Somewhat Scandalous (Brambridge Novel 1) by Pearl Darling Read Free Book Online Page A

the dance floor, pushed his way through a small crowd of gentlemen that sat gazing admiringly at Agatha, whose plumped out skirts gave her the look of a small button mushroom.
    “Now then, if I just lay this spoon on the floor.” Agatha leant forward and placed a silver spoon on the ground.
    “You should apply to the Royal Academy of Sciences,” a gentleman at the back of her court said.
    “Do you really think I could?”
    Henry coughed and bowed. “Miss Beauregard, I would be grateful if you would join me.”
    Agatha turned and stared at him before saying something quietly to Charles on her left.
    “Are you asking her to dance?” Charles frowned and put out a hand to help Agatha to stand.
    Henry breathed deeply. “No.” There was no way he was going to ask anyone to dance. “I—I need to consult her on something in her capacity as my sister’s companion.”
    Agatha’s small intake of breath was inaudible but visible in the way her chest hitched slightly. Henry stared away at the dancers. “Quickly please, Miss Beauregard.”
    “Steady on, Anglethorpe, she was just about to show us something interesting with an egg…”
    So that was what Charles had given her.
    “She won’t be showing anybody anything tonight.” Henry took Agatha’s arm in his and led her away at a fast clip, Agatha trotting to keep up with him.
    “Why did you need to be so rude? I was just about to show them how silver tarnishes in the presence of a little water and the albumen of an…”
    “It does? How…?” Henry shook his head and sighed, drawing her into a small alcove. “Miss Beauregard. When I brought you to London to have a season, I did so as a favor to your brother. A favor which you are sorely testing.”
    “I don’t understand.” Agatha withdrew her arm from his and smoothed her hands over the silk of her skirts. “They asked me to demonstrate it. We discussed it last week at Lady Braithwaite’s ball. They seemed interested.”
    Henry closed his eyes. “They are interested. They are interested in you as an oddity, engaging in scandalous behavior under my very nose. Everyone knows the Anglethorpe name and what it stands for.”
    “Scandalous? But I wasn’t being scandalous at all…”
    “In the eyes of the ton, any behavior of a woman out of the norm is considered scandalous, bad ton. It blights the name of that person and of those associated with her.”
    Agatha’s skirts rustled as she stared down at her lap. “I… I didn’t realize. Would it help if I became a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences?”
    “It might… but…”
    “I could approach them next week.” She looked up with wide eyes. “That’s what I’ll do. After all, after I demonstrated—”
    “There will be no more demonstrations, Miss Beauregard. Kindly confine them to my house.”
    “But…”
    Henry stood and gazed back across the crowds at Charles. “No more protestations.”
    She wouldn’t look at him in the carriage on the way back to the house. Her mood extended to Victoria, who held her hand and gazed at Henry as if she wished he would disappear.
    As the butler let them back into the house in Mount Street, a small leaf from the hornbeam tree whipped into his face. Pulling it away from him with a snort of disgust, he entered the hall and drew a tired hand across his face where the leaf had scratched at it. Dropping the leaf to the floor, he crushed it beneath his feet and kicked it out over the doorstep. Clenching his fingers to his side, he turned, only to catch the wide eyes of Smythe, his butler.
    He straightened. “Goodnight.” Without waiting for a reply, he trod up the stairs evenly and walked straight to his room.
    In his rooms, the footmen prepared a large tin bath and laid out a brush and some soap. The effect of the warm water was extremely calming, the tension of the ball leaching from his body. He would need to apologize to Agatha in the morning. By all accounts he had been extremely rude. And actually he was