The Viscount Who Vexed Me by Julia London

Author:Julia London
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-03-10T16:31:33+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

MRS. O’MALLEY WAS desperate for details of the fancy supper Hattie had attended, and as she boxed up some whisky bonbons for Hattie to take to Grosvenor Square, she pelted Hattie with one question after another. Who was in attendance? What did they serve for the meal? What did the ladies wear? How did the viscount seem? Which young lady did he like the best?

Hattie laughed as she put away Mrs. O’Malley’s ledgers. “I think he liked them all, really. Or maybe he liked them not at all. I’m sure I’ll be the last to know.”

“If you ask me, he ought to look no further than you, Hattie Woodchurch. You’re the best of the lot.”

Hattie smiled warmly. “You’re very kind, Mrs. O’Malley. But you’ve not seen the ladies he is considering. If you had, your opinion would be much changed.”

“Rubbish,” she said with a cluck of her tongue.

“I’m very sure of it,” Hattie said laughingly. “I’m not cut from the right cloth. He’ll marry someone with proper connections and a pedigree he’ll need for his heirs.”

“Oh, those people,” Mrs. O’Malley scoffed. “They value the wrong things! They ought to search for compatibility and a return of affection. Mr. O’Malley didn’t care a whit that my father was a poor farmer—he loved me for who I am, and we were happily married for twenty-eight years before he died.” Mrs. O’Malley paused a moment and looked misty-eyed into the distance.

Hattie smiled. “He must have been a wonderful man.”

“Aye.” Mrs. O’Malley dabbed at her eyes with the corner of her apron. “Never you mind those toffs, Miss Woodchurch. You’ll want someone who loves you for who you are, not for the size of your purse.”

“That is the hope,” Hattie agreed. She slung her bag over her shoulder and took the bundle of bonbons. “Good day, Mrs. O’Malley!”

She walked across town to Grosvenor Square, her pace a jaunty one. The self-doubt she’d directed at herself Saturday night had vanished in the sunlight. She knew who she was. She knew what to expect from her life. She would have to make her own place to belong—life was not going to simply hand it to her.

She also knew she only had a limited time with the most handsome viscount in England. She intended to make the most of it. It might very well be one of the high points of her life.

At Grosvenor Square, she entered through the servants’ door as she always did, arriving in the kitchen with her basket of treats from Mrs. O’Malley. Everyone gathered around to see what she’d brought. “Bonbons,” she announced as she held the basket out for everyone to see.

“Ooh, bonbons,” they repeated in awed unison.

The two kitchen ladies, the footmen, and Mr. Pacheco were on hand to sample them. As they did, exclaiming in Spanish, Hattie went round the room and asked after everyone with the bit of Spanish she had learned. “Cómo está?”

They smiled with delight at her attempt. Yolanda said loudly, “Muy bien!” But then, Mr.

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