Wife Errant by Joan Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

that?”
    “Pardon me. The word has three syllables,”he said through thin lips.
    “How very rude you are! I know lots of words with three syllables.”
    “Of course you do. There is cowcumber, and nip-farthing.”
    “Don’t forget reprobate!”she added, with a bold smile.
    “Add ingratitude to your list, milady.”
    “That is four syllables. I count, too, you see. Oh, look, Revel!”She grabbed his arm. “That is Lord James’s carriage, is it not? And it’s only eleven-thirty. He is bringing her home pretty early. We’ll wait till Mama goes in. I want her to have a few minutes to worry about me. Say half an hour. We shall just park here in the shadows.”
    “I cannot leave my nags standing in this cold for half an hour!”
    “Why do gentlemen invariably put the welfare of their cattle before that of ladies?”she snipped.
    Undeterred, Revel pulled the check string and directed John Groom to trot the nags along the Upper Bristol Road a few miles, then return, but they waited to see Lord James escort Mrs. Marchant to her front door.
    “We should have waited to see if she invited him inside,”Tess complained as the carriage rolled away.
    “We’ll see if his rig is still there when we return.”
    “What, leave his nags standing in the cold for half an hour? Impossible!”
    “I should think you would be a little more conciliating, Tess. I am going a mile out of my way to help you.”
    “I do hope it brings Esmée round your thumb, Revel. Fancy her preferring Papa to you. Some ladies do like a little maturity in their flirts, of course.”
    “Are you implying I am immature?”
    “A gentleman of one and thirty who has had a series of mistresses, but is afraid to settle down, must be considered immature,”she pointed out blandly. “I feel Esmée must agree with me.”
    “I turned Esmée off two weeks ago.”
    “Why? What is wrong with her? I must warn Papa. Is she very expensive?”
    “On the contrary. She refused to take anything. Money, jewelry ...”
    “Surely that is all to the good,”she said in confusion.
    “No, it is not all to the good. When a lady refuses payment, it means she expects something else for her trouble. To wit, a wedding ring.”
    “Oh, dear! Poor Papa! I must warn him.”
    Revel was annoyed with Tess. He felt he was doing her a tremendous favor, and all he was getting for his trouble was complaints and insults. Eventually he would no doubt star as the wrongdoer in the affair when she was kind enough to jilt him. He must be mad. He was beginning to have serious doubts about this undertaking. He might shift the job off on to Evans. Yet that did not quite please him, either.
    The lights were still burning at Bartlett Street when the carriage returned. Lord James’s carriage was nowhere in sight.
    “He has either left, or he is having his groom drive the nags around,”Revel said.
    “Since the window curtains are open, we can peek in the saloon window and see if he is there,”Tess suggested. “I shall also be interested to see if they are kissing.”
    “I refuse to play the Peeping Tom!”
    “Don’t be so missish, Revel.”
    “Missish”was the last charge Revel ever expected to hear hurled at his head. He had been castigated before for flying too high, driving too fast, gambling too deep, and other conduct becoming a bachelor about town, but “missish”! This was really the outside of enough.
    Tess was already opening her door and dismounting. Revel climbed out the other door and followed her toward the house. The window was rather high. Even on tiptoe, Revel could not see in, and Tess’s head was six inches below the frame.
    “I’ll have to lift you up,”he said.
    “You’d never get me off the ground. I weigh nine stone.”
    Annoyed at yet another slur on his manhood, Revel put his hands around her waist and lifted her off the ground. She grabbed on to the window ledge and peered through the curtains. Vision was misty through the layers of chiffon, but she could