A Gentleman in Search of a Wife (THE LORD JULIAN MYSTERIES #5) by Grace Burrowes EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
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- Authors: Grace Burrowes
- Language: English
- Genre: Historical Romance
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“You have to help him, Julian.” Hyperia West put her plea to me quietly.
“John Tait is one of my oldest friends, and he can’t ask anybody else for
this sort of assistance.”
We strolled along Caldicott Hall’s lime alley, the ground beneath our
boots dotted with golden leaves. The time of year was sweet, also sad—my
only surviving brother was soon to take ship for an extended tour of the
Continent. The closer the date of Arthur’s departure came, the more
melancholy my mood grew.
“The estimable Mr. Tait is not, in fact, asking me to aid him,” I replied.
“You are putting his case to me in his stead.”
At first glance, Hyperia West was an unremarkable specimen. A trifle
too abundantly curved for current fashion, shortish stature, medium brown
hair, and a bit long in the tooth by Mayfair’s matchmaking standards.
I nonetheless loved her dearly, and if I did take an interest in John Tait’s
situation, I’d do so because Hyperia expected it of me, rather than out of
noble generosity on my part.
“John has his pride,” she said. “I assured him he could trust your
discretion.”
If so, he’d be trusting the discretion of a former officer whom most of
Society regarded as a traitor. “What is the urgency, Hyperia? You tell me
Tait’s wife has been missing for some time. Why does her husband wait
until now to investigate her fate?”
We walked along in the afternoon sunshine, leaves crunching underfoot,
a gentle breeze riffling the lush autumn grass.
“I suspect John is finally ready to move forward,” Hyperia said. “Some
of his habitual sorrow has left him. He blames himself for Evelyn’s
departure, and the guilt has been a heavy burden. I sense he’s focused more
on the future lately and less on the past.
As was I, oddly enough. “How long have you known him?”
“Since childhood. Our mamas were old friends. His mama is my
godmother. You know how that works.”
My own godmother, Lady Ophelia Oliphant, was a frequent guest at
Caldicott Hall. Godmama was a terror when it came to Society’s secrets and
foibles, and she could be blunt to a fault when dispensing her opinions. She
also served as Hyperia’s nominal chaperone, and thus I rubbed along with
Godmama as best I could.
I dreaded the day when I had Caldicott Hall to myself, if such a thing
could be said about an edifice with sixty rooms abovestairs and staff
sufficient to keep them all dusted.
“I will discuss the matter with Tait,” I said. “I’m not promising I can
find his errant wife, but I’ll hear what he has to say. I assume he’s
petitioning the courts to have his wife declared dead?”
“I don’t know as she’s been gone long enough, Jules. That aside,
litigation is expensive, and the courts drag their feet for years. John is
almost certain that Evelyn met an untimely death. He believes she would
have written, if not come home, if she’d been able to. They were very much
in love, but two strong personalities can clash, especially two strong, proud
personalities.”
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