A Season in London (Timeless Regency Collection Book 6)

by Elizabeth Johns

  “Changing your gowns after you leave the house?” her mother barked, her voice cracking sharply. “Speaking harshly? Poor posture and poor manners?”

  “Mama,” Daphne pleaded, her face beginning to flame.

  “Darling,” her father murmured, but he received a sharp rap to the chest. Even Aunt Josephine was paying rapt attention, and she looked bewildered by it all.

  “How could you, Daphne?” her mother whispered. “How could you embarrass us in such a way? It is no wonder that Miles Watson jilted you for your sister, and I have no idea what is possibly persuading Mr. Woodbridge here to court you when there is not much to recommend you.”

  Daphne stared at her mother in horror, then shot out of her seat and fled the box, barreling down the corridor until she found an alcove behind some heavy curtains. She sank against the wall and covered her mouth to stifle the sobs that threatened to escape.

  Before her panic could reach its full strength, the curtain was pulled aside, and Jamie was in the alcove with her.

  “You can’t be in here with me,” she protested, waving him out. “It’s not proper.”

  “I don’t care, Daphne,” he retorted, folding his arms across his chest. “Try to make me leave.”

  “I am going to cry, and it’s not going to be pleasant,” she warned him.

  He gave her a scolding look that made her heart soften. “I figured as much, Daph. It’s all right.”

  Daphne shook her head. “No, it’s not. It’s not all right.” Her face crumpled, and she pressed her wrists to her eyes. “My mother is right. She is right. What in the world possessed me to do something so mad as to intentionally ruin myself just to spite them? I was never a disobedient or willful child. Despite my stubbornness, I always behaved and did as I was told.” She lowered her hands and shook her head, her breath hitching. “I never spoke out of turn, I never said what I was really thinking, and I minded my manners.” She looked up at the too ornate ceiling for the alcove, tears rolling down her cheeks. “This was such a mistake. I am only being petulant and juvenile, acting out to prove a point. What is the point of any of this when I am only going to live in the misery of my apparently deserved loneliness for the rest of my life?”

  There was silence in the alcove, and she looked over at Jamie expectantly.

  He was watching her with a startling intensity that surprised her. His arms were tighter across his chest, and his eyes filled with a new light as he considered her. He slowly shook his head, taking a step toward her. “There are so many errors in what you just said that it would take me far too long to explain and correct you. I am a patient man, but I would rather hold you for an inappropriately long period of time until you simply don’t believe a single word that just came from your lips.”

  Daphne stared at him, a pair of tears rolling down her cheeks, wondering how this man could possibly have a true interest in her or anything she was. She had tried everything to push him away, and there was plenty to dissuade him without her help, yet here he was.

  “Why won’t you just leave?” she rasped, her voice choking with tears yet to be shed.

  Jamie’s stance softened, and he came to her, taking her face in his hands. “Don’t you understand? I am not going anywhere. Ever.”

  “Jamie,” Daphne whispered, gripping his wrists.

  “I will always be here for you,” Jamie insisted, his thumbs smoothing away her tears. “I will always stand beside you. I will always smile when you’re around, laugh for no particular reason, be drawn to your side, want to carry you away, and crave the touch of your lips. Because I am always going to be as in love with you as I am right now. The only thing keeping me from asking you to marry me right this moment is you.”

  Daphne released a soft sob, and Jamie kissed her gently, touching his forehead to hers.

  “What if I’m not ready?” Daphne asked with a sniffle.

  Jamie stroked her cheek again, smiling. “Then I’ll ask you next year. And the year after. And the year after that. It could be twenty years from now, and I would still be asking you.”

  That made her smile. “Really?”

  “Well, at some point, people would begin to talk, and we’d probably be forced to marry just to keep us both in polite society, so to save us both that agony, you might as well accept me while society still considers us foolish but relatively innocent.”

  Daphne chuckled, her heart swelling with a love for this man that took her breath away. She might not be quite ready to accept his non-proposal, but she was not going to pretend this wasn’t the sort of love that she had dreamed about her entire life.

  Jamie grinned at her laugh, then kissed her again, wringing pleasure from her that she had never imagined. “I won’t ask until you’re ready,” he whispered, nuzzling her gently. “Only tell me when, and I won’t hesitate.”

  She rubbed her thumbs over his wrists. “Is it enough that I want to say yes, even if I can’t let you ask yet?”

  “That is everything,” Jamie told her, nodding against her.

  Daphne sighed, still gripping his wrists. “We’d better go back to the box. My parents will be missing us.”

  Jamie stepped back, sliding his hands down to hers. “I think we’ve had enough theater for one evening. Your aunt is willing to leave, if you wish.”

  “I just want to go home,” Daphne murmured, nodding her head.

