The Secret Admirer Romance Collection by Barratt Amanda; Beatty Lorraine; Bull Molly Noble

Author:Barratt, Amanda; Beatty, Lorraine; Bull, Molly Noble [Bull, Molly Noble; Barratt, Kathleen Y’Barbo Amanda; Beatty, Lorraine; Draper, Anita Mae; Dunham, CJ; Uhlarik, Jennifer; Whitham, Becca; Zeller, Penny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 4838667
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2017-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

In the aftermath of her confrontation with Mrs. Vandemark, many of the ladies had warmed up to her. Soon thereafter Emilia received a letter from Preston. It was a Friday, one she would never forget. She had expected an accounting sheet in yet another attempt to discourage her from this venture. Instead, she received what he proclaimed to be his last letter, insisting she return home—and marry him!

Months passed with cooler weather moving in, signaling an early and hard winter. Emilia had made several attempts to write Preston but couldn’t bring herself to accept his hand. Was she in love with him or just drawn to the lifestyle he offered? It was clear he admired her from afar, but that wasn’t love, was it?

With growing clarity, Emilia recalled the suitors at the New York dances. Many of the young men were handsome from a distance, but up close on the dance floor, all she could see were their crooked teeth or bitten nails or pockmarks or wiry sideburns, and she as quickly lost her feelings of attraction toward them. Preston was no different, but was she the one being judgmental now? Was it vanity to reject a suitor based on physical appearance?

Yet Cyrus Holden was different. Even up close he was handsome. In truth, she saw his flaws—the broken tooth and scarred lip, the crook in his nose, the early creases of hardship around the eyes—but the sight of him still turned her stomach to jelly.

As she thought about all these men, she began to realize that all were attractive, each in his own appearance and style. But Cyrus, he was her kind of handsome. And it wasn’t just the incredibly pleasant assemblage of his features. It was his countenance that drew her to him. She didn’t love how he looked so much as who he was. It was then that it struck her: even if it had come from the silent and unseen reaches of her mind, she had thought the word love.