AllFreeNovel
Share Us
At that moment, Emily realized that her brother probably inherited his deviousness from their sire. She had never before seen this side of her father, and she found that she thoroughly enjoyed it.
Moments later, she left the Marquess of Rutbridge’s study feeling a little lighter. At least, she would not go into this marriage without support. This time, she knew she could count on her father and brother to back her up.
“What are you so happy about?”
Emily turned around to find her sister looking supremely satisfied and yet, still dreadfully annoyed. The combination of both expressions was quite amusing.
“I suppose that at your level, landing the Viscount is already quite an achievement,” her sister continued hatefully.
Emily tilted her head to the side. “I can always choose ruination,” she mused, “and bring you down with me.”
Amy glared furiously at her. “You wouldn’t dare! You couldn’t even tolerate the notion of spinsterhood, much less ruination!”
“It seems I am quite tolerant of many things these days, then,” Emily responded smoothly which only seemed to enrage Amy further. Emily found, though, that she no longer cared about these things.
“Well then, I hope you can tolerate yourhusband!” her younger sister screeched. “Because that is what you deserve after trying to seduce His Grace with cheap tactics!”
Cheap…? Not necessarily. They did work rather well.
It was just a pity that the man she gave her heart to had no intention of being responsible for anyone else’s. Emily decided that it was onhim,though, and absolutely no fault of her own.
As Amy continued to glare furiously at her, Emily felt strangely detached from the entire sordid affair as if she was watching everything from a stranger’s eyes. Her sister could spew all the invectives she wanted, but it did not change the fact that Emily still held Amy’s future success in the palm of her hand.
“Amy,” she said in a soft, even voice, “you are still young. I hope that when it is your turn, you can dobetter.”
Her sister gaped at her, and Emily felt an odd sense of being firmly in control of her own life for the first time. She might be marrying the Viscount in a month or so, but her brother and her father were making sure that she would not be marrying poorly, even hinting that they would stand by her whatever came out of this union—that was already more than most young ladies could expect from her family.
“Lady Emily, the Viscount is here to see you. He is in the salon right now.”
A small smile tipped the corner of her mouth as she nodded at Jenny, who was looking for all the world like somebody had just died.
“Your betrothed is waiting for you,” Amy sneered.
Emily tilted her head and glanced coolly at her poor, mean-spirited but naive sister, genuinely wishing that Lady Horatia had not managed to ruinAmy’sfuture by spoiling her quite terribly.
“Yes,” she replied in a soft voice. “Heis.”
For a moment, she considered making him wait a little more but decided against it. She would only seem like a petulant child dragging her heels, and Emily was well past the stage of cowering.
She would meet this future husband of hers with her head held high.
* * *
The Viscount glanced around the salon of the Montgomery townhouse, feeling absurdly pleased with himself. It had just come to his notice that the Duke of Gilleton was yet to appear in this very same house—which meant that His Grace had no intention of marrying Lady Emily Montgomery.
And who could blame him?Lord Caney sneered to himself. If it was not to torment the Duke himself, he would never have cast a second glance on this wallflower.
Although, he had to admit that she had ignited something within him on that night he led her out to the garden. The foolish twit had thought he meant to propose marriage, but how could he when he had yet to sample what she had to offer?
And I would have succeeded if that insufferable, meddling bastard had not arrived, he thought to himself angrily, clenching his hands into fists.
“Lord Caney, is the decor not to your liking?”
He turned around at the softly spoken words, and his breath almost stopped in his throat when he saw Lady Emily Montgomery in a fetching peach gown. Although the color was a soft and lovely shade, she exuded an icy regard that was almost regal.
“My dear Emily,” he murmured, recovering after the brief period of shock. “How lovely you are today!”
She cast him a brief, cursory glance, and Gregory had to blink his eyes a couple more times just to be sure that she was still the same woman who blended into the draperies in every social occasion for the past two seasons.
