A Wild English Rose by Sasha Cottman

Author:Sasha Cottman
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Cecily closed up her travel bag and slumped onto the bed.

In her hurry to escape London and her father’s plans to marry her off to Lord Horsham, she had not had time to think through her situation fully. She had thrown three plain day gowns and a warm shawl into the bag before fleeing her family home. This now presented her with a problem.

After returning to the main house, Thomas had graciously invited her to dine with him that evening. While they were well outside the bounds of socially acceptable behavior, having shared a bed at the hotel, she was still at pains to show him that she was not beyond redemption.

“The rose pink one with the silver flowers will have to do,” she muttered.

She would have to hope that Thomas would keep to his form and not have a full understanding of the intricacies of what constituted a day gown, as opposed to an evening gown. She could just picture her mother softly tut-tutting at such a social faux pas.

She answered the knock at her bedroom door and found Thomas standing in the hallway. Her heart sank. He was dressed in full formal dinner attire.

His gaze fell to her gown and he smiled. “Lady Cecily, you look wonderful.”

Cecily took his offered hand and returned his smile, silently saying a prayer of thanks to his parents for having raised their son so well. If he had noticed anything amiss with her manner of dress, it was clear he was not going to make mention of it.

Thoughts of her own evening attire faded to the back of her mind as her gaze roamed over Thomas’s black tailcoat and trousers. They were an achievement in both fabric and tailoring. His silver waistcoat was highlighted with pearl and silver buttons, an understated but excellent complement to his pure white linen shirt and skillfully tied cravat.

Gone was the simple country squire; in his place stood an example of elegant male perfection.

She felt her heart skip a beat.

“I thought since there is just the two of us that we could dine in one of the smaller rooms tonight. That is of course if you are comfortable with a more intimate setting. If not, I shall instruct the staff to set out places at either end of the main dining table,” he said.

For a moment, Cecily was rendered speechless, her mind still taking in the surprise of the well turned out Thomas Rosemount.

She finally managed a brief nod. “Good.”

In an upstairs sitting room, a small table had been set for the two of them. The bottle of champagne gifted to them by the owner of the George Hotel sat in the middle of the table, with two full champagne glasses to one side.

Thomas nodded toward the bottle. “I thought we could share our wedding champagne tonight. It would be a shame to let it go to waste.”

He handed a nervous Cecily her glass. She took a tentative sip, conscious that this may be the only opportunity that she would ever get to enjoy a wedding toast.

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