Page 2 of Winning the Wallflower's Heart
He pounded on the door until Georgiana heard her brother call out on the other side. The door pulled open, and Georgiana, in that moment, wished to be back huddled against the stable in the snow rather than face her brother.
Anywhere but in Ellis’s arms.
“Ho, Linny! You finally—why are you holding my sister?”
The way his words slurred made her stomach sour. Georgiana kept her eyes closed, much too afraid to peek, but she still felt the world tip, nonetheless, and spin her into chaos.
“She’s freezing, you daft idiot.” Ellis pushed past her brother and strode into their home. “Where’s her room? Call her maid!”
“Well, you know we’ve not had much luck at the tables lately. So… the help’s been let go.”
Georgiana pressed tighter against Ellis, refusing to open her eyes.
“Her room, then.Now.”
“Bloody hell, Linny. She’ll be fine, she?—”
Georgiana peeked at her brother through one cracked eyelid, just long enough to see him rake his hand through his auburn hair and the red flush across his cheeks. He refused to cut his hair these past few months, boasting a ballerina complimented him at a party earlier that fall. It hung around his face in the most unflattering way, making his dark brown eyes appear cagey and drawing focus on his thin, wide mouth.
“She can barely talk, Sam.”
“My sister never speaks. She must have been wandering around and was locked out. It was an accident.”
The room went silent, and then she heard the sharp crack of wood splintering—a chair kicked hard against the wall. Even with her eyes shut, she felt the heat of Ellis’s fury rush around her like a roaring fire.
“She’s bloody freezing.” He bent his head down, his mouth close to her. “Where’s your room, Georgie? Tell me, and I’ll see you warm.”
She hadn’t been allowed a fire in her room for the past month, and it had been a frigid January. But nothing was as horrible as the fear that gripped her then. At the anticipation of what would happen once Ellis left her behind. Her father yelling, her brother sneering at her or throwing something in her direction. The threat of a hand or a belt if she disobeyed.
“Open your eyes, Kitten.”
Georgiana swallowed, then slowly opened her eyes, met by his striking gray-green gaze. He was seven years older, a man circling the marriage mart of London, and she was… well, she wasthatpoor girl. The quiet, strange creature. Fifteen years old and now hopelessly in love with Ellis Linfield, her older brother’s best friend.
“Put me down, please,” she whispered instead, not wanting any more attention. Pulling herself away from his warmth and notice.
Leaving him behind because it was for the best.
A man like Ellis Linfield would never love her. Her brother and father certainly didn’t.
CHAPTER 1
London, 1817
Romeo rammed into her head,stirring her to wake with his aggressive purring.
Georgiana regretfully opened one eye, sighing at the rain striking against the window. Another gray October morning.
“Very well, my dashing man. I will wake up now.”
The fat orange tabby cat flopped onto her chest and rolled over, demanding his tummy to be rubbed.
Lost in thought, she glanced around, noticing what she had tried so hard to ignore. The faded wallcovering, once a cheerful yellow when she was a young girl, was now peeled in the corner and water stained from a leaky roof. The velvet curtains that had once hung had long been sold, so Georgiana had sewn some table linens together to help give the otherwise grimy windows a more respectable appearance. The morning light was filtered into a dull haze.
And downstairs, thankfully, silence.
She bathed, scrubbing her skin until it was almost raw to scrape off and erase any grime. Georgiana had saved for monthsto purchase bath oil. She remained in the bath until the water cooled, then rose and walked over to her bed. Her gowns were a few years too old now, but Marjorie Merryweather, newly the Duchess of Abinger, had gifted her with a new gown after her wedding.
She had hated to accept it, but today she was grateful.
