Thea by Aston Alexa

Author:Aston, Alexa
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Medieval, Romance
Publisher: WolfeBane Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2019-09-23T16:00:00+00:00

Thea entered the breakfast room and spied Diana and Oliver. She made up a plate and then joined them.

“How are you feeling this morning?” she asked her sister.

“Right as rain. Once I threw up, that is.” Diana chuckled. “I’d forgotten how ill I was with the twins, but it all has come back to me quickly. Mornings are difficult, but once I’ve hung over my chamber pot a bit and I’m dressed, I feel fine. Hungry, even. Motion does have a tendency to set me off, though, so I doubt I’ll be atop a horse anytime soon.”

Oliver laced his fingers through his wife’s. “It will all be worth it in the end.”

“I know,” she said, her eyes shining with love. She turned back to Thea. “Did you ever have a chance to speak with our host?”

She spread jam across a toast point. “Yes. We put together a dissected map last night.”

Diana laughed. “Oh, you must have been in heaven. Thea used to tote around an atlas when she was a young girl. It was almost bigger than she was,” she told Oliver. “She was forever spouting off the names of countries and telling us how she would go to everywhere in her atlas someday.”

“At least I’ve made it to London. Now, I just have to find a way to travel beyond England.”

“A honeymoon is a good way to see other places,” Oliver suggested, an amused light in his blue eyes. “In my role as your temporary guardian, I noticed both Hardy and Minden eyeing you during dinner last night.”

“Lord Hardy was an excellent dinner companion,” Thea said. “His conversation was lively. Lord Minden is what I imagined about men of the ton. Terribly handsome. Titled. And bored at everything going on around him.”

“Well, not quite everything,” a voice behind her said. “Mind if I join you?”

Thea was aghast to see Lord Minden smiling sardonically and felt the color stain her cheeks.

“Have a seat, Minden,” Oliver said affably, and the earl took a chair next to her.

Lady Lydia and her mother also sat at their table and the younger woman asked, “Did you stay up half the night working the puzzle, Lady Thea? It does seem you have dark circles under your eyes.” She gazed triumphantly at Thea.

Appalled at the young woman’s rude comment, Thea didn’t reply, knowing Lady Lydia only wanted to get a rise from her.

But someone else did speak up.

“It took Lady Thea less than a quarter hour to put the pieces all together.”

The Duke of Durham took the remaining seat, which was next to Thea.

“I’ve worked the map several times and don’t think I could have done it so quickly,” he added.

“Oh.” Lady Lydia sniffed, looking disdainfully at Thea. “You’re a bluestocking.”

Thea didn’t miss the condemnation in her tone.

“There’s nothing wrong with being inclined to intellectual pursuits,” the duke said. “An educated woman can be full of stimulating conversation.” He smiled at Thea before returning to his ham.

“I don’t know of many men holding that opinion, Your Grace,” Lady Lydia said.

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.