Andrews Brothers 01 - The Ruse Read Free Page A

it availed nothing, for his grip only
tightened.
    Her head bobbed and her stomach
churned. “If you don’t stop I’m going to be sick.”
    The man laughed. “If you had
anything in your stomach to lose, then you wouldn’t have been in the baron’s
forest cooking. What did you do? Did you use a slingshot and kill one of the
baron’s fowls? Or perhaps you hit a squirrel?”
    “I don’t feel so good. You should
set me down.”
    The man’s answer was to continue
walking. The nausea increased and she was powerless to control her next act.
    ****
    Luke lifted the tails of his
jacket and settled on the parlor sofa next to Zilla Elis. Her mother and father
sat across from them on another sofa, while young men and women clustered
nearby on lone chairs. The informal gathering took place in the Elis household
and was just one of many that had occurred throughout the month.
    Luke sipped at his drink. The
parlor was entirely too fancy for his tastes. Floor to ceiling shelves lined
one wall, again cluttered with those fatuous dolls. The waste of funds left his
stomach tied in knots. A servant offered him a sweet and he declined.
    Zilla leaned forward; her heavy
perfume preyed on his increasing nausea. She grabbed a sweet and popped it into
her petulant mouth. “Oh, your lordship, you must try this. Cook makes the best
desserts.”
    Luke grimaced. “That cannot be
denied.” He had been sampling cook’s desserts at least three times a week for
the last four weeks. The nausea he experienced, he partially attributed to the
Elis’ cook.
    Zilla slapped him with her closed
fan and remarked to her friend, Lilli, “You must ignore his lordship. He is
used to eating a simpler fare at Stockport and his stomach is unused to the delights London has to offer.”
    Sitting in a chair across from
them, Lilli fanned her face and blushed furiously at her friend’s unspoken
implication. Lord and Lady Elis remained oblivious to their daughter’s antics.
    In the short time Luke had
remained in London and attempted to woo Zilla, he’d learned a few things. One,
Zilla was a spoiled brat who needed to be turned over her father’s knee. And
two, Zilla’s fortune was highly sought after.
    At the various entertainments,
when the dances began, like an intrusion of cockroaches men came out of the
woodwork to court her. Zilla was never without a companion. Her governess
became her constant chaperone, implicitly trusted by Lord Elis. Little did he
know that the woman was a gossiping old biddy who directed any wholesome fellow
as far from Zilla as possible.
    Upon his first meeting with
Zilla, Mrs. Thomason had pulled him aside and said, “Your lordship, you seem
like a very nice young man. Because of this I fear I must warn you that Zilla
is not the wife for just anyone.”
    Luke had taken the words to mean
that Zilla needed someone special and was too good for the ordinary, but he
soon realized what Mrs. Thomason meant. Zilla would never concern herself with
making a man happy. If her husband wanted happiness then he would be forced to
bend to Zilla’s will.
    Several times he’d come close to
leaving London and returning to Stockport only to stop himself as he boarded
the carriage. At thirty, time was escaping him. He needed to marry and produce
an heir. The possibility that he wouldn’t produce an heir, and subsequently
would leave Chadwick in charge of the estate, made him ill. It was enough to
encourage him to meet with Zilla once more.
    Suitors vied for Zilla’s
attention. Today every man attending the private ball was promised only one
dance. Discreetly, Luke had given up his turn and found a place to sit.
    Of course his slight had been
soon discovered and Zilla found a way to sit beside him and berate him for his
choice of food, as well as other matters.
    “I dare say Stockport is a
dreadfully boring place. Lilli and I were just talking the other day that being
so far from London would be dreadfully boring.”
    “Stockport has its