Terms of Trade (Trade Wind Book 4) by Rebecca Aubrey

Author:Rebecca Aubrey [Aubrey, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Feisty Otter Publications
Published: 2022-07-21T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Nicholas conveyed a silent farewell to Hermes as he walked through the marble statue’s shadow in the oil lamp-lit foyer of the Sportsman Club. After exiting the building, he recognized his uniformed footman leaning against a column under the portico. A light but constant drizzle had been falling all day, and he was grateful the club doorman hadn’t chased his servant into the spring rain. He slipped the doorman extra coin along with his thanks.

As soon as his footman, Timothy, caught sight of Nicholas, he straightened and reached under the folds of his coat. “A letter from Mrs. Gray, sir.”

From Helen, he corrected in his mind.

He accepted the missive, and after passing his satchel to Timothy, he moved to stand under the nearby torch. Between the early evening darkness and the wind causing the flame to flicker, he had to angle the parchment just so in order to make out Helen’s beautiful script.

His spirits soared at the sight of his name written by her hand. Her lettering was more ornate than his own, but more utilitarian than his sister’s. Pen’s script included so many decorative curls and lines that she ran through twice the ink of a less-inspired individual such as himself.

What did Helen feel while penning my name?

Shaking his head at the irrational musing, he unsealed the folded parchment. Brief and to the point, he finished reading the two-sentence correspondence in a trice. A sudden gust of wind splashed rain against the hem of his coat, and he longed to catch that wind and ride it straight to Connaught Square, where Helen awaited him in a four-story Georgian townhouse only two streets from his own.

He lifted the letter. “When was this delivered?”

“Two hours ago, sir. I thought to find you at the tennis club, so I went there first. My apologies for the delay.”

He reassured Timothy that he’d done well, and they set off from Pall Mall.

Ordinarily, a carriage ride was a solitary time for him to reflect. While the rest of noisy London bustled outside his carriage, he would retreat into his own world, examining the pressing issues of the day from every angle. Tonight, however, he wasn’t pondering the details of the engineering report on the waterwheel project that he and David Chadbourne had discussed as they supped in the club, nor the potential railway investment they’d debated.

No, this two-mile journey tested his patience. He stared out the window restlessly, noting each street corner and landmark bringing him that much closer to discovering what Helen needed.

His heart leapt when the carriage turned to travel up the eastern edge of the immense park. Hyde Park. Halfway to Helen.

Despite his eagerness to reach her, Nicholas shook his head in amusement as he gazed out at the grounds shrouded in a cloud of mist illuminated by the gas street lamps. If his father and Prince Albert were successful in bending others to their will, the Great Exhibition’s venue would be built within that very park. Intense objections were gathering force in both Houses of Parliament.

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