An Undomesticated Wife Read Free Page B

ago.”
    â€œI am sure that you will find it holds many delights for a young woman.” His eye closed in a lazy wink.
    This was beyond too much. “I am sure that my husband will be pleased to introduce me to each of them.”
    â€œHusband?”
    â€œLord Daniston. Mayhap you know him.” She let a condescending smile drift across her lips. “His father is the Duke of Attleby.”
    Mr. Bobbs muttered something and subsided into unexpected silence. Regina wondered why she had failed to mention that fact several leagues ago. If she had had any idea that it would muzzle this impertinent man’s commonplaces, she would not have hesitated.
    She glanced out the window again and saw that more buildings were crowding the side of the road. Mayhap she should have said nothing. Hurting someone’s feelings unnecessarily, especially when that person was as want-witted as Mr. Bobbs appeared to be, was something she disliked doing. There always should be a solution that left everyone satisfied. How many times had she heard Papa say that? He lived by that axiom, which was why he was one of England’s most well-respected diplomats, even in these troubling years when peace seemed as elusive as when Napoleon and his men had been rampaging across Europe.
    â€œPapa,” she whispered, too low for anyone to hear over the rattle of the wheels and Mr. Bobbs’s voice as he turned to chatter at the man sitting next to him in the crowded coach. “Papa, I wish you were here to help me with this.”
    Never let anyone see you are nervous. If you appear calm in an uncomfortable predicament, you will garner the respect of those around you . Papa’s voice filled her memory as clearly as if he was speaking to her now.
    In truth, no more than a fortnight had passed since she had bid him farewell at the door of their home in Algiers. She had been shocked when he had come to her only a few days before to inform her that she would marry Lord Daniston by a proxy ceremony that very afternoon. More quickly than she had believed possible, the ceremony was over, her bags packed, and her passage obtained.
    Now she was in this strange land. She had seen nothing like the undulating fields flowing off to the horizon and the green hills. The buildings were unlike the ones she was accustomed to in Algiers. In the small villages they had passed through, she had seen churches completely dissimilar from the mosques that had raised their slender minarets high above the city. The houses here were built of timber instead of stone. Even the birds in the trees, which had flitted away as the coach passed, were different.
    And she was not sure if she liked any of it, especially the idea of a husband she had never met.
    The coaching inn was a dreary place in the thickening fog. Any whitewash that once might have lightened the weathered boards had vanished long ago. The squawk of chickens and dogs and children greeted the coach as it rolled to a stop in a courtyard between the inn and the equally dilapidated stable.
    When the door was opened, Regina held her reticule tightly. She gave the coachman a smile as he helped her down. As cramped as her knees were from the long trip, she might have fallen on her face without his help.
    â€œMy lady, I enjoyed your company,” Mr. Bobbs said, bouncing about like a small bird. He tipped his hat to her. “I hope you enjoy your stay in Town.”
    I hope so, too , she thought as she gave him a swift smile. Glancing around the courtyard, she shivered, although the afternoon was sticky with humidity. The fog stank of smoke and droppings from the stable. She carefully picked her way through the passengers to where the trunks were being unloaded from the coach.
    â€œLady Daniston?”
    She turned to see a slim man in bright red livery staring at her. “Yes?”
    â€œLady Daniston? ”
    Regina was not surprised that the coachman’s voice was so uncertain. She must look