Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
I have consciously and successfully avoided Taya Winters, though it has not been without difficulty. After all, we are in the same house. Unfortunately, as a result, I have forgotten to check up on Clara, a fact I am reminded of now as I sway in the hallway admiring a family portrait of the Melroses. Clara’s whereabouts is something that should be quite a priority given her recent jaunts and vanishing acts, but, and it is of great comfort, Clara would most certainly struggle to escape the house, for the party has spilled into every room on the ground level, including the hallway, where Dawson has spent most of his evening opening and closing the front door, announcing and sending off well-wishers, one of which included Lizzy Fallow and her new husband, the decrepit, and quite repulsive, in my humble opinion, Viscount Millingdale. Avoiding her was quite easy, for she could not leave her husband’s side, and as luck would have it, her husband can hardly walk, so they were stationed in the drawing room and did not move for their entire visit, which, as luck would have it again, was not very long at all. I imagine the old Viscount needed his bed. I shudder, wondering how the fresh young wife of Millingdale may be coping with the quite unthinkable chore of being the new viscountess. Lizzy Fallow’s faults, and I know her to have many, and not all as admirable as ambition, may be the end of her. She looked thoroughly miserable this eve. Well, she asked for it. She always told me she would be a true lady. That was when she was talking to me, of course. She no longer does, and I am yet to fathom if her disdain for me is because I didn’t beg her not to marry old Millingdale, or if I dived out of bed before she had a chance to finish telling me that she suspected the old Viscount was unable to sire an heir. I knew she was an ambitious young lady, who would not settle for a title-less man, but I never anticipated she would suggest I should be her secret lover and help ensure she fulfils her obligations as the new Viscountess. I have never got dressed so quickly, and as soon as I was decent, I went straight to Kentstone’s and lost myself in the rooms there. That was until Eliza and Johnny found me and carried me home, for I was as drunk as a sailor on blue ruin and quite determined to indulge in the body of any old Barque of Frailty who didn’t have a hidden agenda. It was quite eye-opening, I must say. Alas, Lizzy Fallows is quite determined, as proven at the Prince’s birthday celebrations when I was pulled into the corner where she kissed me. She kissed me like a desperate woman until I firmly but gently removed myself from her clutches. The incident did not escape Eliza’s notice. Nothing gets past that girl, I swear it. And for some strange reason, Eliza holds me in high regard. For that reason, it was easy to let her believe I was affected by Lizzy Fallows’ marriage to Millingdale and that was indeed the reason why I got ruined on the ruin. She thinks I have a heart. I suppose I do, for my love for my family knows no bounds. But it is quite dead beyond that. I seek only pleasure. Nothing more, and I will only venture where it is safe to do so.
I shudder as I make my way to the stairs and climb them slowly, tugging at my cravat, which appears to have become tighter as the evening has progressed. I approach Eliza’s room and stop, thoughtful for a moment, before I clasp the knob and push the door open. Her bed is pristine, and it shall remain that way forevermore now she is wedded and residing with her new husband at number one Belmore Square. I smile, wondering how she will take to life as a duchess. Like everything Eliza does, I expect she will be quite wonderful at it, and I will surely miss my sister, despite her living a stone’s throw away, just across the square. But still, and it saddens me, our conversations over breakfast was one of my most favourite times of day, even when, and she often did, Eliza exasperated me. Be that as it may, I am also delighted for her, that she has found a man who may complement her rather than supress her, a rarity in today’s world, we all know. She really does deserve a honeymoon and a break, and I know her to be eager to travel, something Johnny is equally eager to fulfil. I would never usually wish my sister away – I will miss her dreadfully, but as long as she remains in London, I know she will not be able to resist writing, and as long as she writes, the front page will be hers. I would hate her to see me as another sexist pig ready to discredit her efforts and ambitions, so I shall bide my time. It pains me, but I must.