Читать книгу A Most Unconventional Match - Julia Justiss - Страница 13

Two mornings later, trying to quell the nervousness in his gut, Hal rang the bell at Mrs Lowery’s Green Street town house. Truly, he’d rather face down a dozen Mr Smiths in some low dive in Seven Dials than meet one Elizabeth Lowery in her drawing room.

The butler who answered the door informed Hal that his mistress was presently working in her studio and ushered him to a salon to wait while he informed Mrs Lowery of his arrival. Hal’s request that Master David be summoned from the schoolroom to see him in the interim was unusual enough to surprise a momentary raise of eyebrows from the butler before Sands bowed himself out.

A little shamefaced, Hal paced the parlour. David having mentioned that his mama always worked in her studio in the morning, he’d deliberately timed his visit for this hour. He’d wanted a respite after he arrived in the house to settle his nerves and a chance to visit the boy before he subjected himself once again to Elizabeth Lowery’s unsettling presence.

When he was finally ushered into her office, he must be able to concentrate on getting out the words to accurately describe the state of Lowery’s finances. He could not let himself be distracted by the rose scent that wafted from her or the mesmerising blue of her eyes that beckoned him to halt in mid-syllable and simply gaze into them. Or the perfection of her skin that made him burn to feel the silk of her face beneath his fingertips…

Catching the direction of his thoughts, he shook his head. He’d have to do better than this. He had but to recall her and his body began hardening, his mind losing its grip on his purpose in coming here. For a few panicked seconds, he considered bolting from the house.

But he couldn’t do his duty by running away and delaying wouldn’t make confronting her any easier. He’d never shied from dealing with difficult situations—witness the last seven years of handling his mother—and didn’t intend to let Nicky down by starting now.

As he rallied himself, he heard the rapid patter of approaching footsteps. A moment later, David burst into the room, the broken soldier dangling from one hand.

The glowing look on the boy’s face as he skidded to a halt just inside the threshold temporarily dispelled all Hal’s misgivings. ‘Oh, Mr Waterman!’ David exclaimed. ‘You came back!’

Once again, Hal was catapulted back to a time when he had been small, grieving and friendless. It was worth all the difficulties he would encounter being around the boy’s mama to bring that look of pleasure and relief to the child’s face.