Unsuitable Wife by Kruger Mary

Author:Kruger, Mary
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical romance, regency romance, mary kingsley
Publisher: Mary Kruger

Chapter Twelve

1814 came in cold. In London there was a heavy fog that didn’t let up for days, so that people went about their business in a perpetual gloom; in the north, snow blanketed the ground. In Surrey, it was merely cold, and the inhabitants of Chatleigh Hall assured each other that they could not remember such a winter. It was not the best weather for traveling to the capitol, Melissa reflected as she supervised the packing, but she would be glad to leave.

She had seen little of Justin since he had recovered from his injury. He had been busy about the estates and in local affairs, joining the militia and the Volunteers. Though the harvest had been good, he had also ridden to meet with his tenants, finding out what needed doing and who would need additional food and clothing to survive this unusually cold winter. While Melissa approved his activities, sometimes she deplored the results of them. She saw him now only at the dinner table, and then he seemed never to wish to talk. Even at their Twelfth Night party, which had been a success, he had managed to spend little time with her. It was almost as if he were avoiding her, and that held her back. She had no desire to proclaim her love for him if he were only going to reject it. She loved him, and she didn’t have the slightest notion what to do about it.

She was glad, then, when the day came for their departure. Since London was only a few hours distant, it had been decided to take the trip in easy stages, rather than change horses at each stop. Justin had elected to ride Diablo, and so, except for her maid, Melissa was alone in the coach. She was not bored, however, particularly when they reached the outskirts of the great city. London! All her life she had heard of it, and had wondered if she would ever go there. Since she was old enough she had dreamed of having a season, whirling about in glittering ballrooms on the arm of a tall, handsome gallant, who had tousled brown hair and warm brown eyes and a direct way of looking at one, a man who looked oddly like her husband...

Melissa shook her head. “Are you all right, my lady?” Liza, sitting opposite, asked.

“Yes. Heavens, look at all this, Liza!” The coach was passing through a section of mean little houses and grim, dark factories. Melissa and Liza looked at each other in dismay, fearful that this was what the city would be like, but then the coach trundled onto the bridge crossing the Thames, and they were at last in London.

The air was smoky and sooty, the streets crowded, but the city pulsed with life. They went through Westminster and down Piccadilly, past the Pulteney Hotel on one side, Green Park on the other, and the great houses of the aristocracy. There were people everywhere, and traffic such as they had never seen.

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