Unwrapping Hope by Sandra Ardoin

Author:Sandra Ardoin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gilded Age, Romance, Clean Romance, Holiday Romance, Historical Romance, Victorian Era, Christian Fiction, 19th Century, Holidays, Christmas, Christmas Novella, Novella, Strong Hero, Music, Strong Heroine, Widows, Indiana Setting
Publisher: Corner Room Books
Published: 2019-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Bored.

The word jumped out at Spence the moment he stepped foot inside the Davidson home. By the time he left this soirée, he’d require suspenders to hold his eyelids up.

Christmas was right around the corner. He should be home working on his latest project—possibly his most worthy project to date. He would be if events like this weren’t expected of him.

Gilt-embossed wallpaper and oil paintings framed by gold-painted wood surrounded him. Crystal prisms hung from a gold-plated gas chandelier and sparkled like Queen Victoria’s diamonds. Shiny golden and brass decorative pieces sat on gold-trimmed furnishings. At any time, he expected to see an old, bedraggled miner tug a donkey laden with prospecting tools across the expansive foyer.

The Davidsons wanted to ensure everyone understood their position in Riverport’s pecking order.

“Good evening, Mr. Newland.”

“Good evening, Mrs. Davidson. Pardon my tardiness.”

“Not necessary. We know how busy you are at this time of year.”

Quiet conversations took place in the drawing room to his right. He handed a servant his coat and hat and paused outside the room to observe the dozen occupants gathered in small groups, talking and laughing.

In their twenties and early thirties, they had dressed in the required evening clothes—the men in dark coats, white waistcoats, and white ties and the women in satin and velvet gowns of various hues, the short sleeves puffed like fabric balloons. Flowery and spicy scents of perfumes and hair tonics hung in the air.

Rows of chairs and sofas filled the room for the pre-supper entertainment. He often found the company of many of his peers tiresome. Added to his exasperation, these gatherings were a doorway to any number of illnesses at this time of year.

Forget the etiquette. He’d call for his coat and hat. He started to turn and brushed against Mary Alice’s arm.

“Hello, Third.” The daughter of his hostess inspected him with heavy eyelids and a down-turned mouth that rarely changed direction. Although too forbidding for him, her features lent her a certain solemn intelligence that some men would find attractive.

After slipping her arm through his, she guided him into the room and leaned unbecomingly close to whisper, “I shouldn’t be so forward, but will you offer to be my supper escort? Mother has hinted at pairing me with someone dreadful.”

“It will be my pleasure.”

Her cheekbones glowed golden in the nearby lamplight. “Now that we are all here, except poor Josephine, we can begin the entertainment soon. The poor girl would have come tonight, but you know the capriciousness of her husband.”

Mary Alice’s gossip was like the bite of a viper. Spence had no doubt she would volunteer any information he didn’t ask to hear, so he steered her to a topic less chin wagging—the upcoming holiday. After a proper interval, he excused himself with the necessity to greet other acquaintances.

While half listening to his friends, he scanned the far end of the room and recognized the evening’s pianist. He’d had no idea whom the Davidsons had hired. A weight lifted from his mood.

Phoebe

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