Rake to Riches by Nicola Davidson

Author:Nicola Davidson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Nicola Davidson
Published: 2017-01-25T18:30:00+00:00

~ * ~

“Louisa! Louisa! Louuuuueeeeeeessaahhh!”

Shuddering at the way her mother turned her name into a banshee wail, Louisa pasted a smile on her face just as her bedchamber door crashed open.

“Yes, Mother?” she asked, scrupulously polite as she looked up from her writing desk, thankful the wail had given her time to put away George’s precious gift.

“He’s here!”

“Who is here?”

“Oh, do not use that tone with me. Lord Kildaire. Your future husband.”

“Perhaps you might wait until he offers? Or at least has a chance to get out of his carriage before you start planning his future?”

Margaret Donovan didn’t answer, merely gripped her arm and dragged her toward the hallway. “Don’t talk. Smile. You’re going to be a marchioness.”

Over her dead body she would.

Nerves jangling in her belly, Louisa concentrated in putting one foot in front of the other as they descended the staircase to the foyer. One of her old orange or peach gowns would have been most welcome at this moment as a form of comfort, but unfortunately all she had was a pretty, very ladylike day dress of sprigged muslin trimmed with a sapphire blue bow that matched one of her four new bonnets. Her sizzled section of hair had grown slightly, just long enough to scoop back with a pin, and she wore satin slippers on her feet.

She looked appropriate, damn it. The last thing she wanted for a visit with bloody Lord Kildaire.

“Where is Mr. Howard?”

“I’ve already spoken with the dear man. He will keep himself scarce, as proper. He is only an employee, after all, not family or a special guest.”

Her heart plummeted to her toes. The thought of George being nearby had been the only thing keeping her spirits up as she prepared for this most unwanted occasion. And he’d been banished? The loathing she felt toward her mother doubled. “I see.”

“Good. Now march!”

Far too soon they stood on the entrance steps of the manor house, watching a gleaming carriage pulled by two matched black stallions glide down the curved gravel drive.

“Well,” said Bertram Donovan as he came to join them, looking uncomfortable in a tightly knotted cravat. “Fine set of horseflesh there. Says a lot about a man, his horses.”

Louisa shot him a filthy look. “If he needs your money so badly, they are probably borrowed. Or he has a very large unpaid bill at Tattersall’s.”

“Now, now, my dear. Most of the ton have very large unpaid bills somewhere. It’s the way of society and perfectly acceptable.”

“Except to those starving and unable to pay their own bills.”

“Louisa!” hissed her mother, as the carriage came to a smooth halt in front of them. “Not another word, or you’ll be sorry.”

Her fingers twisting together, Louisa took a deep breath to quell her panic and tried to imagine George was here. He would rest a big, warm hand on her back. Or tell a terrible joke, just to ease the tension. Fighting, parrying some verbal sword thrusts, or simply resting her forehead on his chest were all things she could manage right now.

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