CHAPTER7
A TOUR IS A PRELUDE
Amoment later
Although he had feared the Engleston townhouse might appear shabby or soot-stained, David was pleasantly surprised to see that its smooth stucco exterior, made to look like some sort of Grecian marble, was neither. The black painted shutters were all plumb, and the cobalt blue door looked as new as the day it had been hung. A shiny brass mermaid knocker gleamed in the sunshine as did the brass kick plate at the door’s base.
“This isyourhouse?” Marian asked in awe.
“It is,” he replied, although disbelief sounded in his words. He grinned when he noted her look of confusion. “If I expect the worst, then I can only be impressed when it is not,” he said with a shrug. The nervousness he had felt only the moment before dissipated. First impressions were always the most important. Even if the interior was a wreck, at least the house appeared habitable from the outside.
Carver opened the coach door, and David stepped down to the pavement. He turned and offered Marian a hand, experimentally sniffing the air for the telltale odors of the nearby Thames and coal smoke. Instead, the air smelled fresh, as if the rain had simply washed away the stench, much as it had the soot.
Marian stood before the townhouse and glanced both left and right. “We must be near Westminster Abbey,” she remarked.
“We are,” David said. “It’s only a few streets that way,” he added, pointing with his umbrella. “I’ve been known to walk there when Parliament is in session.” He took a deep breath and led her to the front door, rehearsing in his mind what he would tell his mother.
They hadn’t even reached the green wrought iron gate when the front door opened to reveal the butler.
“Ah, Glover, it’s good to see you again,” David remarked as he held open the gate for Marian.
“And you, my lord,” the butler replied as he stepped back and opened the door wider.
“Glover, this is my betrothed, Miss Marian Copper. Is my mother in residence?”
The butler bowed to Marian. “My lady,” he said before turning his attention back to his master. “She is not, sir. She departed the city for Brighton two days ago. Said if she was to endure any more rain, she would do it there with her friends until either the end of August or until the rain quit,” he explained. “Whichever came second. Her missive to you detailing her plans has probably not yet reached Engleston Park,” he added as he took hats and coats from the couple.
“Oh, well I can’t say I blame her,” David remarked. “But I did wish to introduce her to Miss Copper.” He allowed a shrug. “I shall at least give my sweet a tour of the house.”
“I can have tea delivered to the parlor, sir. Should I have cook make a dinner for you two as well?”
David exchanged a quick glance with Marian. All his hastily made plans for that afternoon—the introduction to his mother, the tour of the house, and a wedding ceremony at the Soho Club before six o’clock—seemed to jumble in his mind. Perhaps his expression conveyed his confusion, for Marian squeezed his hand and said, “Yes. Tea in the parlor sounds perfect. Do have cook prepare a simple dinner for say... seven o’clock? The meal can be delivered to Lord Engleston’s apartments. He will require his bedchamber this evening, of course, and might there be a bedchamber I could use starting tomorrow evening?”
Glover blinked. “Of course, my lady. I’ll see to the tea right away,” he said as he nodded, “and have the housekeeper see to the mistress suite.”
“Oh, and do let the driver know his services won’t be needed for the rest of the afternoon,” Marian said as David stared at her in wonder.
“Yes, my lady.”
The butler headed off through the front hall, his shoe heels clicking on the marble tile floor.
Marian watched him go before she turned to discover David still gazing at her. “What is it, my dearest?”
He swallowed. “You’re very good at that,” he remarked. “Making last-minute plans and running a household, I mean.”
She grinned. “I do it every day at Penhurst Place,” she said, referring to her uncle’s London mansion. “I have been since I became his ward. He doesn’t have a wife, nor do I expect he’ll take another since he already has his heir.”
David angled his head to one side, remembering the earl’s son was away at university. “So... since you’re having the driver dismissed for the afternoon, I take it we’re not returning to the Soho Club until later this evening?” he asked in confusion.
Marian placed a hand on the top of his. “I think it’s best we stay here for a time, don’t you?” she replied as she surveyed the hall as if in awe. “We’ll be so much more comfortable here.”
“I do rather like the thought of dining in my apartment,” he said, his nervousness returning. “Especially if I actually had an apartment and not merely a bedchamber.”
Marian blinked, her happy expression momentarily faltering. “Does your bedchamber have a sitting area?”
David furrowed his brows. “I believe so. It’s been some time since I was in there.” At her look of confusion, he added, “I spend most of my time here in my study or in the library.”
Her eyes rounded. “You have a library? Here?”
