Notorious Deception by Adrienne Basso

Author:Adrienne Basso
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2013-01-28T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

They were, by far, the longest two weeks of Diana’s life. Derek treated her with total kindness and infinite patience, which only served to heighten her confusion. He also proceeded to charm each and every one of the members of the tightly knit community he came in contact with. By the end of the second week even Mavis Potter, who had been the most wary of the lot, thought he was a perfect gentleman and the ideal husband for Lady Diana.

The more everyone grew to like him, the more suspicious Diana became. Giles too had been charming before they were married. What would prevent Derek from turning into a monster once they were wed? Diana would lie awake in bed at night, her mind running rampant imaging all sorts of horrors occurring if she were Derek’s wife and under his control. Only until she was perched on the very edge of sanity did Diana catch herself, and then she would spend her final waking hours desperately trying to clear her mind of those ridiculous thoughts.

Derek was nothing like Giles. Derek loved her. Derek cared about her. He protected her. And she loved him maddeningly. Yet that was the rub. Diana was too insecure to trust her own instincts and too much in love with Derek to believe her heart could be objective.

On the day prior to their departure for Chippenham, Diana left her dressmaker’s shop in haste. She was scheduled to meet the architect from St. Ives at the Rose and Crown Inn at two o’clock and it was already half past one. If she hurried to the inn, she might be able to gobble down a quick luncheon before the meeting.

Diana was annoyed at having to waste a part of her last day in town having new garments fitted, but it could not be avoided. Her only surviving gowns were black mourning dresses. She had no clear notion of how long she would be gone from the village and Diana was determined to bring along a variety of gowns. She had no intention of ever again being reduced to wearing only two black gowns for days on end.

In defiance of convention, Diana instructed Mrs. Lowell, the seamstress, to sew several new gowns for her in soft pastels. Diana still wore her mourning black while in the village, but she decided to forsake her widow’s weeds once she left town. It would serve no purpose to continue with the hypocrisy of wearing black in honor of her dead husband. Giles had shown her neither honor nor respect during his lifetime. She owed nothing to his memory.

As Diana crossed the quiet street, she spied a boisterous group of men leaving the Rose and Crown. She did not at first recognize Derek, but when she heard his distinctive laugh clearly, her heart raced. She wondered frantically if he had seen her. She simply wasn’t up to another one of his charming assaults on her senses. He was methodically wearing down her resistance, and these days only a few minutes spent in his company were sufficient to rattle her.

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