Page 45 of A Royal Kiss & Tell
Domesticity for Ladies
CAROLINEHADAhabit of entering her home through the back door if she’d been shopping, lest Beck see her packages. Generally, he was none the wiser when she used this method of entry, but this afternoon, he was striding through the kitchen when she tumbled in with her wrapped packages of brocades and silk fabrics. He took one look at the bundles in her arms, then at her. “What are those?”
She tried to think of an excuse that would spare her. None came to mind.
He frowned at her silence. “Come with me,” he said gruffly.
Things had reverted to normal between them, with Beck complaining about her spending and the fact that she ate his favorite jam—oh, and that she practiced the piano when he was trying to read. And, of course, his favorite complaint—that she did as she pleased.
“Why?” she asked as she hastily shoved her packages beneath a wooden bench in the small entry into the kitchens.
“Why do you think?” He was holding a wooden tray onto which he had himself, apparently, put cheese and bread. “I rang for you two hours ago.”
“I was out, Beck,” Caroline said as she followed him down the hall. He was striding purposefully, and she was struggling to keep up as she tried to unfasten her cloak.
“Yes, you were out shopping again!” he said crossly over his shoulder before turning into his study.
Caroline managed to get the cloak unfastened and pulled it from her shoulders, dropping it onto a chair in the hall.
“I have my own money, have you forgotten? And besides, Felicity Hancock is desperate for one of my gowns. Ladies are beginning to notice—”
“I don’t care,” he said, and dropped the tray onto his desk as she struggled to remove her bonnet. “And need I remind you that your inheritance is in a trust. You are spendingourmoney.”
“Well, whose fault is that?” Caroline demanded.
“It is necessary, Caro, as you have given every indication you would spendallof your trust if given the opportunity.”
Caroline managed to remove her bonnet, but it caught a pin in her hair, and one thick tress tumbled down over one eye. “Blast it,” she complained, and with a sigh of exasperation, she tossed her bonnet onto his desk, too. “I’ll just go and repair my hair,” she said, but before she could turn to the door, he stopped her.
“No, no, we’ll have this said and done now,” Beck commanded her. “I mean to go out soon, and I know your tricks, Caro. If you go up to your rooms, I won’t see you for hours, and when I do, you’ll probably have brought along Mrs. Honeycutt to verbally assault me.”
“Hollis does not verballyassaultyou, Beck. She is careful to say only what is true.”
“Oh? So is it true that I was born with the head of a monkey and the heart of an ass?”
“Notthat, obviously, but the other things she says are true.”
Beck wasn’t listening. He was waving his hand at her. “Enough about Hollis Honeycutt. If Percy were alive today, he’d have her in hand. He shouldn’t have died like he did.”
Caroline tried to push the tress from her face. But the way her hair was pinned, it kept falling. “You have no regard for my very dear friends who have been my loyal companions all my life.” She swiped up a bit of cheese and stuffed it into her mouth and said, dismissively, “Go on then. What is it that isso important?”
“You want to know? I’ll tell you, Caro.Youneed to marry.”
Caroline froze. Then she laughed. “Not this again!”
“What? You’re six and twenty or very near, and it’s high time you married and it’s high time I let someone else worry about your purchases.” He picked up a stack of bills and waved them at her. “As it happens, I’ve taken matters into my own hands.”
That got her full attention. Beck often ranted about the need for her to marry, but he’d never said anything like this. “Pardon?”
“Your reluctance to entertain an offer before now has left half the eligible gentlemen skeptical of you. So, I’ve let it be known—discreetly, of course—the size of your dowry.”
“You didwhat?”
“You can’t continue on like this, flitting from one soiree to the next dressmaker without any regard for who you are destined to be.”
“How do you know who I am destined to be?” she demanded, fighting the lock of hair.
“Are you mad? Must I tell you that you are destined to be a wife and mother?”