  Jamie brought her hands to his lips and kissed them. “I thought you might. Come on, I’ll take you both home.”

  “Can we just leave everyone?” she muttered as Jamie checked the corridor outside of the alcove to ensure they were safe from prying eyes. “Aunt Josephine isn’t exactly observant, despite her recent use to me.”

  Jamie laughed quietly and waved Josephine out of the box. “I’m not quite that improper as to see you home myself or to send you alone, so we really must take her along.”

  Daphne rolled her eyes, looping her hand through his arm with a groan. “The trouble with gentlemen . . .”

  Two days and no proposals from Jamie later, Daphne found herself walking into another ballroom with another elegant dress her mother had picked out, and this time she did not pay any attention to the whispers of those around her. She’d had far too much time to think since that night at the theater. She had a long conversation with her parents, wherein several apologies were made on both sides, and Daphne settled on a course both she and her parents could live with.

  Tonight, she had intentionally arrived late to this party, but not for the usual reasons.

  This time she needed to ensure that someone had arrived before her and would already be here.

  She had one more bold and shocking thing to do before this madness was ended.

  And as she surveyed the room, she caught sight of the person in question, fixed a cool smile on her face, and moved across the ballroom directly to him.

  “Miles,” she said warmly, catching both him and his female companion off guard.

  They both looked at her in surprise. “Daphne,” Miles replied, recovering quickly. “What a pleasant surprise.”

  “Yes, isn’t it?” she answered with a less than pleased tone. “Will you introduce me to your friend?”

  Miles turned to indicate her. “Miss Jane Fairview, this is Miss Daphne Hutchins. Miss Fairview has kindly consented to let me pay courtship to her, Daphne.”

  Miss Fairview smiled hesitantly and curtseyed to Daphne, which she returned. “Miss Hutchins.”

  “Miss Fairview, a pleasure.” Daphne forced a false smile, feeling nothing but pity for this girl, who could know nothing about this man she was allowing near her.

  That was all about to change.

  “Mr. Watson and I are old friends,” Daphne began, sparing another false smile for Miles, who watched her warily. “Neighbors in Berkshire. We were even childhood sweethearts before we grew up.”

  “Daphne . . .” Miles warned, which earned him a look.

  She returned to Miss Fairview, not bothering to keep her voice
down. “I could tell you all sorts of things about Mr. Watson, my dear, but let me suffice with giving you this bit of advice: if you do not mind having for a husband a man who has broken promises to a girl he had pledged matrimony to, then please allow his courtship to continue. If you do not object to the idea that the promises were broken because of a marked degree of infidelity and that he was caught in the most compromising of situations, then yes, continue to allow him your better acquaintance.”

  The room was rapidly growing abuzz with her revelations, though several patrons shushed the others to better hear what Daphne was setting down. Miles looked pale, while Miss Fairview seemed to grow more and more horrified by the moment.

  “In fact, Miss Fairview,” Daphne continued, taking the girl’s hand, “the only reason why Mr. Watson is available to be courting you is that he and my sister were too stupid to marry when the arrangements were made to salvage their reputations. If you, or anyone, wishes to confirm my story, you may rely upon the testimonies of my family, as well as that of his. And, though I don’t know you or your situation, I suspect he is after your fortune, whatever it may be. I have it on great authority that he has been cut off with only enough to live on and that the entire Watson family estate and fortune has been settled upon his younger brother, who is a delightful man, and I would be happy to introduce you, should you prefer a more suitable candidate. Otherwise, my dear girl, I do suggest that you look elsewhere for settling your future happiness.” Daphne squeezed her hand. “No one deserves to be tied to such a man, and as one who was spared that pain, I can certainly attest to that.” She smiled tightly, giving Miss Fairview an encouraging nod, and then turned from their group without sparing a single look for Miles Watson or the past they had shared.

  The path before her cleared as she moved away from them, and she felt as though she could breathe freely for the first time in nearly two years.

  Daphne smiled with real pleasure, one of the first of these smiles that many of the people present would have seen on her, and while they whispered as she approached and passed, she could not tell if they were disapproving or admiring. She looked the part now; a lovely green muslin with proper cut and styling would do that for a girl with her complexion and coloring, and she would undoubtedly be asked to dance later.

  She anticipated she would be otherwise engaged and must disappoint those offers.

  If the look in Jamie Woodbridge’s eyes as she approached him were any indication, every dance would be otherwise engaged for quite some time.

  “I am so in love with you at this moment,” he said with unabashed pride as she reached him.

  Daphne smiled at him with all of the love she had never allowed herself before. “That is all I needed to know,” she replied. Then she went up on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his, reaching one hand up to curl around his neck and pull him as close as she could.

