The Holiday Hussy (When the Wallflowers were Wicked Book 11) by Merry Farmer

Author:Merry Farmer
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2020-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Dancing with Fabian was like walking out of a cramped and smoky house and into a pristine, spring garden, as far as Alice was concerned. It didn’t even bother her that the steps of the dance frequently split them apart so that they were unable to carry on a conversation. With her father out of the room, Fabian had returned to normal. Judging by the way he executed the complicated steps of the dance with razor-sharp precision, he had no more been in his cups earlier than she had. The whole thing had been a ruse, and it was glorious to feel as though she was a part of it.

“Whatever possessed you to behave like such a buffoon earlier?” she asked all the same once the dance was over and Fabian escorted her to the side of the room.

Fabian glanced around, mischief sparkling in his eyes, before leaning closer to her and murmuring, “It was all part of a plot to save you, my dearest.”

A strange, swooping sensation fluttered through Alice’s stomach. She felt her cheeks go pink as she glanced up at him, not sure whether to smile or to feel like the lowest worm in one of his gardens. He watched her with absolute genuineness, affection that she didn’t deserve radiating from him. She’d been such a ninny, shunning him as just another piece in her father’s marriage games. And while a part of her thought she was justified in lumping Fabian into the same category as Lord Sloane or Mr. Garland, she felt as though her heart should have known better all along.

“Why would you want to save a silly miss like me?” she asked as they reached the side of the room, lowering her head.

“You’re my fiancée,” Fabian said.

She glanced up at him, shocked to find a look of surprise in his eyes. “I haven’t given you any reason to like me,” she said, her heart beating faster.

He let out a breath, bursting into a smile and resting his hand on the side of her face. “You’ve given me a great many reasons to like you.”

“This summer, perhaps,” she sighed, lowering her eyes even though he kept her from bowing her head. “I haven’t behaved well since arriving at your mother’s house.”

“I’ve come to see why, though,” he said in a more serious voice. He dropped his hand and shifted to stand beside her, his hands clasped behind his back. Alice wondered why until she saw a cluster of matronly, older women frowning at them in disapproval. “Your father is a villain,” Fabian went on.

“He’s my father,” Alice sighed, assuming a respectable pose at his side. The old biddies tilted their noses up in grudging approval and went on with their conversation. Alice decided she truly hated being in the middle of a crowded ball when her heart and mind were at sixes and sevens. “One cannot choose one’s father.”

“No,” Fabian agreed. “But one can marry and get away from him.”

She peeked sideways at him, arching one eyebrow.

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