Page 16 of Grace in Glasgow (Seduced in Scotland #3)

“Mr. Milton!” Aunt Belle said cheerfully, offering her hand as the gentleman took it. “It has been an age since I saw you last.”

“Lady Belle. Always a pleasure,” he said before turning back to face Grace and Arabella. “And who have you brought to town now? More dancers?”

“Ah, ha, no,” Aunt Belle said quickly, her wrinkly cheeks turning crimson, Grace noted. “This is my niece, Miss Grace Sharpe and a family friend, Miss Arabella Scott.”

The man’s brow lifted.

“Is that so? I didn’t know Lady Belle had any relatives,” he said, bowing to both women.

“Do you not read the papers, Mr. Milton?” Arabella asked. “It was reported on nearly two years ago.”

“Alas, I was not in Scotland this past year or the year prior. I’ve actually just returned from a tour on the Continent.”

“Yes, I remember,” Aunt Belle said. “You were going to study the architecture of the Austrian opera houses, were you not?” Before he could answer, however, Belle turned to Grace and Arabella. “Mr. Milton here is an architect.”

“Ah, well, I wouldn’t call myself that,” he said quickly. “I’m an admirer of it, but my business is elsewhere.”

“Yes, Mr. Milton built the Milton shopping arcade several years ago. A very successful venture, I believe, is it not, Mr. Milton?”

“You flatter me, Lady Belle.”

“Surely not. Mr. Milton is as modest as he is clever. Tell me, what new projects do you have on your plate?”

The man tilted his head, a satisfied grin creeping across his face.

“Well, I did go to Austria to study the opera houses for a reason. I’d very much like to open another theater, near my shopping arcade if possible.”

“A smashing idea,” Aunt Belle said, jabbing her walking stick on the ground. “The more theaters a city has, the better, I believe.”

“Aye,” he said, before leaning slightly toward Grace. “You see, Miss Sharpe, the Austrians have the very best theaters and I am eager to match their grandeur.”

“They have the best medical theaters as well.”

The man stared at Grace for a moment before Aunt Belle spoke.

“Ah, you’ll have to forgive her, Mr. Milton. My niece is a student of medicine and can rarely speak on anything else,” she added pointedly.

“A student of medicine? You mean to say you’re studying to be a nurse? A noble pursuit, Miss Sharpe.”

“Actually, I’ve plans on becoming a doctor.”

“Oh, aye?”

“Yes.”

For the briefest of moments, Grace felt herself and her company hold their collective breath. It was getting easier to discuss it, but it was still so uneven, the reactions she would get. But Mr. Milton only smirked and, to Grace’s awareness, leaned ever so slightly toward her.

“I should think any sick person to have you as a doctor would be the luckiest patient in the world.”

Stunned momentarily, Grace felt her cheeks warm at the compliment.

“Thank you, Mr. Milton.”

“Mr. Milton,” Aunt Belle said suddenly, stepping between the two. “Be a dear and help an old woman to her seat. I cannot bear to walk up these steps alone. My leg, you see, it’s acting up again.”

“Is it?” Grace asked, concerned.

But her aunt shooed her away as Mr. Milton offered his arm, leaving Arabella and Grace to follow.

Suspiciously enough, Aunt Belle seemed to make it up the stairs without issue, although she did appear to make a bit of a show of it whenever they reached the landing, where she saw an elderly gentleman whom she apparently wished to speak to. Waving to an usher, she spoke to Grace.

“Follow this man to the Smyth box, while Mr. Milton escorts me to speak with an old friend of mine, will you?”

“Yes,” Grace said, just as Mr. Milton spoke.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Sharpe. You as well, Miss Scott.”

“The pleasure was ours,” Arabella said before quickly grabbing Grace’s arm and turning to follow the usher. “My goodness, what a handsome gentleman!”

“Arabella, hush,” Grace said, glancing around. “You mustn’t speak so loudly.”

