Page 67 of Harpy of the Ton
Heavens!He’d been toiling in the vicarage garden all day, and now he had to deal with their bickering? That was what wives and mothers were for.
A female scream echoed from upstairs.
Ah—the children had found her.
“Come on, Mama!”
“Sleepyhead! Mama’s a sleepyhead!”
“Mama, I’m hungry!”
The clatter of footsteps resumed, and the children ushered Bella into the kitchen.
Lawrence almost lost his composure. Hair unkempt, with blotches of soot on her cheeks and a dark smear across the front of her gown, she resembled a chimney sweep.
“Bella, where have you been?” he asked, struggling to contain his laughter.
“She was on my bed!” Jonathan cried out. “That’smybed. You’re too big for it.”
She glared at Jonathan, and the room fell silent, as if awaiting a tirade of fury. But she merely sighed and shuffled toward the range, where she lifted the lid of the pot and gave it a stir.
He hadn’t expected such a rapid transformation. The haughty demeanor had gone, replaced by the cowed attitude of a servant.
At last, Miss High-and-Mighty, you’re experiencing what you force your maidservants to endure every day.
He pointed to the pot. “Is that our supper?”
“No,” she said. “It’s the contents of the privy.”
Jonathan let out a giggle, cut short as William shushed him. Bella turned and faced Lawrence, her eyes glittering with venom.
Her fire hadn’tcompletelydied.
Good. He liked her spirit. As did his cock, which had twitched with need as soon as he heard her footsteps, and now strained in his breeches. Eyes flashing, plump lips parted, as if ready to receive his kiss, she straightened her stance and returned his stare.
A wife was supposed to submit to her husband’s authority—but where was the pleasure in that?
He gestured to the children. “Sit, while your mother serves us.”
He caught a flash of anger in her eyes, before she spooned stew into bowls then placed them on the table. The last bowl she set at the empty place, spilling some of the contents on the table.
“Ha-ha!” Jonathan sang. “Mama’s made a mess! You’ll have to clear that up.” The twins tittered with laughter, and she glared at them.
“Why, you…” she began, but Lawrence interrupted.
“Wife—not at the table.”
“Ibegyour pardon? You expect me to put up with—”
“I’lladmonish the children.”
“Why must you—”
He raised his hand. “That’s enough,” he said. “Children, don’t laugh at your mother. I’ve not been working hard all day toendure such noise. A man should expect a peaceful home when he enters it.”
Bella’s eyes flashed, but she either thought better of arguing, or was too tired to respond. Instead, she picked at the stew in front of her, while he shoveled forkfuls into his mouth.
Bloody hell—that was delicious.
