A Delightful Arrangement by Cecilia Gray

Author:Cecilia Gray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gray Life, LLC

Chapter Three

In his past years as one of London’s most sought-after additions to any high-profile ball, Phillip had never once grimaced across a ballroom, but now, watching Francesca dancing a quadrille with yet another besotted male, he couldn’t help it.

He should have known Francesca would be a skilled dancer. At the age of seven, she had scaled trees with ease. By twelve, she had bested him on horseback. She excelled at all things physical, including, he remembered vividly, kissing.

It was hard to romanticize a girl who had thrown up on him at age twelve after eating one too many sweetcakes. But when he’d kissed her the other day, she had felt different. Granted, he had seen little of her during her years of mourning, most of which he’d spent in London except for his discreet inquiries into the state of their household. Yet he had noticed her gradual progression to womanhood with each visit home and it hadn’t affected him in any manner until now.

Now, surprisingly, everything about Franny inflamed his blood. Affecting a casual, friendly air around her had become increasingly difficult.

He’d always known he would marry her. From that first day he’d found her in the broom closet he’d absolutely known it was his job, his charge, to protect her, and he intended to do so.

He just hadn’t expected it to be so damned annoying or difficult.

He waited impatiently for the quadrille to end so he could claim his waltz. He had already tried dancing with other partners this evening, but had proven incompetent. His gaze had consistently drifted across the ballroom as he barreled into unsuspecting victims. Once, when Franny had thrown her head back in an unabashed laugh, he’d stopped dancing altogether and stood as if rooted to the ground. It was safer to watch her from the wings. The jade green of her gown was easy to spot amongst the crowd, even if her mass of red hair hadn’t been a beacon in itself.

The last notes of the quadrille drifted through the air and he stalked towards her, muttering a brief acknowledgement to her partner before sweeping her into his arms. The sense of anxious unease that had plagued him through the night finally abated as he stared into those lovely green eyes. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you.” She gave him a genuine smile and he was a little annoyed that her good mood seemed to stem from her night’s activities, which, thus far, had nothing to do with him. For the first time he felt a twinge of fear—that maybe he wouldn’t be the one to make her swoon. “You look dashing, too.”

He didn’t understand how she could be so petite and yet fit so perfectly in his arms. His hand spanned nearly the entire width of her waist. “Are you enjoying your first ball?”

“Immensely and much to Father’s disapproval.” She lowered her voice. “Can you see him glowering from the corner?”

“Allow me,” he said smoothly, maneuvering them with deftness until he caught sight of her father.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.