The Phantom Lover Read Free Page B

rejection of his suit was completely incomprehensible to him.
    She lifted her eyes to his face. He was looking down at her in cold vexation, but there was no pain in his eyes as there had been in Neddy’s eyes when she had broken with him. “Don’t be angry, Nigel,” she said placatingly. “You won’t suffer for this. You’ll be glad in a day or two. Everyone will tell what a complete ninnyhammer I am for letting you slip through my fingers. You’ll find a replacement for me in no time at all. And,” she added irrepressibly, “your mother will be overjoyed. I’m sure Lady Imogen will be delighted to help you choose someone more suitable than I. Why, just think of it—you might have Juliana Holcombe, or Gussie Glendenning or even Edwina Manning.”
    Nigel turned away wordlessly. He didn’t trust himself to speak. He was furious with her. He was well aware that she could be easily replaced—he didn’t need her to tell him that! He drummed his fingers angrily on his knees and stared out the carriage window at the darkened streets. The girl was behaving foolishly and would no doubt regret this in the morning. The thought soothed him. She would be sure to reconsider after a good night’s sleep. She couldn’t persist in this idiotic obstinacy in the cold light of day. Besides, the Thornes would have something to say to her. They were not likely to let Nigel Lewis out of their clutches so easily. His lips twitched in a cold smile. He need not even bother to persuade her to change her mind—the Thornes would do it for him. And when they all came round to tell him she’d reconsidered, he’d not take her back so soon. He’d make them all stew for a while.
    His smile broadened and he turned back to her. “I don’t envy you the ordeal of telling your guardians what you’ve done tonight,” he said maliciously. “What do you think they’re going to do when they learn that you’ve broken a betrothal for the third time?”
    Nell had been basking in the blessed relief of being freed from the most oppressive entanglement of her life, but the feeling evaporated at his words. Nigel was right—it would not be easy to break the news. Charles and Sybil had been urgently persistent in their support of Nigel’s suit. And now, with the late Earl’s fortune all tangled up in legalities, their need for money was great. They had not spoken of this to her, but she knew that they had counted on her marriage to give them some measure of financial relief. How could she possibly break the news to them that, for the third time in less than a year, she’d whistled a fortune down the wind?

Chapter Two
    T HE SOUND OF voices raised in argument greeted Nell when she was admitted into Thorne House a few minutes later. Beckwith, the butler who admitted her, grinned widely and nodded toward the library door from which the noise emanated. “They’re still at it,” he said with a disparaging cackle.
    â€œHaven’t they finished with Mr. Prickett?” Nell asked in surprise.
    â€œNot yet they haven’t,” the butler snorted. Beckwith did not have the dignity in manner and appearance which was usually required of the head of the domestic staff of an imposing household. He was short, stocky, cheerful and garrulous—characteristics which were considered by most of the gentry to be completely inappropriate for a man in his position. Lady Sybil found his presence a source of great embarrassment and irritation, but the old Earl had willed that Beckwith was to be kept on as butler as long as he should want the position. Beckwith seemed to take perverse delight in upsetting his mistress by making comments on her orders, speaking too freely to her guests, or appearing at times without the coat of his livery.
    These solecisms enraged Lady Sybil, but Beckwith merely chortled at her displeasure. Poor Lady Sybil received