something resembling a coiffure, to the pride of the maid who had been sent to assist her.

“This looks lovely, thank you,” Vivian said, turning to view what the maid had done. It was nice to have her hair properly pinned up for a change. She pulled on a pair of long cream gloves. Hopefully no one in Luke’s family had noticed her scars.

After they’d had a nap, and were more presentable, Vivian and Luke reappeared in the drawing room where she was properly and formally introduced to his amassed siblings. Before long, his brothers pulled him away with promises of champagne and Vivian drifted away from the grouping and slowing sipped at her tea.

“That was a spectacular entrance,” Norah said from behind her. Vivian glanced away from the view out the window. Luke’s sister looked ready to burst with glee.

“That was a disaster.”

“Nonsense. This family is no stranger to the dramatic, despite somehow remaining scandal free.” Norah considered her. “How goes it with my brother? I know how trying he can be.”

Vivian snickered. “Trying yes, but only because he is so annoyingly perfect.”

Norah’s brows rose in surprise. Watching her expression turn from amusement to confusion was not what Vivian expected to see. She expected Norah to laugh and agree with her, to commiserate on Luke’s perfect existence. Maybe she did know about Luke’s wife?

Instead, Norah asked, “What do you know of our family?”

Vivian caught herself before she said something snarky. Truthfully, most of what she knew of the Macalister family was what she read in the gossip sheets or learned from Luke’s silly verse.

“My family you see amassed here, is missing a few of its members,” Norah explained. “Fifteen years ago, our father and oldest brother, Sam, died. Andrew—” Norah paused as she and Vivian both glanced at the duke. “—became the Duke of Bradstone when he was seventeen years old. Our mother died six months later.”

That was certainly not what Vivian had expected her to say.

Norah continued. “We’ve each dealt with those tragedies in different ways. Luke, for example, has always been there to make us all feel a little lighter. Ten years ago, he ran away to join Wellington, and I doubt he ever stopped running from what he lost. The rest of us may have lost our parents and brother, but Luke seems to have lost himself along the way.

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