Read Online Candice Hern by Once a Gentleman - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Once a Gentleman
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Golden Square. Today. Right now, and with very little time to accustom herself to the idea. Would her clothes share a wardrobe with his? Would her dressing gown hang on a peg next to his? Would his cook be able to make plum cake just the way she liked it? Was there enough room for her books? And what about music? How was she to survive without a pianoforte?
“It is a bit frightening, is it not?”
She looked up to find Nicholas studying her with concern. Had her thoughts been so clearly written on her face?
“To change one’s way of life overnight,” hesaid, “to move away from all that is familiar. It is a shock. No less for me than for you. But we will get through this, my girl, I promise you.”
“Yes.”
“You will miss your family.”
She smiled sheepishly. “Actually, I was thinking how peaceful it will be without all my brothers under the same roof. They can be a noisy bunch. I shall enjoy the quiet with just you and…”
“Just you and me.”
“Yes.” Just she and Nicholas. What could possibly be less peaceful? And more likely to set her emotions into wild disorder? A silent house would surely heighten her discomfort, providing no mask of noise and activity behind which she might hide. Nicholas was right. She would soon be missing that rackety household on Brooke Street, with all the bellowing and whooping and stomping about.
“Well, there is no rush to get everything done today,” Nicholas said. “I do agree with Lord Henry that you should return home now and start getting your things packed. We can have the first of them brought over tomorrow. And since you will want to change for the theater, you will no doubt prefer to do that at home before you lose track of where you’ve put everything. I shall come by for you this evening.”
“Will you come early and have dinner with us?” It was an impulsive request, but suddenly she did not want to face her family on her own, with herbrothers’ teasing and her father’s forbearance.
Nicholas smiled. “Your last meal as hostess in your father’s house? I would be honored. Come, let me take you there now. I am sure you have much to do.”
And so her bridegroom deposited her at her father’s house on Brooke Street, leaving her feeling stupidly alone and abandoned.
Chapter 5
N ick’s head throbbed. He’d had far too much wine, and was well and truly foxed. Rather than blunting the anger that had roiled within his belly all day, however, the drink had merely intensified it.
Pru sat beside him in the carriage that was returning them to his middling little house on an unfashionable square barely on the fringes of Mayfair. How she must dread facing a life in such a modest setting. Her father’s house, though not grand in scale, was beautifully elegant. Her sister’s home was even more so, and he imagined every one of the aristocratic relatives he’d met today lived in fine style in houses much farther removed from the seamier side of town they were currently passing through. He was taking Pru tohis pokey little row house no more than a stone’s throw from the worst rookeries in town, and hated himself for feeling inadequate.
Ever since that awkward interrogation by Lord Henry, Nick had been quietly seething inside. He was angry about the forced marriage. He was angry about being connected now to a haughty, aristocratic family. He was angry at the way Pru was ignored, overlooked, or insulted by her own relations. He was angry at her father for assuming he would not take proper care of her.
Just about the only person he wasn’t angry with was Pru herself. None of this was her fault. She was as trapped as he was. Yes, he hated the fact that she had some money of her own while he had so little, but he couldn’t fault her for that. He couldn’t even fault her for not telling him about her background. Nick could not recall a single time when he’d asked about it.
What he hated most of all, what he was most angry about, was that he’d let
“It is a bit frightening, is it not?”
She looked up to find Nicholas studying her with concern. Had her thoughts been so clearly written on her face?
“To change one’s way of life overnight,” hesaid, “to move away from all that is familiar. It is a shock. No less for me than for you. But we will get through this, my girl, I promise you.”
“Yes.”
“You will miss your family.”
She smiled sheepishly. “Actually, I was thinking how peaceful it will be without all my brothers under the same roof. They can be a noisy bunch. I shall enjoy the quiet with just you and…”
“Just you and me.”
“Yes.” Just she and Nicholas. What could possibly be less peaceful? And more likely to set her emotions into wild disorder? A silent house would surely heighten her discomfort, providing no mask of noise and activity behind which she might hide. Nicholas was right. She would soon be missing that rackety household on Brooke Street, with all the bellowing and whooping and stomping about.
“Well, there is no rush to get everything done today,” Nicholas said. “I do agree with Lord Henry that you should return home now and start getting your things packed. We can have the first of them brought over tomorrow. And since you will want to change for the theater, you will no doubt prefer to do that at home before you lose track of where you’ve put everything. I shall come by for you this evening.”
“Will you come early and have dinner with us?” It was an impulsive request, but suddenly she did not want to face her family on her own, with herbrothers’ teasing and her father’s forbearance.
Nicholas smiled. “Your last meal as hostess in your father’s house? I would be honored. Come, let me take you there now. I am sure you have much to do.”
And so her bridegroom deposited her at her father’s house on Brooke Street, leaving her feeling stupidly alone and abandoned.
Chapter 5
N ick’s head throbbed. He’d had far too much wine, and was well and truly foxed. Rather than blunting the anger that had roiled within his belly all day, however, the drink had merely intensified it.
Pru sat beside him in the carriage that was returning them to his middling little house on an unfashionable square barely on the fringes of Mayfair. How she must dread facing a life in such a modest setting. Her father’s house, though not grand in scale, was beautifully elegant. Her sister’s home was even more so, and he imagined every one of the aristocratic relatives he’d met today lived in fine style in houses much farther removed from the seamier side of town they were currently passing through. He was taking Pru tohis pokey little row house no more than a stone’s throw from the worst rookeries in town, and hated himself for feeling inadequate.
Ever since that awkward interrogation by Lord Henry, Nick had been quietly seething inside. He was angry about the forced marriage. He was angry about being connected now to a haughty, aristocratic family. He was angry at the way Pru was ignored, overlooked, or insulted by her own relations. He was angry at her father for assuming he would not take proper care of her.
Just about the only person he wasn’t angry with was Pru herself. None of this was her fault. She was as trapped as he was. Yes, he hated the fact that she had some money of her own while he had so little, but he couldn’t fault her for that. He couldn’t even fault her for not telling him about her background. Nick could not recall a single time when he’d asked about it.
What he hated most of all, what he was most angry about, was that he’d let