Tempting Miss Allender (Regency Rakes 3) by Wendy Vella Read Free Book Online Page B

he had not kissed her thoroughly beneath the portraits of his ancestors.
    “Uncle Mathew!”
    Mathew smiled as his nephew ran across the room to his side. Bending, he held out his arms and accepted the hug that Louis offered him. Giving him a squeeze, he rubbed his chin over the soft hair that resembled his father’s, and was thankful yet again for his sister Claire’s persistence.
    Louis’s mother and Anthony had had an affair in France, and Louis was the result, which the Belmont family had only found out when the boy was six years old. To his everlasting shame, Mathew at first had not believed he existed and had refused to investigate further when they received a letter from Louis’s uncle. It had been Claire who delved deeper, and who had gone to see if the boy really did exist. Mathew would always be eternally grateful that she had done so.
    “Have you eaten all the cake, Nephew?”
    “ Non , but Charlie has.” His smile was wide and always made Mathew’s stomach clench, as that expression too was Anthony’s.
    “And have you made the acquaintance of Charlie’s eldest sister, Louis?”
    The boy shook his head and held his hand up to Mathew so he could take him to meet Patience.
    “Miss Allender, please allow me to introduce you to my nephew, Louis.”
    His nephew executed a perfect bow and Patience offered him a curtsey.
    “I am very pleased to meet you, Louis. May I call you that?” she said, smiling, a soft genuine one, unlike the kind Mathew received. “Charlie has just told me your interests are similar to his.”
    “Yes, I would be happy for you to call me Louis.”
    “And I am Patience.”
    Mathew didn’t precisely gnash his teeth, but the thought was there. It seemed everyone but him was allowed to be on informal terms with her.
    “He is Anthony’s son, Patience,” Mathew said softly once the boy had left to go to Charlie’s side. She would be curious as to the boy’s parentage, that was only natural, and he and his family had never made it a secret.
    “Yes, Claire told me. The likeness is strong,” was all she said before turning away from him to take the seat next to her sister.
    The conversation was general after that, with the focus around the two boys, who were already chatting like old friends.
    “My wife talks often about the yearly visits your family and hers spent together, and that you used to read to her when she was a child. She tells me that you have the storytelling voice of an angel, Miss Allender.”
    “I am afraid you have been misled, Lord Kelkirk. There was only myself or Lord Belmont to read the evening story, and as I did not skip words or pages, the Belmont and Allender siblings chose me,” Patience said.
    Mathew watched her as she and Simon talked. She was on edge, her hands smoothing her skirts or reaching for her tea. Her eyes constantly found her siblings as if checking to see if they were all right, and then returned to whoever was speaking, and he knew it was his presence alone that had made her feel this way.
    “Perhaps you can read us a verse or two, and I can see if my wife is mistaken in her memories, Miss Allender,” Simon suggested.
    She laughed and her blue eyes lit briefly. “I fear I shall put you all to sleep, Lord Kelkirk. And now I think we must leave. Lucy, Charles.” She regained her feet. “Thank you, Lady Belmont. It has been a pleasure to see you and your family again.”
    They all said goodbye, then Mathew and Louis escorted them down to the carriage. Patience, he noted, kept as far away from him as she could.
    “We are to go to the velocipede exhibition, and may even get a chance to ride one,” he said. “Charlie, perhaps you could come with us?”
    “I would love that above all things.”
    Mathew rubbed his nephew’s head as he and Charlie looked expectantly at Patience.
    “We shall see, Charlie. I will need to see what other engagements we have before I make a decision.”
    Moving to her side, Mathew spoke softly so only she