Sweeter Than Candy: A Regency Novella (The Marvelous Munroes Book 4) by Regina Scott

Author:Regina Scott [Scott, Regina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Edwards and Williams
Published: 2017-04-12T18:00:00+00:00

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They were married two weeks later in the church in Wenwood, Daniel having procured a license from the local bishop. A pleased Jonathan hosted a wedding breakfast at Kinsle House, then Cynthia, the boys, and their assorted belongings were packed into the carriage and trundled down the drive, around the bend, and up the road to the Lewiston estate.

The boys ran laughing into the hall when they arrived, voices echoing to the hammered beams a full story above their heads. Cynthia suspected they had already begun to see the house as home, but she still detected a change in their attitudes, as if they had suddenly been set free in a new world. They wanted to explore and touch and demand an explanation for everything from the Tompion marquetry clock in the library to the gilt-framed Lawrence painting of Daniel’s great-aunt Chloe upstairs in the portrait gallery. Daniel followed them from room to room, smiling as he answered their questions, as if he’d never realized what a fascinating house he had.

Cynthia found it difficult to share her sons’ joy in their new home. The lofty Gothic ceilings with their open carved beams, the dark wood that seemed to panel each room, and the thick-limbed many-knobbed furniture with the scarlet upholstery seemed oppressive to her. Odd that she had never noticed it as a child, but then most of her memories of being in the house with Daniel’s sisters were pleasant.

Now the dust she had first noticed in the withdrawing room was everywhere, and the thought of cleaning it from so many rooms depressed her further, until the footmen began marching past with her belongings and she remembered she would not have to lift a finger if she didn’t want to. She trailed behind the procession up the massive central stairway, gazing at the rich-hued tapestries, Oriental vases, and Greek statues that lined the long halls, until Evenson stopped her at the doorway to a large bedchamber.

“Your room, Mrs. Lewiston,” he intoned.

The name sounded surprisingly lovely on his lips, and she smiled as she stepped past him. Then her smile froze on her face. Staring at her in the center of the chamber was a huge box bed whose burgundy and gold hangings reached to brush the high ceiling. Twin dressing tables stood on either side of it, the elaborate carvings of twisting dragons on their fronts matching the headboard of the giant bed. The size and complexity of each piece of furniture was overwhelming enough, but what upset her far more was the tortoise-shell comb and brush set on one of the dressers, with all the accouterments a gentleman might need to shave and dress in the morning. A young woman in a black dress and white apron was setting Cynthia’s brushes and belongings on the other table.

“This,” Cynthia said in icy tones, “is not my bedchamber.”

Daniel, who had been chasing Adam down the corridor, must have heard the tremor in her voice, for he wandered into the room.

“Hey, ho,” he called, moving to his butler’s side.

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