A Notorious Love by Jeffries Sabrina

Author:Jeffries, Sabrina [Jeffries, Sabrina]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3, epub
Tags: Romance, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9780061750922
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2009-10-13T07:00:00+00:00

He had to get her mind off this bloody subject. The gig lurched, throwing him to one side, and as he straightened, a hard object in his coat pocket bumped against his thigh. Perplexed, he reached in and pulled out a slim volume.

Mrs. Nunley’s Guide. Ah, yes, just the thing. “Why don’t I read to you while you drive? It’ll make the hours pass more quickly.”

“You brought something to read?” She glanced over at it, then groaned. “Where did you get that?”

He rifled through the book. “It was in your bag—the groom gave it to me before we left. I thought to leave it behind, but now I’m glad I didn’t. It might prove interesting.”

“For you?” she said skeptically.

“Why not?”

“Because as far as I know, you’re not planning a coming out. Or didn’t you notice that the title says it’s for young ladies?”

“You’re a young lady. I’ll read it to you.”

“There’s no point. I have it memorized.”

He gaped at her. “All of it?”

“Of course. I’ve been reading and following it for twenty years.”

“You’re shamming me! Twenty years?”

“Mama gave it to me when I was only six. She died when Juliet was born, so Juliet doesn’t have one, but she gave Rosalind and me copies as soon as we could read.”

“Hard to believe Rosalind even looked at it.”

Helena smiled for the first time since they’d left Tunbridge. “She conveniently ‘lost’ hers some years ago.”

“Now, that I can believe.” He eyed her soberly. “But you kept yours and memorized it.” Was it any wonder the woman had such rigid notions?

“Yes, Mama may have been an actress, but once she married, she knew her duty to Papa as his countess. She tried to instill a lady’s behavior, manners, and speech in both Rosalind and me.”

“It didn’t work with Rosalind. Why did it work with you?”

She shrugged. “Because I’m the oldest, I suppose. And the closest to Mama in temperament. I admired her very much.” A faraway look passed over her features as she maneuvered the reins. “She was so lovely, so elegant and graceful. Even after she died, when I was ten, I wanted to grow up to be just like her.” She cleared her throat. “That’s why I learned the rules so well—because it seemed the best way to follow in her footsteps.”

His throat tightened. Poor motherless lass, clinging to the likes of Mrs. Nunley for advice because her own mother was gone. Daniel glanced down at the book. “Now you’ve made me all the more eager to read the thing.”

“Why?”

“Because it’ll help me understand you better.”

Her gaze shot to his, perplexed and a bit alarmed. “What’s there to understand?”

“Everything. But mostly, why you keep your real self locked up tight inside where nobody can see it.” Bending close, he whispered, “Except when you’re drunk, of course.”

Against the dark green of her bonnet, her cheeks glowed as pink as peaches. “You’ll find Mrs. N’s guide to be very dull reading.”

“I doubt that.” Settling back against the seat, he opened the book to a random page.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.