Sweet Release by Pamela Clare

Author:Pamela Clare [Clare, Pamela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Romance
ISBN: 9780843951691
Published: 2009-05-02T22:00:00+00:00

An hour later Cassie sat at the dressing table and brushed the snarls from her hair, vowing that this attempt would be her last. She had tried to braid it three times, each time ending with a tangled mess. Why was she so distracted? It didn’t help to have Elly tapping her foot on the floor and sighing. Cassie had asked her to stop, and the girl had—only to begin anew a few moments later. It seemed Elly had grown bored with her new duties already. Cassie wasn’t surprised.

“Elly, please!” she said, more harshly than she’d intended.

Elly glared at her, but quit tapping her foot.

Giving up on the braid, Cassie took the length of her hair and piled it in a loose coil on her head, leaving one long ringlet dangling down each side of her face and a few at the nape of her neck. Eschewing the powder that would make her freckled face seem pale, she opened the small jar that held rouge and dabbed a bit on her cheeks.

Why had he sent her away? She watched in the looking glass as her finger traced her lips with rouge, recalling the sensation of his ringer there. She supposed she should be grateful. But she wasn’t. She had wanted him to kiss her. Truth be told, she wanted more than a kiss. If he got her with child, at least she’d have a part of him when he sailed away to England, for she was now sure he would be leaving. One day soon the letter would come. He would be Cole Braden no longer.

She fought to stifle a growing sense of melancholy. Taking her mother’s pearl necklace and earrings from the leather pouch, she fastened them in place. Downstairs, musicians tuned their instruments, and she and the other guests would soon be called to dinner. There was little time.

“If you like, you may join the other servants at the bonfire tonight,” she said, standing and smoothing her skirts.

Nettie had worked night and day to finish her gown in time, shaping it from silk and lace taken from one of her mother’s old gowns. Covered with tiny embroidered rosebuds of pink and green on a background of ivory, it was perhaps the loveliest gown she had ever worn.

“Thank you,” Elly said dully, looking at the floor. Til be sure to bring you something from the table.” Cassie took her silk gloves from the dressing table, opened the door to the hallway, and stepped out.

Slaves bustled up and down the furnished corridor, fetching this and that for their masters and mistresses. Cassie went downstairs toward the billiard room, where most of the younger men could be found this time of day. She intended to have a few words with Geoffrey, whether Cole wanted her help or not. What Geoffrey had done today was despicable.

She followed the sound of male voices and found the door to the billiard room open a crack. She hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to knock or simply enter.

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