His Mistletoe Marchioness by Georgie Lee

Author:Georgie Lee
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-09-07T18:53:18+00:00

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Clara watched Hugh go, missing his humour and companionship before he’d even stepped out of the door. For a little while tonight, the boy she’d known at Winsome, the one she’d fallen in love with at Stonedown had been beside her. With him, she’d felt a little more like the carefree young woman she’d once been and not the mourning matron. Without him, the unease that his conversation and teasing had kept at bay slowly began to return. She glanced at the cushion and the imprint of his hand lingering there and traced it with one finger, making the feathers beneath the fabric shift until the outline and the warmth of him began to fade. What remained was the craving for Hugh that had enveloped her when they’d sat so close. There’d been more than friendship in his eyes when she’d thought he would lean forward and take her hand and kiss her.

Kiss me, indeed. She smoothed what remained of the imprint out of the cushion and sat up straight. He wasn’t about to be so bold in a room full of people, nor would she have allowed it, except she would have. Apparently, she’d been without a man for too long if she were so eager to kiss the first one who showed any interest in her. Lady Pariston would say there was only one remedy for it, but Clara feared the cure would be worse than the illness and she wasn’t about to throw away any chance of proving that she’d changed by potentially making the same mistake twice. Only she wondered if the mistake was in letting Hugh go.

She looked at the door where he’d disappeared through, tempted to rise and go after him when movement along the edge of her vision made her turn. Anne, who couldn’t hide her delight behind her hand of cards, was watching her, as was Lady Pariston, who nodded with approval. However, it was Lady Fulton’s smug smile and Lord Westbook’s scrutiny that jerked Clara out of her daydreams and back into the sitting room.

She was doing it again, being careless in her regard for Hugh in front of everyone and risking another public humiliation.

He wouldn’t do that to me again, or would he? She didn’t know. Whoever he’d been in London, that man was not the one she’d been with during the scavenger hunt or at dinner or just now, but the London one remained behind him like a shadow, clouding her view of him.

There’s no reason to rush into any decision, either for or against him, she reminded herself, rising to join one of the card games and to stop everyone from staring at her and speculating. She would keep her before-dinner vow to be careful and watch and observe him, to have the patience to draw out the truth about Hugh, good or bad. Her mind hoped it would be bad and then she could walk away proud of herself for having avoided any pitfalls, but her heart had other ideas, ones she was afraid to admit even to herself.

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