Romance: Detective Romance: A Vicious Affair (Victorian Regency Intrigue 19th England Romance) (Historical Mystery Detective Romance) by Lisa Andersen Read Free Book Online Page A

my Christian name, if you wish,” he said, as he took a seat on the chair that faced the three women. “Or you may simply call me Brigadier.”
    Mother inclined her head. “Very well, Brigadier.”
    “Charles, isn’t it?” Eve said.
    Mother’s head snapped around, and regarded her balefully. “Forgive my daughter,” she said hurriedly.
    “It is quite fine,” Charles said. Charles, Charles, Charles! “I gave you permission, and it is of no concern to me. In truth, the last thing a soldier wants – even a Brigadier – when he comes home is to be constantly reminded that he is, in fact, a soldier .”
    Soon Ellie entered with tea and cakes. She laid them out upon the table, poured the tea and left quickly, as Mother had instructed her. They had had to dismiss their footman, as they did not host nearly enough and he had cost too much to keep on. They had only been able to keep Ellie, whose responsibility it was now to wait upon visitors. Mother seemed to hold her breath as Ellie served the food and drink. Eve could almost see her thoughts. He sees we don’t have a footman! He will judge us! He will judge us harshly!
    But the Brigadier didn’t judge them at all. He simply took his drink and sipped it slowly. “Miss Somerset,” he said, facing Eve. “I must say, and please excuse my brutish way of putting it – I am afraid a soldier is not picked for his manners in times of war—I must say that I was surprised to see a woman of your elegance sitting amongst the wallflowers. A ghastly phrase, I know!” He shook his head. “A ghastly phrase,” he repeated. “But I am no wordsmith, as my letter proved.” He seemed to be tripping upon words. “What I mean to say is it startled me. That is all.”
    “As it does me,” Eve said, as smoothly as she could. She folded her gloved hands in her lap. “But one must accept, mustn’t one, that being startled is a main course of life? I, for example, was startled and delighted to read your letter. Despite your protestations, it was most well-written and sincere. One rarely reads a sincere letter these days.”
    “I could not agree more,” Charles said. “Yes, I could not agree more. Eloquence, sincerity and grandiosity are perhaps too close for comfort in some souls.”
    “And you said you were no word-smith, sir!” Eve exclaimed, forgetting herself for a moment.
    Mother shot her an accusatory look. Auntie Alice scoffed under her breath. Eve let out a sigh and forced her face to resume its calm impassivity. But she had seen the smile on his face, too. Just for a moment, they had looked across at each other and smiled, just smiled, as though they were good friends who had known each other for years. Eve felt an affinity with him, and she wished Mother and Auntie Alice would make some excuse and go away somewhere else. But of course that would not happen.
    “You are a vivacious young lady, aren’t you, Miss Somerset?” the Brigadier said, with a smile that banished his scar for a moment. “When I was in the war, I used to dream of meeting a woman like—Forgive me, ladies, I have too long been away from society, and my thoughts sometimes turn into sentences without my consultation. This—this tea is wonderful.” He paused, his brow knitting, as though he was trying to devise a particularly complex plan. “Miss Somerset, I would like to know about you. I would like to know about your person, that is. What it is you enjoy doing. What it is that makes you, you.”
    Mother nodded approvingly at this, and so Eve felt like she had permission to actually talk. “I adore reading,” Eve said. She quickly glanced at Mother. Nobody knew that Eve had taught herself Latin and Greek in the years of being a wallflower, had sneaked into Father’s old library and pored over the books which Mother refused to sell out of some belated sense of pride; Mother thought Eve read only light novels. She couldn’t expound fully on her reading without informing Mother.
    “And I like