The Bookseller and the Earl (The Merry Misfits of Bath 1)

Lottie leaned forward as did Pamela. “Who was the man?”

“In fact, you know him, Lottie. Well, you met him. Or rather, you saw him.” When Lottie tilted her head and frowned, Addie added, “Yesterday you were here about your two romance novels when Lord Berkshire came in.”

“Oh. Yes. Now I remember.” Lottie crinkled her nose. “He seemed rather rude, to me.”

“Not really rude. More abrupt. Or impatient, actually.” She thought back to how comfortable he’d become when he began to speak about his son and his hopes to help the lad learn to communicate.

Pamela took her last sip of tea. “Since you know his name and he was here last night—past closing time—tell us more about him.” She grinned. ?

??And you.”

“There is no me and him. Or him and me, rather. Or maybe it’s him and I? I always get that mixed up. Anyway, he is looking for a book on sign language and I told him I would search through all the bulletins I have from publishers on new books to see if I can find one.” She looked back and forth between the two. “That’s all. No mystery. Nothing like you’re thinking.”

“How do you know what we’re thinking?” Lottie smirked and Pam nodded.

“Because you are my best friends and I know that look. And since there is nothing for me to tell you about his lordship, except that I am helping him find a book, why don’t we change the conversation to Pamela’s wedding?” She looked over at Pam. “What are you singing? Do you get to choose any of your own pieces, or are they all ones chosen by them?”

Thankfully, the ladies were willing to move onto the wedding and what the three of them would wear. By the time they all decided on their wardrobe, it was time for Addie to re-open the store. They all hugged each other farewell. Lottie was off to the Foundling home where she volunteered her time one day a week and Pamela was returning home to meet her next reluctant pupil.

Addie checked herself in the mirror one more time and then satisfied that she looked presentable enough for a wedding, drew on her gloves and picked up her reticule. In light of the event she was to attend, she left her bicycle and had her carriage brought around. She would pick up Lottie and Pamela and they would all head to the church.

Addie had been present at a number of weddings of friends, distant cousins, and even the Mallory family cook, who then presented them with her resignation the next day. The newly married woman was packed and off with her new Scottish husband to the County of Dumfries that very evening. Meals were quite dismal until Mother hired another cook.

Of course, when she was younger, Addie would sit in the church and imagine herself as the bride, and a handsome, kind, considerate-of-her-disability gentleman stood alongside her. That never happened, and somewhere over the years she’d begun to view weddings as a reminder that it would never happen for her. But she could still be happy for the joyful couple.

This wedding, however, she was really looking forward to since her close friend would be singing. Pamela had such a lovely, sweet voice, it would be so wonderful for everyone to hear her and appreciate her talent.

The carriage drew up to Lottie’s house, and her driver climbed the steps to collect Lottie. Her friend looked lovely in a pale blue satin gown with a matching wool cape and flowered hat. They chatted excitedly as they moved on to Pamela’s flat.

Once again the driver hopped down and made his way to the front door. The door opened and they could see Pamela talking to the driver, waving her hands. After a few minutes, he nodded, the door closed, and he returned to the carriage. “Lady Pamela sends her regrets, but she is unable to attend the wedding.”

The two women stared at each other, aghast. “Oh, no, she’s not.” Addie climbed from the carriage with Lottie right behind her as they stormed the stairs. “Pamela!”

Grayson entered the church where his cousin, Diana, was marrying a young man who he’d had not yet met, but with her common sense, he was sure her choice was just fine, and the man was not a moron. He hadn’t seen members of his family in quite some time. Once the doctors had determined that Michael was deaf, and that was why the young boy only grunted instead of speaking, Grayson found himself avoiding his family, not wishing to hear their criticism or suggestions on how to deal with his son.

It seemed everyone had an opinion on what was to be done with Michael. Everything from admitting him to an asylum, to him being locked away on one of Grayson’s estates with a caretaker. In other words, put the boy from his life and from his mind. Throw him away since he wasn’t perfect. Nothing made him angrier than hearing those remarks.

Luckily, once he escaped from London to Bath, he found a very devoted woman to take over Michael’s daily care. Mrs. Banfield read to him, pointing to the pictures in the stories, took him for walks, showed him how to manipulate blocks and form shapes with them, and insisted that he could learn just like any other child, just in a different way.

Before he began to dwell on the other threat, he pushed it from his mind and settled into a pew. Considering how his marriage had ended, he had no great love for so-called wedded bliss, but like everyone else here, he would wish the happy couple well.

His attention was drawn to a bit of a commotion at the back of the church. He turned to see three women, two of them practically dragging the third one between them down the aisle. To his surprise, one of the draggers was Miss Mallory from the bookstore. She leaned in toward the woman in the middle and whispered something in her ear. That seemed to ease the woman, and they all made their way down the aisle.

Miss Mallory and one other woman took seats a few pews from the sanctuary. The poor woman who had been dragged down the aisle inhaled deeply and sat at the piano. She offered a tentative smile to those assembled and began to play. A few bars into the piece she started to sing and immediately caught the attention of all those present.

Normally wedding guests would continue to talk until the bride made her appearance, but the mesmerizing effect of the woman’s singing stopped all conversation. Whoever she was, she sang like an angel. He had seen her before, he was certain she had played at a few Sunday services he’d attended, but he never heard her sing before.

Within minutes, she nodded to someone at the back of the church and played the first few notes of the Richard Wagner’s Bridal Chorus. The congregation stood and all turned to watch the bride make her way down the aisle. His cousin looked stunning. She’d always been a pretty girl, and she was now a beautiful woman. Of course, the joy and love on her face made her more so.

The ceremony commenced, and Grayson found his eyes drifting to the back of Miss Mallory’s head the entire time.

He could see part of her profile, which he studied while the vicar droned on and on about the importance of marriage. Things that he had believed when he and Margaret had taken their vows in this same church.

Love, honor, and obey.

He snorted and nodded a slight apology to the woman alongside him who looked disapprovingly at him through her quizzing glass.

Returning his thoughts to Miss Mallory, he observed that she was one of only a few women in the church who wasn’t wearing the equivalent of a bird’s nest on her head. Miss Mallory’s hat was a lovely sensible straw bonnet, the brim tipped up in the front with a ribbon encircling the confection and ending in a fashionable bow.