A Lesson in Love (Sweet Treat Novellas #7)

Chapter One

Lucy Stanthorpe had every intention of taking London entirely by storm.

She was returning in triumph, having survived two Seasons as a debutante and ultimately securing for herself a husband any lady would be proud to call her own.

She had her darling Reed to go with her to balls and musicales, to drive her about Hyde Park during the fashionable hour.

She wouldn’t spend the entire Season sitting alone in the parlor, or unclaimed for dance after dance at the fashionable balls.

She could go to every event with her husband at her side.

And she would love every elegant minute.

This Season would be simply wonderful.

“I wonder what will be playing at the Theatre Royal,” Lucy said as the carriage rolled over the cobblestones toward their London home.

Her London home. It was a wonderful thing to have a place of her own, one she and Reed would come to every year, where she could host her own at-homes and balls, where they would one day have children in the nursery and years of memories.

“Lady Parvell will, I am certain, host her annual musicale. And I have missed the British Museum. We must visit it this summer.”

Reed nodded as he flipped a page of the newspaper. “I understand the Egyptian collection has been recently expanded.”

The first thing they’d found in common was their love of history and the museum. She wouldn’t have to spend the Season begging her father to take her to see the exhibits.

“Ooh, and Gunter’s for ices.” Lucy grinned at the reminder of one of London’s greatest treats. “And Hyde Park during the fashionable hour.” Reed had taken her for a drive in the park more than once in the final days of their courtship. She’d come to love going to the park with him for company.

Reed gave her a quick smile. She hoped that smile of his would always make her a little giddy.

The carriage pulled to a stop in front of the tall, columned Stanthorpe family London residence. Reed’s mother was spending the Season in the country with her sister, so they would have the house entirely to themselves.

“Welcome home, darling,” Reed said, leaning in to press a quick kiss to her lips. One corner of his mouth twitched upward, his eyes twinkling. “What I wouldn’t have given to say that to you this time last year.”

She shook her head at his comment. “We didn’t know each other yet this time last year.”

“Oh, I assure you, I knew exactly who you were long before we were formally introduced.”

That was a bouncer if ever she’d heard one. The Stanthorpes sat on a more elevated rung of Society than her family could claim. She doubted Reed had taken even a passing notice of her before being all but forced to dance with her at the Parvells’ ball the Season before.

Lucy gave his shoulder a playful shove. “You are an unrepentant flirt, my dear.”

“I speak only the truth.”

The carriage door opened. The footman put down the step.

Reed folded his paper and tucked it under his arm then stepped out of the carriage.

He turned back once his feet were on the walk and held his hand out for her.

He never failed to offer her that courtesy, just as he always offered his arm when they walked together and kissed her farewell every time they parted.

Was it any wonder she adored this thoughtful, loving man?

Reed pulled her arm through his and walked with her up the front steps, where the butler held the door for their arrival. “Welcome home, Mr. and Mrs. Stanthorpe.”

Lucy only just held back a giggle. Even after seven months, she still loved to hear herself addressed as Mrs. Stanthorpe.

“We are most happy to be back in Town again, Taylor,” Reed said. “I trust our rooms are ready for us?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Would you send word to the kitchens to have our dinner brought to Mrs. Stanthorpe’s sitting room?”

“Of course, sir.”

She and Reed walked up the elegant front staircase. “Oh, darling,” she said. “This will be the very best Season I have ever spent in London. I am certain of it.”

He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a light kiss to her knuckles. “Indeed. I find myself looking forward to the next few months, something I don’t usually feel at this time of year.”

Musicales. Balls. Soirees. The theater. Her mind simply spun with all of the wonderful things they would see and do. And they would see and do them together.

It would all be perfect. Positively perfect.

***

Reed Stanthorpe couldn’t imagine a better prospect for a London Season.

Days at his club. Afternoons at Gentleman Jackson’s Boxing Salon.

Quiet evenings at home. Heaven knew he’d spent more than his share of Seasons forced into the social whirl.

If there’d been any other way of undertaking a courtship, he’d have jumped at the opportunity.

But he was a married man now. No longer would he have to run from one social engagement to another, or stay up until all hours of the night, or drag himself through the interminable evenings at Almack’s.

He wouldn’t need to endure the tiresome company of Society every single evening.

He’d have Lucy’s companionship, which was all he really wanted.

Most everyone else grew tedious after a few encounters.

“What do you think of this gown, dearest?” Lucy leaned closer to him.

They sat side by side on the sofa in her sitting room, having finished the fine meal Cook sent up for them.

Lucy pointed to a sketch of a gown in her copy of La Belle Assemblée.

“This style is a bit bolder than any I’ve worn before, but I’m a married woman now, so I’m permitted more options. ”

Reed didn’t know much about ladies’ fashions and couldn’t say what exactly was different about the gown she pointed out from those she’d worn before. “I think it’s lovely.”

“So do I.”

He adored the way her eyes danced about when she was excited.

Society had such a dampening effect on the natural exuberance of a debutante.

He’d seen that in her face when they’d been introduced.

She was bubbling over with life and enthusiasm.

He’d known from that moment on that he simply had to know her better—that the lady behind those dancing eyes was worth the aggravation of endless social calls and balls and trips to the theater.

“And, thank the heavens, I am no longer confined to pastels.” Lucy groaned dramatically, as if her previous color palette had been a most excruciating form of torture. “I have decided I absolutely must have a dress in a vibrant shade of blue.”

Reed nodded his approval. Though he knew little about fashion, his lovely wife already had a dressing gown of blue. When she wore that shade, her eyes looked like sapphires, and her hair shone like gold.

“I am sorely tempted to buy myself a matching silk turban with a very tall feather to wear at balls,” she declared firmly.

“Good gracious, no.”

His immediate objection brought a wide-eyed look of surprise to her face.

“Darling,” he said. “Only the oldest and dreariest of matrons wear feathered turbans.”

“Doesn’t your mother wear one?”

“Yes, which is—” He stopped short at the overly innocent look in her eyes. She was funning him, the little minx. Two could play at that game. “Which is, come to think of it, actually a very convincing argument. A feathered turban, yes, but don’t neglect a powdered wig to complete the ensemble.”

Her smile spread until her dimples reappeared. “A powdered wig for you as well, my dear. And knee breeches and heeled dancing slippers with great gold buckles.”

“And shall I sport yards and yards of lace as well?” he asked.

“Of course.” She looked ready to burst with laughter. “We will be quite the fashionable couple amongst the older set.”

He slipped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.

“As much as I complain about the ridiculously close cut of today’s jackets and the tedious nature of having my cravat tied in the latest style, I do not for one moment wish to trade that for the cumbersome fashions of our parents’ generation. ”

Lucy set her magazine on the seat beside her and shifted so she knelt on the cushion facing him. She reached up and touched his face. “Even in the most ridiculous fashions, you would be the most handsome gentleman I’ve ever known.”

“Flattery, my love?”

“I speak only the truth,” she said, repeating the declaration he’d made in the carriage earlier. Her teasing tone indicated she’d chosen the response on purpose.

Reed kissed her well and deeply before pulling her fully into his arms. Yes, a Season spent quietly at home, away from the hustle and bustle of Society. Just the two of them. The perfect London Season.