A Bluestocking for a Baron : Book 3: Rose: Clean Regency Romance (A Duke's Daughters - The Elbury Bouquet) by Richmond Arietta

Author:Richmond, Arietta [Richmond, Arietta]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Dreamstone Publishing
Published: 2019-11-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

As the footman announced him, Evan surveyed the parlour. Lady Rose sat to one side, a half-eaten cake in her hand, her eyes closed, and a blissful expression on her face as she savoured the cake in her mouth. The expression made him smile. The whole moment was so typical of what he knew of her!

But that expression was dramatically disrupted when his name was announced. She snapped upright from her more relaxed pose, her eyes open wide, and spluttered inelegantly, in shock. As she dabbed her lips with a handkerchief, he stepped into the room, hoping desperately that the shock was just surprise at his presence, and not anything more negative.

He bowed to the room in general, before going to Lady Rose.

“Good afternoon, Ladies, Wildenhall. It is a pleasure to see you all again. I do hope that my calling unannounced has not inconvenienced you?”

Her brother, Thorne, Evan believed he was named, the Marquess of Wildenhall, cast a quick glance at Lady Rose.

“I do not believe so, Wrenton, although my sister may not forgive you for disrupting her ritual of tea and cakes.”

Lady Rose glared at her brother, and he subsided, turning away. Evan wondered just what that was about. He turned his attention to Lady Rose, who had risen to greet him. He took her hand, and bowed over it, the warmth of it sending heat to his core. When he rose from the bow, she regarded him with bright eyes, her cheeks flushed.

“I trust that I did not discomfort you too much with my unexpected arrival?”

“No… I… would you care for tea and cakes?”

She dropped back onto the couch as she offered, and he settled beside her.

“Yes, that would be delightful, thank you.”

“Let me send for fresh tea and more cups.”

She offered him the plate of cakes, and he took one, then she called for a footman, and asked for the tea. He waited until she turned back to him to bite into the cake, which he did carefully, and, with conscious intent, he closed his eyes and savoured the taste, just as she had done with her cake.

When he opened his eyes again, it was to catch her fixing her brother with a triumphant look. Wildenhall appeared to repress laughter, then turned to look away. One day, he hoped to know what that interaction portended. The tea arrived, and the moment passed. They settled to quiet conversation, and soon he found himself telling her about the progress on his experiment, and his hope of finding investors while in London. But he could not say the words he wanted to.

Not here, surrounded by her siblings.

“Lady Rose, might I take you for a drive about the Park? I have my barouche, so we can proceed with the top down, for propriety, and the day is fine, albeit somewhat chilly.”

She stilled where she sat, so deliciously close beside him. For a moment, the room as utterly silent, and he felt as if every person in the room was studying them from under lowered lashes, no matter what they ostensibly were doing.

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