Read Online Accidentally in Love by Claudia Dain - Free Book Online

him and he had gone along with it. He had gone to school where he was told, studied what he was told, left school when he was told, lived where he was told, loved where he was told. His one moment of independence had been in finding the Harlows and digging himself in there; but he would never have been able to stay if he had not managed to dig his mother in alongside him.
    He was not going to leave the wall of Melverley House, no matter what the footman thought he could possibly do to damage the wallpaper. As far as world rebellions went, his was of the minor sort. Nevertheless, he was not moving.
    “Ben!” one of the approaching footmen said. “Ben Skrewd!”
    Ben, the wallpaper footman, took that as a sign that he must remove Kit from the wallpaper or be sacked. Ben, green eyes squinting, grabbed Kit’s arm above the elbow and yanked.
    Kit, who might have gone to school where he was told and studied what he was told, had done a few things he had not been told, was more than ready for rough play. He jerked his arm away from Ben’s and shoved him backwards, not a strike but a shove, a mere shove, but that shove caught the footman unprepared. He stumbled and fought for his footing, arms wheeling. Kit reached for him. The footman smacked his hand away, the action violent enough that, their hands entangling for the briefest of moments, they hit the gilt frame that housed the portrait of an Elizabethan lady with red hair and copious strands of pearls so that she, frame and all, careened against the wall and looked very close to popping out of her frame and skidding across the polished wood floor.
    Neither the lady nor her frame actually toppled. She did, however, leave a long tear in the wallpaper. The wall covering, not actually paper, was blue silk damask. It looked quite old, and rare, and fragile.
    After that, no one cared about the orchestra. The violinist had sought perfection in his bow for nothing.
    And after all that, Kit left his position on the wall. Still, at least in his own mind, the point had been made and he had won the point.
     
     
    “Did he actually hit the footman?” Harry said at breakfast the following morning.
    “Of course he didn’t,” Mama said. “How absurd that would have been. One doesn’t treat servants that way.”
    “But I’ve never heard of a servant hauling off on a gentleman either,” Harry said. It was all quite high drama for Harry. In that, he was not alone. Emeline expected that the whole of London was gobbling up every morsel of last night’s misadventure. “The footman did hit him, didn’t he?”
    “He most certainly did not,” Emeline said. “Where did you hear that?”
    “From---”
    “He’s not certain,” Pip interrupted, looking at Harry sharply.
    “I can’t remember,” Harry chirped.
    “The details hardly matter,” Mama said, “the point is that poor Mr. Culley will never be admitted to the best houses now. His chances for finding a wife this Season, and likely the next, are much reduced. I should be surprised if he is not forced to wait years for this to die down.”
    Emeline grinned and took an enthusiastic bite of her kippers.
    “If I were a girl,” Sig said, “I imagine I would prefer a man who doesn’t allow a footman to tell him what to do.”
    “Me, too,” Harry said.
    “What do you think, Emeline?” Pip said. “You’re a girl.”
    “Thank you for noticing,” she said.
    “Don’t you still like Kit?” Harry asked.
    “Of course I still like Kit. I shall always like Kit,” she said, the faint heat of a blush moving up her throat.
    “Liking Mr. Culley is not the issue,” Mama said. “Of course we all like him and shall continue to do so. The Culleys are family friends and we are not so tepid in our friendships as to cut someone for a . . . ”
    Mama seemed to have no word for what Kit had done.
    “Faux paus?” Sig suggested.
    “Unfortunately, it was more than that,” Mama said, “though no matter what it was, we shall not