The Gentleman's Daughter by Bianca M. Schwarz

Author:Bianca M. Schwarz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Central Avenue Publishing
Published: 2021-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THE SUN SHONE BRIGHTLY ON AN AZURE BLUE sea, beckoning bathers to come dip their feet in the gentle waves. It was a pull most strongly felt by the young, resulting in a certain young lady being rather impatient. Henry had yet to emerge from his bedchamber when Emily stormed into his sitting room, where William was laying out breakfast.

“Good Lord, William, he hasn’t broken his fast yet?” She picked a rasher of bacon from the breakfast platter, took a bite, and threw herself into one of the chairs by the empty fireplace. “Honestly, how can he sleep this long? It’s past eight already. Grossmama and I have been up for hours. Can’t you wake him? I want to try out these bathing machines.” The whole speech was one continuous flood of words, lasting until the speaker finally ran out of breath.

A grin tugged at William’s lips as he carried on setting the table. “Your papa will wake soon enough.”

Emily lounged in her chair, impervious to the still-chilly English summer morning, her pose in contrast to her impatiently jiggling foot. “He better, or I will go in there and pull his covers off.” The last bite of her bacon disappeared into her mouth and she made as if to rise, prompting William to step between her and his master’s door in some alarm.

Breaking into a delighted peal of laughter, Emily slumped back into the chair. “You should see your face, Will.”

Her laughter turned into a snort when William rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, “Should’ve known.”

“Don’t pout, Will, I got you fair and square.”

At that moment, Henry emerged from his bedchamber, walked over to his daughter, and bent to kiss her cheek as she raised her torso up to meet him halfway. “Good morning, Poppet.”

“Good morning, Papa. Can we go swimming now?”

Chuckling, Henry made his way to the table. “May I eat my breakfast first?”

A big put-upon sigh slumped Emily back into her chair. “If you must, Papa. But for the love of God, hurry.”

Amused, Henry sat and spread his napkin with deliberate leisure before he poured his coffee. Then he turned and winked at his mulish daughter. “I see your aunt still hasn’t broken you of taking the Lord’s name in vain.”

Emily couldn’t help the smile, banishing the pout from her beautiful face, and when the dimple appeared in her cheek, Henry knew it wouldn’t be long before she joined him at the table to indulge in a second breakfast.

“Oh, but she thinks she has, and that’s all that counts, according to Uncle Arthur. He is quite devious really. He constantly lets her think he is agreeing with her, then goes and does the opposite. She never even notices.” She wrinkled her nose in thought. “I don’t think I would like my husband to tell me what I want to hear just so I leave off harassing him. Come to think of it, I don’t think I want a husband who lets me harass him. I want someone who will talk to me and I can trust to make the right decision.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.