The First Proposal - Chasity Bowlin Page 0,2
pray that she is worthy of you.”
It should have upset him more. It was, at best, an inconvenience. That alone told him she was perfectly correct. “I hope you find it, too… some grand passion to sweep you off your feet. A man who will make you think that marriage is more than a prison.”
“Then we will part friends and wish each other the very best that life has to offer.”
Algernon continued to sit there, even as she exited the bedchamber of the small set of rooms off Brook Street where they’d indulged their illicit affair and friendship for the past two years. He would miss her company. He would certainly miss their passionate bed play. But he wasn’t heartbroken. Not even close. “Damn it all,” he murmured and rose to dress.
CHAPTER ONE
Broken porcelain littered the floor before the fireplace, the remnants of a particularly unattractive shepherdess who could only be improved by her current sorry state. Of course, it wasn’t the shepherdess’ fault that, in her short and very cheap life, she’d been hideously unattractive. But, Percy thought sourly, it wasn’t her fault the dratted thing was broken either. Honestly, the horrid thing looked better shattered into hundreds of pieces.
The ugliness of that particular objet d'art could be laid at the doorstep of her sister’s willingness to buy anything so long as it was fashionable, regardless of whether or not it was even pretty. The brokenness, well that could be laid directly at the feet of her oldest nephew, Richard. Beelzebub. She’d told him countless times not to throw things in that room, but he never listened. Not to her, nor to anyone else. But it wasn’t just his obstinance that made him a horrid child. He was malicious, mean spirited, talked back to everyone, willfully destructive and often given to violence. He’d bitten her just that morning. A child of two could bite and be corrected for it, if a child of more than ten was biting, well, it was a problem far beyond her abilities to fix.
“Really, Persephone, I ask so little of you,” Daphne bemoaned.
Bemoaning, Percy thought bitterly, was an art that Daphne had perfected so that her tone sounded at once wounded and disappointed. In truth, Daphne’s ability to wield disappointment and disapproval as a weapon was unparalleled in all of history. The pacing and wringing of hands for effect, that was rather like the icing on a truly horrible cake, especially as the flounce of her sister’s new puce day dress clashed abominably with the red and gold carpet. Which was also new. The only thing in the house that wasn’t new were the tired old dresses Percy had brought with her from the country.
Daphne continued, droning on, “We can’t possibly afford to take you in and pay for a governess! Not given your unfortunate appetite at any rate.” This was accompanied by a side-eyed glance that roved from head to toe over her Percy’s admittedly generous figure. “And, heavens, where on earth would we put one? We’ve given you the best room in the attics!”
In the attics… with the other servants. It was yet another bitter thought and one that brought all the anger and indignity that Percy felt glaringly into view. But bitterness would only result in more scolding, more guilt, more manipulation and more… well, more Daphne. “I understand that, Daphne. And I’m terribly sorry, but I am only one person and you do have a large number of children!” And they’re all wild heathens who have likely buried their last governess in the gardens.
Daphne dabbed her curiously dry eyes with a handkerchief. When she managed to speak, her voice was tight with obviously manufactured emotion. “We took you in, Persephone, when you had nowhere to go.” A long suffering sigh, punctuated the statement. “Despite my falling out with Father, when you needed me, I was there for you. As a sister should be! We’ve fed you, clothed you, put a roof over your head… is it really so much to expect that you’d be able to keep the children occupied during the day? Do we really ask so much of you in exchange for all that we provide?”
There were six of them. SIX! Also, when Daphne had shown up the day of their father’s burial and offered to open her home to Percy, there had been no mention that it would be in exchange for anything, but specifically not in exchange for tending to Daphne’s hell-spawned brood. Then, it had