Miss Hastings' Excellent London Adventure (Brazen Brides Book 4)(19)

 

Emma looked back to her betrothed. "Does the third brother also resemble you and Nick so strongly?"

 

He chuckled. "Not at all. He's neither tall nor dark, but he's quite the most handsome of the three."

 

She doubted that.

 

If she'd been dazzled over this house, she was speechless over Lady Fiona' loveliness. Nick's wife was of average height—which was two or three inches taller than Emma. Her figure was perfection, slender where it should be and rounded in the appropriate places. Her pale blonde hair feathered with flawless ivory complexion contributed to an icy elegance.

 

But it was her beautiful face that captured Emma's full attention. Emma could no more have refused to smile back at Lady Fiona's charming countenance than she could destroy a painted masterpiece.

 

"Lady Fiona," Adam said, "I should like to present to you the woman to whom I am betrothed, Miss Emma Hastings."

 

How the lady managed to retain her sweet smile while shock registered on her face baffled Emma. And made Emma greatly admire her.

 

Lady Fiona need not say a word because her husband made the appropriate—or perhaps, in his case, given his sharp tongue, inappropriate—responses. "What the devil? You cannot be serious."

 

Anger flittered across Adam's face, but he managed to control it. "Pray, my dear brother, have a care for Emma's feelings. I most sincerely do desire to make this woman my wife."

 

Lady Fiona stepped forward. "Welcome to the family, Miss Hastings."

 

"Please, call me Emma."

 

Nick then gathered his composure and bowed at Emma. "Forgive me if I have made you uncomfortable. I meant no offense."

 

She bestowed a smile upon him. "None taken. The betrothal came rather suddenly. It's only natural you'd be shocked."

 

Still smiling, Fiona addressed her. "Should you like a tour of our house? I am told it is one of the attractions of London." She directed a worshipful gaze upon her husband. "All owing to my husband's talent for design."

 

Now Emma gazed admiringly at him. "You served as your own architect?"

 

He shrugged.

 

As handsome as he was, she was now certain he was not as handsome as Adam.

 

"I did hire an architect to implement my ideas," he said.

 

"But Nick was the one who insisted on bringing in an Italian artist to paint the ceilings, and almost everything here that visitors admire was envisioned by my husband."

 

"No more praise, please, love," Nick said, his voice stern.

 

Lady Fiona slipped her arm through Emma's, and they began to stroll about the opulentacious house while Adam and his brother went to the library.

 

* * *

 

He had dreaded breaking the news of his nuptials to Nick. Just the previous night Adam had been subjected to a lecture from him, and now Nick was sure to launch into another about marrying a woman he'd only just met. He fully expected Nick to encourage him to wait for The One.

 

Once in the library with the door closed, Nick calmly poured each of them a glass of Madeira and instructed Adam to take a seat on the sofa which faced the fire. Nick turned a wooden chair away from the fire to face the sofa, then he launched into his elder-brother admonitions. "You can't be serious about marrying that young woman."

 

"I know it's sudden, but I am resolved."

 

"Do you not still fancy yourself in love with Maria?"

 

"Of course. I will love Maria until I draw my dying breath."

 

Nick rolled his eyes. "I will own, I was shocked when you made your announcement. I regret any embarrassment or hurt feelings I may have caused Miss Hastings. She seems to be a nice young lady. And quite the opposite of any woman who's ever appealed to you."

 

"That's true."

 

"Then why in the devil did you offer for her? And less than four-and-twenty hours after getting yourself senseless with drink for the love of your opera singer."

 

"It's precisely because I shall never love again that I have offered to brighten Miss Hastings' existence. I take my consolation in that."

 

"What the bloody hell does that mean?"

 

Adam proceeded to tell his brother about his meeting with Emma the previous night, about her sleeping at his house, and lastly about the onslaught of sad news she'd learned at the solicitor's that morning. He and Nick had always been completely truthful with one another, and this was no exception.

 

The fire outlining his head and shoulders like some Renaissance masterpiece, Nick listened intently, nodding occasionally as Adam spoke.

 

When he finished, Nick nodded and said, "Of course you had to offer for her after sharing a bedchamber with the young lady. You know how servants will talk."