Free Lord Portman's Troublesome Wife by Mary Nichols Page B

what it will be like being Lady Portman. You will be invited everywhere. Why, I do not doubt you will receive an invitation to the coronation, if not the Royal wedding. How can you even thinking of turning his lordship down?’
    Max grunted. ‘He hopes she will change her mind.’
    ‘Then of course she will.’
    Rosamund let them rattle on, giving her one reason after another why it would be the height of folly to reject his lordship and outlining the many advantages, all of which she already knew. By the time they had drunk the tea she had ordered and eaten thelast of the cake in the house, she was almost convinced. But not enough to admit it.
    The following morning Cook left for a new post as under-cook at a large estate in Hertfordshire and Janet took herself off to her sister, where she intended to stay until she found a new position. Left alone in the empty house, Rosamund sat on her trunk in the hall with a portmanteau beside her to await her aunt’s arrival, contemplating her life as Lady Bonhaven’s companion and trying to compare it with what Lord Portman had offered. She came to the conclusion she had been a fool to turn him down.
    Her aunt arrived, bustling into the house and surveying her niece and her luggage with a critical eye. ‘I really should have taken you to shop for a new mourning gown,’ she said. ‘That one is far too shabby. Her ladyship will not wish you to dress à la mode , but she will certainly expect you to look respectable. I wonder if it is too late. We could see if we can find a ready-made gown at one of the shops.’
    ‘No, Aunt, it is not necessary,’ Rosamund said firmly. ‘I am not going to Lady Bonhaven’s. Will you please convey to her my regrets and apologies for the short notice.’
    The old lady’s face lit up. ‘You are going to accept Lord Portman?’
    ‘Yes, I think I must. If he will still have me.’
    ‘Of course he will. No gentleman would go back on an offer once made.’
    Rosamund gave a wry smile. ‘Let us go and put it to the test, shall we?’
    ‘My dear girl, you cannot call on a single gentleman, do show some sense. Come home with me and I will invite him to call. We must do this properly.’
    She looked startled when her niece burst into laughter. Keyed up to almost breaking point, she laughed until the tears ran down her face. ‘Oh, Aunt, how can you talk of propriety in a situation like this?’ she said, wiping her streaming eyes on her handkerchief. She became serious as her aunt requested her to get up off the trunk and let her footmen carry it out to the coach. While this was being done, Rosamund checked that all doors and windows were secure, refusing to give way to nostalgia over the task, and then followed her aunt out to her coach.

Chapter Four
    H arry was in the library of his home, writing up notes for the Gentleman’s Club, a requirement for all the members when on a case, when a letter was brought to him from Mrs Bullivant, requesting him to call on her at Chandos Street that afternoon. It was a minute or two before he could place the lady and then he remembered being presented to her by Miss Chalmers. He allowed himself a faint smile and calmly continued with his writing. He finished it just before noon and went into the dining room to eat a leisurely luncheon, after which he ordered his landau to be brought to the door, then went to his bedroom and began stripping off the riding coat he had been wearing. ‘I think the lilac coat and the flowered satin waistcoat and white small clothes.’
    ‘Yes, my lord.’ Jack had long ago given up trying to understand his master’s whims where clothes were concerned. He was just as likely to dress as a street porter as a macaroni and when he donned those clothes, his character changed to match. He could be a porter, amacaroni or a Corinthian with equal ease. Today, it appeared, he was to be a Corinthian, beautifully, but not outrageously, attired.
    The valet fetched out the suit and helped him