The rake Mister Jonathan Pine has one thing in mind for this London season. He will marry a young widow who is pleasant and experienced enough to keep him satisfied in bed so he can get his hands on his grandmother's inheritance and give it to his a...
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Warning:This chapter contains a scene of abuse. If you are uncomfortable with it, skip this chapter before the end.
The Wednesday finally arrived, and Thea sat in her parlour waiting for His Majesty, but again without success. The King never made it to their morning ride. Poppy cheered her up, saying it was for the best as they had to put the finishing touches for the Gentlemen's night, and her husband was counting on her to make the night a triumph.
Thea needed to make sure that the men would talk about the night at Pine House for a week at the club. She did not spare any expenses and got everything from the best places she could find from her research, but Thea was glad her father was paying for everything, and she could be extravagant.
The Duke and Archie only said Mister Pine would be hosting the night for them. The gentlemen would surely not think her father had something to do with it. The London Palace had sent two kitchen maids to help her cook and more footmen to make their night more enjoyable.
Once the clock ticked 8 o'clock and the gentlemen started to arrive for dinner, Thea went to the library to finish the list of possible ladies for Liam. She had promised to help him salve the Crawford Estate and his reputation. Thea knew how bad it could be to have a reputation tarnished. Liam would lose everything because his late father did not set limits on his wife and brothers. She was eager to find a solution to Liam's problems.
The library was on the ground floor, and if the butler or servants needed any help with any gentleman, she would be close by, ready to help. The only person that Thea was concerned about was Lord Pine. As the Duke had made room for John to invite two guests, John had asked Thea to send an invitation to Harry and another to his brother Nigel. John thought it would be suitable for his brother to meet the wealthy nobles as now he was helping his father at the Estate.
John had not seen his family in five days, he was finally accepting her, and Thea was afraid that with his brother closer, he would return to the person he once was to her. But without raising her fears to her husband, she sent out the invitations and got the acceptance answers on the same day.
During dinner, John heard the men talking about the fine house and how he arranged everything in a short time. And the Duke stood up to make a toast. "Gentlemen, I would like to make a toast to my son-in-law, that has provided this extraordinary dinner and a fine night that you all shall be talking about for the coming days."
John grinned. His eyes held much pride in them. He was so happy that evening with all those ranked wealthy gentlemen in his home, and he had no words to describe how proud he was of Thea. "You flattered me, Your Grace, but I shall not take credit for this fine night. It was Mrs Pine that made all the effort to accommodate you all here this evening."
"Then shall we all raise our glasses to Mrs Pine? I am certain she made an extra effort with all our activities this evening." Lord Clifford was delighted as he was on the Duke's guest list that evening for the first time. He could not be more thankful to John for having talked in his presence about acquiring a wife that season and had to toast to the lady.
