His Wayward Ward - A Regency Novella (Risque Regency) Read Free Page B

but it soon became apparent that Flora Fitzwilliams was so solidly entrenched in Bath Society that she would not willingly leave it. Besides, she always maintained that provincial husbands were by far the better quality, being less inclined to fall into the folly of town ways. Having met Grayson, Eliza was more than willing to concede she had a point. ‘I don’t believe London could hold a patch to what we have here. I’m perfectly happy with the entertainments that Bath has to offer,’ she said firmly.
    ‘I’d be jolly pleased to spend some time in London!’ Edward exclaimed. ‘Are you here to take us up with you? Because I was thinking I could do with some new shirts and the kind I like are devilishly hard to get in Bath.’
    Eliza gave her brother a scornful look. ‘Honestly, Edward! What kind of shirts do you need? You know perfectly well you can get the same things here that you can get in London.’
    ‘Not everything. Bexley himself said that good quality lawn shirts were particularly scarce down here.’
    ‘Oh… fiddle!’
    ‘Oh, no,’ Carlton said, with a touch of malice, ‘I believe your brother is quite right. And life is really too short to go without a good quality lawn shirt, don’t you think?’
    Eliza stared at her guardian suspiciously. ‘No, I do not. It’s a shirt, for heaven’s sake. How can a shirt make the smallest bit of difference?’
    ‘Well, it does.’ Edward flashed back, shaken out of his usual, placid good-humor by his sister’s lack of sartorial refinement. ‘And I, for one, would be delighted to go up to London and… and outfit myself properly!’
    Carlton was gazing at Eliza – who was glaring at her brother – with large, dark eyes that sparkled with displeasure. After a moment, he nodded, almost to himself. ‘Yes. Why not? I think a few weeks in London would be very good for both of you. It will take any rough edges off.’ He smiled at Eliza whose gaze had immediately swung back to him. Her horrified expression suggested that she had somehow substituted ‘London’ with ‘Timbuktu’. It sealed the deal for Carlton. ‘Yes, I would be delighted to have you join me in Curzon Street. I shall arrange to have my coach brought down and you may both travel up on Saturday.’
    ‘Saturday!’ Eliza exclaimed. ‘B-but I don’t want to go to London!’
    ‘Nonsense. I’ve heard from reliable sources that every young lady wants to go to London.’ Turning, he bowed to a gaping Flora who had listened to this conversation with growing dismay. ‘I shall be with you for dinner and we can discuss the matter further, but for now, I shall say goodbye. It has gone four already and if I am to be ready for you at six, I must return home. But rest assured, dear lady,’ he added with a wicked smile, ‘it will be a brief parting.’
    Eliza, Edward and Flora watched him leave with varying degrees of emotion. Flora was profoundly offended and deeply annoyed by his lordship’s highhanded attitude; Edward was unrepentantly jubilant and as for Eliza... she drew in a long, ragged breath. This was a disaster! As much as her aunt was angry, Eliza was speechless with rage. How dare Carlton suddenly turn up and disrupt their lives on what was clearly a whim! She suspected he had had no intention of doing anything more than pay an obligatory social call and yet now… now they were going to London with him? She wanted to stamp her foot with fury.
    He would ruin everything with his highhanded arrogance.
    And Grayson… what of Grayson? She would have to leave her love behind unless he could somehow come to London with her. It was all utterly insupportable.
    ‘Well!’ Aunt Flora exploded, breaking the stunned silence, ‘I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; that man is impossible!’
    ‘Yes, but this is excellent,’ Edward said happily. ‘London! What a turn up. And here I was thinking Carlton wouldn’t want to trouble himself with us at all.’
    ‘I wish that he hadn’t. I