father blushing, and he knew why he was in this case. Having made that statement, Jason had realized immediately his faux pas. Derek was a bastard, after all, and there wasn’t anyone who knew the Malorys who wasn’t aware of that fact.
Jason was scowling now at Derek’s humor, and as was frequently his way, he turned the tables around with the remark “By the by, who’s the chit you brought home the other night to the London house?”
Derek rolled his eyes. He always found it amazing, the things his father knew about thathe shouldn’t know about, and how quickly he knew about them.
“Just someone who needed a little help.”
Jason snorted. “I had conflicting reports, Hanly calling her a tart, Hershal calling her a lady. Which was it?”
“Neither, actually. She’s had a superior education, prob’ly better than most ladies, but she’s not gentry.”
“Merely caught your interest?”
There was no merely about it, but Derek would prefer his father didn’t know that, so he said with an expression of indifference, “Yes, something like that.”
“You will refrain from bringing her home again?”
“Certainly. That wasn’t very wise of me, I admit. But really, Father, she’s nothing to concern yourself over. You won’t be hearing about her again.”
“It’s the servants that I don’t want hearing about her, neither those in London nor here. This family has supplied more than enough gossip for the mills, enough for several lifetimes. We don’t need to be contributing anymore.”
Derek nodded, in perfect agreement. After all, other than the fact of his birth, he’d always managed to keep his affairs discreet enough that no scandal had ever been attached to him. He prided himself on that fact. And intended to keep it that way.
13
Derek never did get back to Bridgewater. He had stayed the rest of the day at Haverston to visit with his father, and had left the next morning to return to London to go through his mail and get a long letter off to Bainsworth. And as long as he was there, he started checking on a house to rent for Kelsey.
It would have been much easier if he could have gone to his Uncle Edward. Edward owned property all over London that he rented, and more than likely had available just what Derek was looking for. But Edward would ask what he required it for, and that wasn’t something he wanted to divulge to the uncle who was closest to his father. With his other two uncles, there would have been no problem. They would have understood perfectly, having each kept countless mistresses themselves—at least previous to their marriages. But Edward was a family man, had always been a family man.
Unfortunately, his uncles Tony and James didn’t own rentals in the city, or if they did,they left them to Edward to manage, as he did all of the family’s investments. So Derek was forced to go through a normal search, and that had him running about the city, looking at town houses that were either too large, too expensive, or in need of too much repair. By the time he found just what he was looking for, it was the day before his cousin Amy’s wedding. So there was no point in hieing off to Bridgewater then, just to turn right around and return to the city.
On the other hand, there was no point in keeping Kelsey in the country any longer either, when he had a signed six-month lease on a town house for her that came fully furnished and was ready for immediate occupancy. The only thing still needed for it was a small staff of servants, which she should be involved in the hiring of anyway. So he sent off a missive to his driver to fetch her back to the city.
Actually, he was too eager to see her again to wait until after Amy’s wedding, when he would be free to fetch her himself. This way, she would be ensconced in the London flat by the next night, and they could get around to starting their relationship on a more intimate level a day sooner.
It wasn’t often that the entire Malory
Jason was scowling now at Derek’s humor, and as was frequently his way, he turned the tables around with the remark “By the by, who’s the chit you brought home the other night to the London house?”
Derek rolled his eyes. He always found it amazing, the things his father knew about thathe shouldn’t know about, and how quickly he knew about them.
“Just someone who needed a little help.”
Jason snorted. “I had conflicting reports, Hanly calling her a tart, Hershal calling her a lady. Which was it?”
“Neither, actually. She’s had a superior education, prob’ly better than most ladies, but she’s not gentry.”
“Merely caught your interest?”
There was no merely about it, but Derek would prefer his father didn’t know that, so he said with an expression of indifference, “Yes, something like that.”
“You will refrain from bringing her home again?”
“Certainly. That wasn’t very wise of me, I admit. But really, Father, she’s nothing to concern yourself over. You won’t be hearing about her again.”
“It’s the servants that I don’t want hearing about her, neither those in London nor here. This family has supplied more than enough gossip for the mills, enough for several lifetimes. We don’t need to be contributing anymore.”
Derek nodded, in perfect agreement. After all, other than the fact of his birth, he’d always managed to keep his affairs discreet enough that no scandal had ever been attached to him. He prided himself on that fact. And intended to keep it that way.
13
Derek never did get back to Bridgewater. He had stayed the rest of the day at Haverston to visit with his father, and had left the next morning to return to London to go through his mail and get a long letter off to Bainsworth. And as long as he was there, he started checking on a house to rent for Kelsey.
It would have been much easier if he could have gone to his Uncle Edward. Edward owned property all over London that he rented, and more than likely had available just what Derek was looking for. But Edward would ask what he required it for, and that wasn’t something he wanted to divulge to the uncle who was closest to his father. With his other two uncles, there would have been no problem. They would have understood perfectly, having each kept countless mistresses themselves—at least previous to their marriages. But Edward was a family man, had always been a family man.
Unfortunately, his uncles Tony and James didn’t own rentals in the city, or if they did,they left them to Edward to manage, as he did all of the family’s investments. So Derek was forced to go through a normal search, and that had him running about the city, looking at town houses that were either too large, too expensive, or in need of too much repair. By the time he found just what he was looking for, it was the day before his cousin Amy’s wedding. So there was no point in hieing off to Bridgewater then, just to turn right around and return to the city.
On the other hand, there was no point in keeping Kelsey in the country any longer either, when he had a signed six-month lease on a town house for her that came fully furnished and was ready for immediate occupancy. The only thing still needed for it was a small staff of servants, which she should be involved in the hiring of anyway. So he sent off a missive to his driver to fetch her back to the city.
Actually, he was too eager to see her again to wait until after Amy’s wedding, when he would be free to fetch her himself. This way, she would be ensconced in the London flat by the next night, and they could get around to starting their relationship on a more intimate level a day sooner.
It wasn’t often that the entire Malory
Similar Books
