An Improper Encounter by Erica Taylor

Author:Erica Taylor
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: 0
Published: 2018-12-17T16:00:00+00:00

William watched Sarah walk away, frozen for a brief moment in fear.

She doesn’t love you, pierced through his mind, the pain of the words throbbing through his thoughts.

A roar of sound came rushing back to him and he became aware of the music of the waltz and the dancing couples around him. How long had he stood there, struck dumb in the middle of the ballroom? Ten minutes? An hour? Half a second?

He escaped to the confines of the crowd, intent on following Sarah out of the room. She was angry with him, and he didn’t blame her, but she needed to say the words to him. She needed to yell and punch and take her anger out on him before it consumed her from the inside out. He could see it happening already, the light and laughter he had seen in her during those days in the country had begun to dim. His chest tightened, his heart beating heavily beneath his ribs, constrained and confined.

“Palmer,” Anna said, stepping into his path. He bit back a nasty reply; Anna didn’t deserve his bile. It wasn’t her fault Heath had died, leaving her in such a state. It wasn’t her fault his father had forced him to take Heath’s place at the altar.

“Please excuse me for a moment,” William said, moving to step around, her but she stopped him.

“Where are you going?” Anna asked, her plump lips turned down in a frown.

“I need to step out for a moment,” he said, his hands fisting at his sides. “Not to worry.”

“What just happened with Lady Radcliff ?” she asked, her eyes laced with worry.

“Just a misunderstanding,” he said.

“Don’t embarrass me, Palmer,” Anna said, sucking in a breath. “That was a lover’s quarrel if I ever saw one. Have you been carrying on an affair with Lady Radcliff ?”

A few sets of eyes glanced their direction and William met each glance with disdainful scorn.

Pulling Anna to the edge of the room, he said gruffly, “Keep your voice down, Anna. What you saw was nothing. I am not having an affair with Lady Radcliff. Her brother is our host, for heaven’s sake. What sort of heathen do you take me for?”

Tears welled in Anna’s large doe eyes. “Well, I don’t know what to think.”.

“Do not worry yourself over Lady Radcliff,” William said, handing over his handkerchief. “It was a misunderstanding. I am simply going to apologize and make certain she and her brother do not take offense. Sit here and rest. You really should be off your feet.”

Anna lowered herself down onto the bench, and—rather than sitting properly with her back straight—rested in an unladylike pose against the wall. When standing, the cut of her dress did a decent job of obstructing her pregnancy, but now, slumped against the wall, her pregnant belly was unabashedly visible.

“I don’t like her, Palmer,” Anna said softly. “She’s just so . . . unemotional . . . and proper.”

William held back his defense of Sarah’s behavior, knowing it would make matters worse.

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