You Can't Always Get the Marquess You Want by Alexandra Hawkins

Author:Alexandra Hawkins
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

“Are we missing anyone?”

“I do not believe so,” Tempest replied, giving Lord Warrilow a weak smile as she straightened in her seat.

It was not the first time she had glanced over her shoulder and searched the faces of Lady Henwood’s guests as they made their way from the drawing room and into the music room. There were so many people present, the three large doors separating the two rooms were to remain open so anyone who wished to remain seated in the drawing room could enjoy the concert. The countess had invited Miss Clara King to entertain them this evening. Arabella had informed her that they had missed her performance the night they had been caught in the traffic and Oliver had abandoned them for a few hours. It had also been the night Chance rescued her from the drunk and smugly demanded a kiss as his award. She had bristled at his arrogant taunt, and their kiss had been mediocre and uninspiring.

Kissing him had improved with a little practice.

Not that she had been given any opportunity to kiss Chance or anyone else. Although, if she wanted to kiss a gentleman, Lord Warrilow might be willing if she offered him any encouragement. He had been a frequent visitor to her mother’s drawing room. This evening, he had been invited to sit with her family. It was a sign that the man was taking a closer look at her and Arabella for his bride.

Chance would not be pleased by this news.

Ten days had passed since he asked her to return to the bookseller’s shop. Unfortunately, the task had been more difficult than anticipated, since her mother expected her to stay home and entertain Lord Warrilow and what appeared to be a constant stream of visitors. Her mother was enjoying the activity in the household, and Tempest had not come up with a good excuse to leave the house.

Tempest suspected Chance was not one to be thwarted, and that would make him reckless. The fine hairs on the nape of her neck tickled in warning. She half expected Lord Fairlamb to stroll through the door and sit down next to Lord Warrilow.

And would that not be courting disaster!

“You seem distracted this evening,” the marquess observed, and Tempest suddenly felt guilty that she was thinking about Chance when she was sitting beside a handsome gentleman who had done nothing to deserve her rude behavior.

She compounded her guilt by lying. “I was looking for Lady Harriet.”

“I was not aware our cousin would be joining us,” her sister said, turning her head, but Tempest refused to meet her gaze.

“It was nothing certain, so it would be unfair to ask a footman to reserve a seat for her and any companions,” Tempest explained, praying that God would not strike her dead for her lies.

It was Chance’s fault, she silently fumed. She had been an honest person before she spied on him and his friends bathing in the river.

Tempest glanced over at her mother, who was standing in front of a large mirror and speaking with one of her friends.

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.