Talk of the Town

Talk of the Town by Joan Smith Read Free Book Online

Book: Talk of the Town by Joan Smith Read Free Book Online
Authors: Joan Smith
Tags: Regency Romance
must. Larry can’t handle it in his position.”
    “Write her a letter and enclose a cheque, if you insist on throwing your blunt away. If you don’t mean to follow my advice, I don’t see why you bother me with your problems.”
    “Yes, I know you like to have it all your own way, dear, but still I don’t want to resort to an attorney.
    “Then you have the choice of paying through the nose or having them here.”
    “I’ll write the letter. I can’t have them here.”
    “Let me know what they answer. We must get this business straightened out. As well as Larry’s promotion hanging fire, there is Mama’s brother about to retire from the archbishopric with an unblemished, indeed an excellent, record of achievement. We don’t need any scandal in the family. We have never had it, and it would be a shame if it should come to us through your husband.”
    “Well, you are the one who chose him for me, Richard.”
    “I chose him? I was in shortcoats when you married, Bess.”
    “Oh, my goodness, what made me say that? You looked so very like Papa just now, St. Felix.”
    St. Felix was insensibly pleased with this comparison. He did not consciously pattern himself after his father, perhaps, but had he been asked to choose the gentleman he most admired in the world, it might well have been his father. He knew he did not live up to that hero’s high standards—they were the reach beyond the grasp.
    At Upper Grosvenor Square, Daphne ran to her aunt the minute St. Felix left the house. Her intention was to tell her the whole disagreeable conversation, but she was diverted by a question.
    “What was St. Felix like?”
    “Very tall, and very arrogant.”
    “His father was tall, too, but never arrogant with me."
    “What was your connection with the father? Another suitor?”
    “Oh, no, he was married at the time. He was quite a bit older than I.”
    The dreamy blue eyes belied the denial of romance. “Come now, confess he was in love with you."
    “He may have been, a little, but nothing came of it.”
    “When was this, Auntie?” Daphne asked, intending to do a little reading in the pertinent section of the memoirs to satisfy herself.
    “Years ago, in 1785, it was, in the Fall.”
    This precise recall of the date and season increased Daphne’s suspicions, and she intended to follow it up as soon as possible. “Well, whatever about the father, I do not care for the son. He was quite rude.”
    “Really, what did he say?”
    It proved impossible to burden her smiling aunt with the whole story, and she said, “He came to offer you money not to mention Sir Lawrence in your book.”
    “What nonsense! As if I’d admit to a soul that that ninny ever was sweet on me. I’d pay to keep it a secret. An admirer of his sort adds nothing to one’s reputation.”
    “But what I said before is true, Auntie. These people are coming only for fear of what you will write about them.
    “I can’t believe that. Lady Pamela was always a good friend, and Major Deitweiller, too, was quite charming.”
    “Yes, but if they are coming as friends, why do they all shove money at you?”
    “Well, my dear, they do owe me money, and they must see I am not so high in the stirrups as I was used to be. That is what friends are for, to help one when she is down. Repaying a favour—there is no harm in that.”
    “No, there is nothing wrong in it; but still we are being taken for a pair of blackmailers.”
    Aunt Effie laughed merrily at this comment. It was typical of Sir James Ingleside to look for trouble when there was none, of course, and there was no denying Daphne had something of her father in her. Effie returned to her memoirs, to be disturbed very shortly by a Mrs. Acres, come with her fists full of bills, to enquire how the book went on and to repay dear Effie for that money she had lent her for a little holiday in France when she had been feeling poorly, just after her first husband died. And there was no need to mention in the

Similar Books

Strong and Sexy.2

Jill Shalvis

The Grand Design

John Marco

Ice

Anna Kavan

8 Antiques Con

Barbara Allan