“I cannot help it. I’m so excited. To finally be around so many people instead of being kept away in Glencoe. It’s so refreshing to meet new people, isn’t it?”

Grace nodded, unsure, as they were led to a heavy red curtain.

The usher pulled it back and let them enter and Grace couldn’t help but gasp.

It was breathtakingly beautiful. With massive red curtains covering the stage, gold painted filigree walls, and rich, green velvet seats, it was the most decadent theater she had ever been to.

“Oh, my goodness, it’s beautiful!” Arabella said excitedly.

“Yes, it really is.”

Not moments later, Aunt Belle entered the suite and they each took their seats, just as the show was about to begin.

It was an Italian opera called Adelia , in which the daughter of a duke’s bodyguard is suspected of having relations with a nobleman.

Arabella and Aunt Belle were very obviously enraptured by the tension of the play, showcased by Aunt Belle, whose opera glasses were unmoving from her eyes, although she did turn around a few times, as if searching for someone in the audience below.

But even that couldn’t hold Grace’s interest. As much as she tried to pay attention, she couldn’t seem to care enough about it, as her mind continued to wonder about things she didn’t want to wonder about.

Such as the exact color of Dr. Hall’s eyes.

It was mortifying, to be sat in a dark theater, ignoring all the hard work of the singers and actors, and only being able to concentrate on trying to figure out if the doctor had gray eyes with a bluish hue or blue eyes with gray streaks.

“My dear,” Aunt Belle said suddenly, shaking Grace from her thoughts.

“Yes?”

“I need you to, um, go fetch my medicine from the carriage.”

“Medicine? What medicine?”

“My pain relievers. Dr. Barkley gave them to me and I feel the draft in this building is causing my leg to ache.”

“Pain relievers? Aunt Belle, why didn’t you tell me you were taking such things?”

“Do not argue with me, my dear, just go get them.”

Grace frowned as Arabella leaned toward them.

“Surely one of the ushers can do so?”

“No, no,” Aunt Belle said. “I want Grace to do it.”

“Why?”

“Because. If you are going to be a doctor, you must learn to be called away from whatever it is you are doing at any given moment to perform your duties,” she said. “Now, go on.”

Grace sighed, unsure what sort of lesson Aunt Belle was trying to teach her at that moment, but as she wasn’t much interested in the opera, she left without arguing.

Walking down the hallway that led to the staircase, Grace noted the quiet peace of being in such a large space alone.

Well, almost alone.

There, in the middle of the staircase, halfway from the landing on both sides, was Mr. Milton, staring up at the chandeliers. Tilting her head, Grace stilled as she reached him.

“Mr. Milton?” she asked, as he turned. “What are you doing out here?”

“Studying. I’m afraid I can’t ever seem to pull myself away from it,” he said, glancing up one last time before focusing on Grace. “Tell me, why were you so interested in the chandeliers when you first came into the theater?”

Grace shook her head.

“I’m not sure. I suppose it was because they seem so grand and I wasn’t expecting it. Why do you ask?”

“I’m planning on breaking ground on a new theater, over near Cowcaddens Cross, and I want it to be just as spectacular and grand, if not more so, than this theater.

” He glanced at her. “And I should feel very blessed indeed if I could see the reaction I saw on your face tonight on the faces of my guests when it opens.”

Grace felt her cheeks warm once more.

“That’s very kind of you to say, Mr. Milton.”

He bobbed his head, but spoke no more of it.

“Are you enjoying the opera this evening? Or perhaps not, considering you’re out here.”

“I’ve been sent on a task for my aunt, who is trying to teach me a lesson.”

“Oh? What lesson is that?”

“Likely something about choices, I presume, but I won’t read too far into it.”

Mr. Milton chuckled and Grace felt a little bolstered by the noise, only to be distracted in the next moment. The faint aroma of lime swirled around her when a grave, familiar voice sounded behind them.

“Ahem.”

Turning around, not three steps above her and Mr. Milton, was Dr. Hall.