Unexpectedly Wed to the Officer (Regency Belles of Bath 2)

‘What?’

‘Nothing. He just brought a message from Mr and Mrs Fortini, that’s all.’

‘Sebastian and his mother?’

‘No. Sebastian and Henrietta. They’re married!’

‘Married?’ For the first time since they’d met, Nancy seemed unable to form an opinion.

‘They went to Gretna Green and they’ll be back here in a few days.’

‘With the boys?’

‘No. They’re staying in Yorkshire with their father.’

‘What’s Henrietta’s brother doing in Yorkshire?’

‘I presume Mr Redbourne told him where to find them.’ She paused slyly. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if he paid for him to get there, too. It’s just the sort of thing he’d do.’

Nancy’s lips thinned. ‘You seem to have a very high opinion of Mr Redbourne.’

‘I do.’ Beatrix kept her tone placid. ‘I think he’s a good man.’

‘Harumph.’

‘You might have to get used to him. I expect he’ll be spending a lot more time here with Mr Fortini. Maybe it’s time to—’

‘Never!’ Nancy glared and then grimaced. ‘I suppose we ought to start looking for new positions then, not to mention somewhere else to live.’

‘No need. Henrietta says they’re starting a tea room and they’re going to live there, too. So they want us to stay and run Belles. Which makes you the new manager!’

‘I’m the manager?’ Nancy looked almost on the verge of tears before she cleared her

throat briskly. ‘Well, that’s very good of them, I will say—and a relief. I didn’t want to be sharing a house with a pair of newlyweds, thank you very much. Much better for us spinsters to stick together.’

‘Mmm...’ Beatrix chewed on her bottom lip for a few seconds before coming to a decision. ‘About that, being a spinster, I mean... I think it’s time that I told you the truth.’

‘About who you are?’ Nancy looked amazed for the third time that evening.

‘Yes. I should have told you from the start, but I was scared and I didn’t know who to trust. Now I know I could trust you with anything. My life if it came to it.’

‘Well, it’s about time you realised that.’ Nancy appeared both pleased and embarrassed at the same time.

‘I’m sure you must have wondered who I was.’

‘Once or twice.’

‘Which is why I’m so grateful that you never insisted I tell you. Here.’ She pulled out a chair from the table. ‘You might want to sit down.’

‘This sounds serious.’ Nancy made a show of seating herself. ‘Let me guess. You’re a runaway princess.’

‘Nothing so romantic, I’m afraid. However, for a start, my real name isn’t Belinda. It’s Beatrix.’

‘Oh.’ Nancy looked disappointed. ‘That’s not so shocking.’

‘That was the easy part. I’m not a spinster either. I was married two months ago.’

‘What?’ Nancy gave her a look that implied she’d just taken leave of her senses. ‘But you’ve been here for a month! And you said you were in Bath for a while before that.’