The Wicked Wedding of Miss Ellie Vyne by Jayne Fresina

Author:Jayne Fresina
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Regency, Erotica, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9781402266003
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2012-12-31T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

He lay staring up at the low beams and cracked ceiling plaster. After the tiring day he’d had, James expected to fall asleep quickly, but instead he was wide awake. The parlor fire smoldered low, a wire screen placed before it. The captain’s bird was quiet, his cage covered by an embroidered throw.

James looked around at the memorabilia of Eliza Cawley’s life, some humble objects that meant nothing to anyone but her. This was not a house filled with fine art and grand oil paintings, collected solely to impress visitors. It was a home filled with happy memories. Very different from the places in which he was raised.

There were five miniature portraits in little frames on the wall above the small spinet in one corner of the room. Eliza Cawley had a keen eye for portraiture, and they were very good likenesses. He’d studied them earlier and knew they were of his hostess, her deceased husband, Captain Cawley, and her two brothers—Admiral Vyne and the disreputable Lieutenant Graedon Vyne. The last portrait was of Catherine Vyne, Ellie’s mother. They must have been painted twenty years ago at least. It was a handsome family grouping. James had never met Ellie’s mother in person, but he saw now that she bore a great resemblance to the lady. That was clearly where she came by her incredible eyes. A man could lose his soul in eyes like those.

Admiral Vyne, in the oval beside Catherine’s image, looked quite mediocre and considerably aged in comparison to his pretty wife. Then there was Lieutenant Graedon Vyne, his flirtatious charm recorded for posterity in a frame that hung slightly askew. James had studied that picture almost as long as he reviewed Catherine’s. He was sixteen when his mother ran away with the reckless young lieutenant. After that, James’s father could not bear to look at him because he said his son reminded him too much of his faithless hussy of a wife. So whenever he was not at school, James was sent off to live with his grandmother. There he was kept in her stranglehold for years, never allowed to consort with other boys his age in case they were bad influences. Not permitted to indulge in any fun pursuits until he finally became bold enough to escape her house. Yes, Lieutenant Graedon Vyne had a lot to answer for.

He smiled sadly, thinking his grandmother would have a convulsion if she saw what became of him and his clothes over the last day, since he transformed into “Smallwick.” Grieves had made that name up for him, aware, of course, that James couldn’t argue, or else he would have to admit he hadn’t lost his memory at all. Grieves was a shrewd old bugger.

The door creaked. His gaze lowered to the twisting latch.

Ellie peeped around the door and then, seeing him awake, came in.

He sat up, assuming his valet act. “Madam. You should not be down here.”

“I wanted to be sure you had everything you need, Smallwick.” She crossed the room, barefoot, on tiptoe.

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