  He responded with the proper enthusiasm, and she felt further passion simmering beneath the surface, sighing when his hands cradled her face and took control of the kiss.

  Amidst the shocked and startled gasps and squeals of those around them, Jamie broke off, laughing in disbelief and touching his nose to hers. “You do realize that you have ruined yourself.”

  Daphne laughed in response. “I imagined it might, yes. But that was the plan, was it not?”

  Jamie pulled back, still holding her face in his hands, his eyes growing serious. “You have to marry me now.”

  She nodded soberly. “An appropriate consequence for my actions. Especially given my speech to Miss Fairview just now.”

  “Daph,” Jamie murmured uncertainly, his smile gentle, but hesitant.

  She gripped the back of his neck tightly, forcing him to pay attention. “I knew what I was doing, Jamie.” She pulled back to give him a daring smirk. “Will you dare to ask me now?”

  At last, Jamie grinned in outright delight. “Are you asking me to ask you?”

  “I might be,” she countered with a light shrug. “If you can ask me after all of this, I would be a fool to refuse.”

  Jamie shook his head, stroking her cheeks. “Will you marry me, Daphne Hutchins?”

  Daphne tilted her head. “Do you love me?”

  “With all of my heart,” he replied fervently.

  “Then I accept.” She found herself unaccountably emotional and fought the rise of tears. “Because I love you, too, and I don’t want to spend another moment pretending otherwise.”

  Jamie was quick to kiss her again, dissolving any hint of tears. This time, they drew scattered applause from those not shocked by a surprise engagement and displays of affection in the middle of the ballroom.

  He released her with one more teasing pass of his lips, then held her close for a long moment. Daphne inhaled the warm, comfortable scent of him, sighing at the relief of being in his arms.

  There was so much ahead of them, and she was eager to begin it all.

  Becoming aware of the attention surrounding them, Daphne eased out of Jamie’s hold reluctantly. “We should probably get out of this ballroom,” she murmured with a laugh. “People are staring.”

  Jamie looked around, considered the effect they had had, and grinned devilishly. “Let them stare,” he proclaimed boldly, kissing her again, and pulling her onto the dance floor.

  “Not gentlemanly,” Daphne laughed, lacing her fingers with his as they took their positions.

  Jamie winked at her, still grinning. “But rather sporting, wouldn’t you say?”

  She shook her head, thrilled with his response. “Yes, my love. Very sporting, indeed.”

  Epilogue

  Four weeks later, the wedding of the Season took place in St. George’s, Hanover Square, as all fashionable marriages must. The guests were a variety of people, all family and friends, but most only came for the promise of a spectacle, and they were disappointed by the rather sedate nature of the ceremony.

  Not a single shocking thing occurred.

  Unless one considered an overenthusiastic kiss between the bride and groom after the ceremony to be shocking—which some undoubtedly did.

  Mr. and Mrs. Woodbridge settled into life easily at the estate in Norfolk, reviving the house and its lands into a thriving estate worthy of the Woodbridge name.

  Daphne was easily adopted into the Woodbridge family, instantly a great favorite with them all, and a particular confidante of the Mothers, which terrified the rest to no end.

  Her shocking days behind her, and under Jamie’s gentlemanly tutelage, Daphne ran the household at their newly christened Milsbury House, formerly known as Brimley, with precision and kindness, and a great deal of laughter, as was the nature of the family.

  And when she and her sister eventually reunited years later at Phoebe's wedding to a handsome and congenial clergyman with two young children, Daphne managed to keep a civil tongue in her head and even offered profound congratulations. They were followed privately by more sincere condolences to her new brother-in-law, who accepted them with a smile and good graces. Jamie only had to remind Daphne to behave six times, which was only two more than he gave their daughter, and one more than he gave their infant son, who conveniently cried during the ceremony to provide a much needed escape.

  There were no tears at that wedding, only excessive laughter, and it continued for days following between Jamie and Daphne, who were, by then, well on their way to a third child.

  And the next time they were in London for the Season, both Daphne and Jamie were better behaved.

  But only just.

  Click on the covers to visit Rebecca’s Amazon Author Page:

  Rebecca Connolly writes romances, both period and contemporary, because she absolutely loves a good love story. She has been creating stories since childhood, and there are home videos to prove it! She started writing them down in elementary school and has never looked back. She currently lives in Minnesota, spends every spare moment away from her day job absorbed in her writing, and is a hot cocoa addict.

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  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for reading A Season in London. We hope you loved the sweet romance novellas! Each collection in the Timeless Regency Collection contains three novellas. Sign up for our Timeless Anthology newsletter and receive a free book! Your email will not be shared and you may unsubscribe at any time. We always appreciate reviews but there is no obligation. Reviews and word-of-mouth are what helps us continue this fun project.

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