Three Times Tempted by Anna Campbell

Author:Anna Campbell [Campbell, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Anna Campbell
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

By the time Imogen attended Elizabeth Tierney’s coming-out ball, her longing for Caleb had reached an excruciating pitch. It was over a week since their last hurried moments together in Lord Halston’s summerhouse. Since then, she hadn’t heard a word from him. Not a rendezvous at a party. Not a note. Not even a sighting at the Tierneys’ house in Lorimer Square.

Had he changed his mind about loving her? Did he regret his proposal? She dearly wanted to trust him, but every empty day widened the gap between them.

Not even the discovery that Lord Tierney had sent Caleb to Cumbria to make some adjustments to his designs for the garden reassured her. The only things that could console her were Caleb’s arms around her and his voice in her ear, whispering his eternal devotion.

Because Stella was so sunk in grief, Imogen’s uncharacteristic fit of the megrims didn’t spark her cousin’s curiosity. Lord Halston had returned to Town, but mostly avoided ton functions. Imogen had glimpsed him a couple of times, but he hadn’t danced with her.

Everyone in the Ridley family was out of sorts. Her father and Eliot had had an almighty row about Lady Verena. Now Eliot had left London for the Wiltshire estate that he’d inherited from his godmother.

Imogen hoped that Eliot won his battle for his lady, but she wasn’t optimistic. The tattle was that Lady Verena’s first marriage had been a disaster, and she was determined never to wed again. So even if Eliot decided to sacrifice his political hopes and break with his powerful father, he still needed to persuade Lady Verena to accept any proposal.

Imogen was more convinced than ever that her brother was in love. If that was the case, marriage would be his goal. He wasn’t a fickle man, and a passing affair wouldn’t satisfy him.

Stella was just as deeply in love – and her chances of happiness with Lord Halston looked even more impossible than Eliot and Verena’s. Real love seemed to bring as much pain as joy.

Halston was at the ball tonight. He’d requested a contredanse and the supper dance as well, so Imogen would have to do her best to pretend that she didn’t know about him and Stella. She started to feel like she kept too many secrets.

At least her father wasn’t here. Instead, he attended some political dinner in Belgravia. She disliked his avid interest in whether Lord Halston singled her out for special attention. A girl was only permitted two dances with any partner, so at least Papa wouldn’t harangue her tomorrow about neglecting the earl.

Stella was delegated to sitting with the chaperones again. For the few days at Prestwick Place, she’d joined the company as befitted her birth, but that ended back in London.

Lady Verena was here, too, sparkling and flirting with Lord Shelburn. If she missed Eliot, it didn’t show.

Poor Eliot. Poor Stella.

And while she did her best to act as if she enjoyed nothing in the world more than her good friend’s party, she couldn’t help adding poor Imogen to that list.

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