A Mad Passion by Scarlett Scott

Author:Scarlett Scott
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: 0
Published: 2016-06-06T05:00:00+00:00

Following luncheon, the men of the company departed for a short hunt with Lord Cosgrove while the ladies retired to the drawing room. Cleo thought she’d rather sip arsenic tea than endure several hours of banal conversation but had little choice, having already used up her allotment of megrim pleadings. She made certain to seat herself on the periphery of the gang of feathered and glittering ladies. Tia and Helen followed suit, flanking her on either side of the Louis Quinze sofa she occupied.

“Lovely rout of the evil Lady Thornton,” Tia congratulated with a saucy grin, adjusting her violet gown with silver bead overlay. She had the regal air of a princess, twin diamond stars pinned to her bodice to complete the effect. Her blonde hair was twisted into a dashing chignon with a complicated waterfall of ringlets down her back. Tia, in typical Tia fashion, had refused to wear mourning weeds for her husband any longer than six months.

“Thank you.” Cleo still did not feel as if she had been victorious in the match of wits. Indeed, she felt quite trounced. “I am not certain it was a rout, however.”

“I should think Thornton is completing said rout just now,” Helen added. She wore a bold red gown with a tiered skirt of ivory and a gold sash. The effect was au militaire and rather dashing. Her golden locks were styled in a soft coronet of braids.

A cursory examination of the occupants of the drawing room confirmed that the dowager marchioness was not among them. Lady Bella sat on her own across the room, already delving into a book and ignoring the rest of the assemblage.

“Do you think it possible?” she asked Helen, doubtful Thornton would take his dragon mother to task for her sake.

“I think it probable.” Helen patted her arm reassuringly. “Dearest, do you not see how protective Thornton is of you?”

“He looked like an angry bear at luncheon,” Tia concurred. “I feared he would jump across the table and stuff his trout down the dowager’s gullet. Actually, I envisioned him doing just such a thing in my mind and it was immensely amusing. It would have been well-deserved.”

Cleo frowned. “I thought you two didn’t approve of Thornton.”

“We’ve had a good chat about it and decided we don’t disapprove,” Helen said cryptically.

“By which you mean to say?”

“We wish you happy.” Tia pursed her lips. “We fear for your heart. But if you must stay the course, we shall support you.”

The news gratified her. She would need her sisters, always her bulwark in the past, even more now. “I haven’t the slightest notion what course I will take.”

Helen wore a sympathetic expression. “It’s already been decided, dear. I could see it in your eyes at luncheon.”

“And I could see it in your gown this morning,” Tia put in with an arch air.

Cleo flushed at the reminder of her impulsive interlude with Thornton in the library. It had been very unwise and yet she would like nothing more than to repeat it as soon as possible.

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