The Wallflower's Absolutely Scandalous Seduction (The Notorious Briarwoods Book 1) by Eva Devon

Author:Eva Devon [Devon, Eva]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Historical, Romance
Publisher: Bard Productions
Published: 2024-04-24T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Crispin had, over the years, kept mistresses, had liaisons, drank gin, gone slumming in the East End, gambled, raced horses, and spent a great deal of time with pistol and rapier. He lived the life of a gentleman of fashion, just as he should, but he’d had more revelations about his life in the last forty-eight hours than he had in the entirety of his existence.

Had he been sleeping his entire life?

After exposure to Hermia and her family, he was fairly certain that not only had he been sleeping, but he had also been near death. It was strange to suddenly feel as if he had been jolted awake. First by the duke, who had insinuated that he had basically done nothing with his life. The firing off of a pistol had been quite a wake-up. And then… Then there had been Hermia’s kiss.

He had dared to do it. He’d kissed many a young lady, though no debutantes. He did not wish to ruin anyone, but he had a great deal of intimate experience over the years.

This kiss had been a revelation. It had shaken him to his very core, and he had loved every moment of it. For it had made him feel as if he was coming totally and completely undone, as if he could unravel at any particular moment. It had been a rather marvelous sensation because he had been certain that if he did come apart, he would come back together as an entirely different person. They had broken it off before such a thing could be achieved.

His mother bounded down the coach steps, ranting and growling her displeasure as she headed for the house. “You cannot get out of it now,” she announced, throwing her gloves at the butler as they headed into the house. “It is a horrible thing. I cannot believe you have done this to us, Crispin.”

He followed her, barely listening.

All his life, he had followed her and not paid attention to her shouting, as much as possible. It was the only way to get on with life, and he’d felt it was his duty to take her anger, her fury, and her disappointment.

After all, she was his mother, and she’d had so many disappointments.

Life had pulled her apart but never let her come back together. There were moments he could recall, when he was very small, when she had seemed different—not broken. But they seemed almost a dream now, as if he had imagined them.

In the face of her pale visage now, with her pinched lips and her fury, he rather thought that he had imagined those gentle memories.

It was heartbreaking because, if he was honest, he had always hoped for a mother rather like the duchess, Hermia’s mother. A mother who was warm, loving, and caring.

And yet he would never have that, and he would have to make peace with that.

He was intensely glad that Hermia, on the other hand, had had it. No doubt she would be an excellent mother to their children, and he would be very grateful.

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