Two Corinthians Read Online Free PDF

library unannounced. For a moment he simply enjoyed the unexpected sight of his firstborn, the broad-shouldered, well-muscled figure, the arrogant nose so like his own, the dark hair and eyes that reminded him of his beloved wife. At thirty-six, George had lost the slimness of youth and gained a few grey streaks at his temples. The marquis ran his hand through his own thick white hair, put down his pen, and rose to clasp his son’s hand in both his.
    “Forgive my dirt, sir. I have ridden from Newcastle this day, but I could not wait to give you my news. Father, Danny is to marry again!”
    His face pale, the marquis sank back into his chair, looking suddenly old. George cursed himself for his abruptness. Daniel’s first marriage had been disastrous, ending in the scandal of divorce; he ought to have made it plain that his news was good before blurting it out like any rattle-tongued windbag.
    “You will approve his choice, sir,” he assured his father over his shoulder as he hurried to pour a glass of brandy from the decanter on a side-table. “Here, take this. True, she has no portion, but her breeding is impeccable, and I can vouch for her being a delightful young lady.”
    A little colour was creeping back into Lord Bellingham’s cheeks as he sipped at the brandy. “Who is this paragon?” he asked drily.
    “The Honourable Amaryllis Hartwell. I daresay you knew her father?”
    The marquis threw back his head and guffawed. “Hartwell’s daughter! Well matched, a scandal for a scandal! What has Miss Hartwell been doing since the viscount ran off with the Spanish ambassador’s daughter?”
    “Running a school, and most competently,” George answered with some indignation. “And I wish you will not laugh, sir. Daniel is so changed, so happy, you would not know him. They are very much in love.”
    “Creampot love! Marriage with even a younger son must be preferable to the life of a schoolmistress.”
    “She might have had the heir to an earldom. Tatenhill’s heir, young Pomeroy, offered for her and was refused.”
    “So she says!”
    “You are too sceptical, sir. I had it from his own lips not a fortnight since.”
    At last the marquis began to allow himself to believe. “Danny is happy?” he asked softly.
    “Happy?” George laughed aloud, joyous, triumphant. “That is too poor a word. He is like a man released from a dungeon after ten years without a glimpse of the sky. She has given him back his youth. I tell you, Father, almost I think to look for a wife myself!”
    “Then she has my blessing! You should have married and produced an heir long since!”
    “Danny’s example was scarce encouraging, sir. I’d no mind to suffer the horns as he did, and I never met a woman worth the risk.”
    “What of the child?”
    “Amaryllis knows Isabel is not Danny’s daughter, yet she loves her as dearly as he does.” Suddenly alert, George studied his father’s face. “If you could bring yourself to acknowledge Isabel as your granddaughter...He wants a reconciliation. He wants your blessing, your presence at his wedding.”
    “The estrangement was not all on my side,” said the marquis harshly.
    “I know. He felt he had let you down. In his humiliation, he could not face you. But now…”
    “I wish your mother were alive.” Lord Bellingham leaned his forehead on his hand, hiding his face.
    George knew he had won and did not press his point. “No more than I wish it, no more than Danny does,” he said in a gentle voice. “Would that I might hope to find her equal!”
    “I shall write to him. George, thank you.”
    With a light heart, George went up to his chamber to change out of his riding clothes. It would be at least two days before his carriage arrived with his luggage and Slade, but the closets in his dressing-room held an assortment of cast-off clothing. He did not suppose that either his father or the widowed cousin who ran his household would object if his dress this evening was not in the