Two Lady Scoundrels and a Duke: (In a Pear Tree) A Regency Romance Christmas Novella (Parvenues & Paramours Book 5) by Tessa Candle

Author:Tessa Candle [Candle, Tessa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781772650396
Publisher: Winding Path Books
Published: 2020-01-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16 More Afoot

Foxleigh sipped at his morning tea and settled back into his chair with a contented sigh. It had not taken much to persuade Katherine to relocate to the village inn. They took separate chambers, and Foxleigh found a respectable widow to be Katherine’s companion, for appearances sake. But Mrs. Broden was the sort of chaperone who dozed a lot and was mostly deaf. Foxleigh had made sure of that.

He grinned with the memory of his clandestine liaisons with Kat. They always started with chess and ended with much, much better amusements. The secrecy made their meetings more piquant, but even without that added seasoning, he was sure he could never get enough of her. Things began stirring below deck. “Easy, Foxleigh.” It would not do to show up at the church with his sabre raised.

He withdrew his gold watch from his waistcoat pocket. It would be a long enough interval until their ten o’clock meeting with the priest. He sighed. This was one of those things one simply could not hurry along. The waiting only stirred up his nervous fancy that something would go wrong. They were to take separate carriages, for appearances, but he did not like it.

He wished he could see her once before the ceremony, but he knew he would only be in the way of the entourage of servants he had hired to prepare her. “I guess we two exiled bachelors will have to keep each other company.” He patted Dog and fed him a piece of bacon from a plate he kept for the purpose. It was good to see that he was already recovering some weight.

He detected in Katherine a belief that she was worn out and no longer beautiful. It was preposterous, of course. He would not have thought it possible, but she was more beautiful now than she had been even as a brilliant debutante in the full bloom of youth. Her features had sharpened a tad with hunger, but it threw her lovely bone structure into full relief and gave her a regal look. The self-reliance and resourcefulness she now possessed gave her a mien to match.

But he wanted to remove from her brain any notion she was no longer beautiful, so he had prepared a rather elaborate group of expert servants to pamper, primp and dress her within an inch of her life. Nothing was too good for her, and he wanted her to feel it. Unfortunately, that meant leaving her alone for several hours, which was maddening.

He drained the last of his tea and checked his watch again. Only five minutes had elapsed. He stood and went in search of a book or a newspaper, but a tap came on the chamber door.

The servant ushered in Foxleigh’s man of business.

“Mr. Sumner. A pleasure.”

“Your grace, I crave your pardon for the intrusion on this special morning. May I beg a five minute audience?”

“Certainly. You do not intrude. I have been rattling about my chambers here with nothing to do but fret away the remaining hours until my wedding.

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