Brides of London: Regency Romance Collection by Joyce Alec

Author:Joyce Alec [Alec, Joyce]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2019-08-27T16:00:00+00:00

1

“You have not been successful.”

Miss Louisa Smallwood lifted her chin defiantly. “That is unfair, Father. You have given me no assistance in this matter.”

Her father, Baron Churston, was a slight man with a rotund middle, a round, unlikeable face with brows that were constantly furrowed, thin lips, and dark brown eyes that were, at the present, fixed entirely upon his daughter.

“That is not at all true!” the Baron exclaimed, throwing up one hand in evident disapproval. “I have aided you a great deal in finding a suitable gentleman, but no one has sought to court you and therefore, we are to return home.”

There was a slight look of guilt in Lord Churston’s eyes, however, for he did not look directly at Louisa as he spoke, turning to the left just a little as if he found her presence rather trying. Louisa, who was trying her very best to stand up for herself and, in turn, refused to accept her father’s verdict, noted this with a little satisfaction.

“That is not at all the case, Father, as well you know,” she stated with as much sternness as she could muster. “You have not introduced me to any gentlemen this Season. Not one. I have had to rely on my friend, Miss Grey, to do so.”

Her father’s expression darkened all the more. “I believe you mean Miss Grey, the lady who is now engaged to one Lord Marchmont.” An accusatory brow lifted, as though Louisa ought to have found a way to become engaged also.

“She is due to wed in a fortnight,” Louisa informed him. “But yes, it is she that I speak of. She has been the only one interested in encouraging my acquaintance with the gentlemen of the ton, whilst you, Father, have done nothing of the sort.” Louisa knew full well that without Miss Grey’s encouragement, she would never have found the confidence to speak to her father in terms such as these, having been somewhat quiet and accommodating in the months and years that had gone before. However, this year, her father had told her directly, and quite unexpectedly, that she was required to find a suitable gentleman and become engaged by the Season’s end, else she would never return to London again. Thereafter, he had commented that a gentleman near to his estate, one Sir Walton, might make her a suitable husband if she could not find someone with a better title and fortune.

The thought had turned her stomach. Sir Walton was not a young man and had, thus far, had three wives, all of whom had died from some malady or other, although quite what these maladies had been, Louisa did not know. Her father and Sir Walton were very great friends and, at various times, had done each other favors or offered help when there was none. Louisa strongly suspected that her father had made the suggestion that Louisa might be Sir Walton’s next wife once Lord Walton had completed his mourning period which, no doubt, Sir Walton would have agreed to at once.

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