A Love That Never Tires by Allyson Jeleyne Read Free Book Online Page B

Talbot-Martin!” Berenice called from the open door of her automobile. “I hope I do not have to explain that it is quite rude to keep one’s company waiting!”

    ***

    The trip from the station to Bedford Square was like nothing Linley ever saw before. Everywhere she looked, there were motorcars, omnibuses, and horse-drawn carts, not to mention the throngs of pedestrians darting between them and scurrying along the pavement. Advertisements for laundry soaps and bicycle repair shops decorated the streets, hanging from every available space on the sides of the buses and lorries that passed by.
    Unable to help herself, Linley stared open-mouthed out the window. When they arrived at Berenice’s gray brick townhouse, she felt dizzy from the shock of the commotion. The busy streets of Cairo or Rome were no match for London. The city was more than she ever expected or could have ever dreamed in a thousand years. How had she gone her entire life and not experienced this place?
    “The square and its gardens were named after the Duke of Bedford, who owns them,” her father explained, taking her hand and helping her out of the motorcar. “When your great-grandfather lived here, he thought there was no finer man than His Grace, the Duke. So he insisted I be called Bedford in his honor.” Linley did not seem at all impressed at that tidbit of family history, so he added, “And you’ll be glad to know we are only a short walk from the British Museum.”
    “Really?” Linley asked. “Could we go there tomorrow? Oh please, Papa?”
    He smiled down at her. “I think tomorrow might be too soon. Cousin Berenice intends to take you shopping. The sooner we order your wardrobe, the better, Button.”
    Linley glanced from her father to Berenice. “What is wrong with what I have?”
    The woman wrinkled her nose at the young girl’s faded traveling suit. “Every young woman can benefit from an update of her clothing from time to time. I’m sure what you have is very nice, but wouldn’t you like to have pretty new things?”
    “I…I suppose so.”
    Berenice nodded. “Very good. We will begin tomorrow.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

    Linley hardly slept that night. The sounds of the city right outside her bedroom window proved too much for her. She peeked from behind the heavy silk draperies onto the street below, and to the lush private garden beyond. She had watched the street lamps come on, sat up with their yellow light all night, and finally saw them shut off. It was now mid-morning. A nanny pushed a perambulator. Motors came and went. Someone walked a pair of spaniels across the street. All of them oblivious to the excitement their mundane lives brought the young woman sitting in the second-floor window above them.
    There was a knock at Linley’s bedroom door. A maid carrying a breakfast tray shuffled in. “Good morning, miss.”
    “Good morning,” Linley replied.
    The maid sat the tray on a small rosewood table. “I’ve brought your breakfast. Mrs. Hastings didn’t know what you liked, so she ordered you a bit of everything. Usually you’d serve yourself downstairs, but I thought you might still be tired from your journey.”
    “That’s very kind.” Linley studied the plates—sausage, eggs, beans, and tomatoes. There was also toast and marmalade, as well as a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee. “I hardly know where to begin.”
    As she ate, the maid moved around the room. The woman drew back the curtains, filling the room with light, and then went to work tidying the bedcovers. “Did you not sleep well, miss? The bed’s hardly been touched.”
    “I was too excited to sleep,” Linley said, taking a mouthful of beans.
    The maid smiled. “I remember my first trip to London. I’d never known so many people could be packed into one place.”
    “It’s really rather impressive, isn’t it?” Linley continued. “I’ve been all over the world, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”
    Once she deemed the room