A Lady's Choice by Donna Lea Simpson

Author:Donna Lea Simpson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: unrequited love, traditional regency, childhood sweethearts, marriage proposal, british historical fiction, choosing between two men
Publisher: Beyond the Page Publishing

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Colin felt as if his smile was so tight it was like the grimace of a death mask. He could make no sense of what any lady said anymore, for they all spoke at once, chattering like magpies. Rachel had disappeared, and he saw no polite way to disperse the crowd of young ladies. What to do?

He saw Andromeda and Sir Parnell approach and reached out to them as though they were a lifeline and he a drowning man. “My sister, ladies, and Sir Parnell Waterford. Sir Parnell, I believe you have many exciting tales to tell of your successful venture as a planter in the islands of the Caribbean!”

It sounded so patently forced that for a moment he thought no one would take the bait, but these were young ladies who had yet to make a conquest, and so Sir Parnell was fallen upon like fresh strawberries at a picnic. They crowded around him.

Colin took his sister’s arm, and with a babbled request to be excused while he discussed something with his sister, he led her away.

“Don’t look back,” he said, pulling her along with him until they reached the edge of the ballroom floor. When they had put enough distance between them and those left behind, he allowed their pace to slow and passed one hand over his eyes. “What has come over the so-called fair sex? I have never seen so many fluttering eyelashes and heaving . . . yes, well . . .” He glanced at his sister. “I shall just say it is highly uncomfortable to be the center of so much concentrated flirtation. What has happened? Have I suddenly become a ‘beau’ that I am treated to so much female attention?”

Andromeda chuckled. “No, you will never be a ‘beau.’ But it is the end of the Season, and you are an unclaimed bachelor of a good age and with an unencumbered estate and only one female relative. You are a prize, of sorts, to those who have not managed to find a husband and are becoming, for want of a better word, desperate.”

Colin let out a shout of laughter. “And I thought I had suddenly become handsome and witty. No one like one’s sister for letting one down easily.” He gave her a sly look. “Now I know how Haven felt all those years when you were trying so desperately to entrap him.”

She pinched his arm hard and steered him toward their hostess. He yelped, but kept grinning. When they reached Lady Laurier, Andromeda said, “My lady, we have become separated from Miss Neville. Have you seen her?”

“Oh, yes,” Lady Laurier said, with an ingenuous smile on her pretty face. “Miss Neville is quite the belle of the ball! She is an enormous success with the young gentlemen. Would you like me to guide you to her?”

Colin was flushed a deep red and said stiffly, “Yes, we would be obliged.”

Andromeda glanced sideways at him. She thought he had found equanimity where Rachel Neville was concerned.

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