When the Marquess Was Mine by Linden Caroline

Author:Linden, Caroline
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Avon
Published: 2019-09-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

The journey back to London took the better part of three days, most of which passed without a word spoken. Nadine seemed to know there was nothing to say, and thankfully held her tongue. Georgiana caught the girl’s dark eyes on her from time to time, and knew Nadine wondered what had happened.

“Are you all right, m’lady?” the maid finally asked as they reached the outskirts of London.

“Perfectly,” Georgiana murmured, her cheek resting against the window of the travel chaise Major Churchill-Gray had hired. Normally she almost hung out the window, eagerly watching the spectacle of town unspooling past their carriage. Today she saw nothing beyond the glass.

“I expect I’m not to mention Lord Westmorland,” Nadine went on.

Georgiana flinched. “Please don’t.”

“He did seem a decent gentleman,” Nadine said after a moment. “Are you certain he’s all bad and hateful? Angus said—”

Georgiana made a violent motion, and quickly stopped. Angus would have seen Rob holding her, almost kissing her, in the pond. He would have seen her captivated and enthralled by Rob. “No, he’s not hateful. But it’s still a secret. Best not to speak of him at all.”

“No, m’lady,” murmured Nadine. She twisted a handkerchief, the linen stark against her dark fingers. “But if Lady Sidlow were to ask me, what should I say? She’ll turn me off if she catches me in a lie.”

Georgiana raised her head. “You’ve lied in the past.”

Nadine’s lips compressed. “About buying Minerva Press novels and gossip sheets, which Lady Sidlow reads herself. She wouldn’t kick up over that. But you spending hours alone in a gentleman’s bedroom . . . She’d be upset.”

Georgiana barely even noticed the tidbit that Lady Sidlow read the same sensational novels she did. “I won’t let her turn you off,” she told the maid. “Please don’t mention anything about . . . him. Say you don’t know or don’t remember what I did.” She sighed. “If Lady Sidlow grows suspicious, I’ll be in far worse trouble than you.”

“She can’t sack you,” muttered Nadine.

“I won’t let her. If I must, I’ll confess it was my doing alone,” Georgiana promised. “But it would be enormously helpful if you never mentioned anything, either.”

The maid’s face eased. “Thank you, m’lady. I don’t want to be sent back to Yorkshire.”

Georgiana shuddered. She’d lie, steal, and cheat to avoid being sent home to her brother’s house, and if Lady Sidlow gave notice in a fit of outrage, that’s where she would end up. “Nor do I.”

Lady Sidlow was not in a good temper when they reached Cavendish Square. “What do you mean, rushing around the country?” she scolded as footmen carried in Georgiana’s trunks and Nadine went to prepare a bath, after the long, dusty journey. “I thought you were to stay in Derbyshire another fortnight at least!”

“I was ready to return sooner.” Georgiana took off her bonnet. “One might think you didn’t want me back.”

Lady Sidlow’s mouth pursed up. She was forever finding fault with everything Georgiana said and did—too exuberant, too energetic, too wild.

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