Emily Hendrickson Read Online Free Page B

Adrian won’t bite you.” She smiled as she said this, but Drusilla noted that she seemed uneasy.
    “No? I imagine you are right.” The subject was changed and they went in to dinner in perfect amity.
    It was but two days later that dust rising from the graveled avenue alerted them to approaching company.
    So warned, Drusilla stationed herself in the entryway, urging Priddy to go forth to greet the guest.
    Only, it wasn’t a guest. His lordship had arrived.
    “My valet will be along with the luggage shortly, Priddy. I trust all is well?”
    Priddy, almost speechless with delight at the sight of the master, bowed and ushered him toward the drawing room. They were partway there when his lordship spied Drusilla.
    “Good day, Lord Brentford. I hope you had a pleasant journey?” A woman stepped forward from the shadows.
    The thought rushed through his mind that this young woman was not only self-possessed, she was very beautiful. Honey blond hair neatly bound back from her face allowed a man to enjoy her luminous blue eyes and creamy complexion, not to overlook her sweetly curved lips. Upon closer inspection, he observed, her eyes were the aqua-blue of the sea on a fine day. They sparkled like the sea as well, causing him to wonder what prompted that glitter. At his perusal a blush rose to tint her cheeks, creating a beauty beyond belief. However, there was no welcoming smile.
    This was going to be difficult. Had she been ugly, it would have been a snap to dispose of her. Somehow, her loveliness changed matters, although he wasn’t sure why.
    “I gather you are Miss Herbert?” He strove for composure, not wishing her to think she impressed him.
    “Indeed so. Miss Drusilla Herbert, companion to your lady mother. You will find her much improved. She is in the drawing room as usual at this time of day, at her needlework.” She curtsied gracefully, thus affording him a good look at her figure. She had a fine bosom, he noticed, and she was slender, but not too thin.
    When she straightened up, she looked at him and he was taken aback at the dislike he saw in her eyes. He was accustomed to fawning, flattering females, not a clear-spoken young woman who stared at him with her dislike—if it was no more than that—obvious.
    “Excuse me, my lord. I have things to do.” She bobbed a slight curtsy before whirling about to march up the stairs. As she went up, her hips swayed in a fetching way. Looking at her blond tresses, so neatly bound, he wondered how long they were and how they would look cascading down her back. He stared after her, feeling as though someone had punched him in the stomach.
    “Ahem,” Priddy said. “Her ladyship is anxious to see you, my lord.”
    “What? Oh. Yes, indeed.” Feeling slightly off kilter, Adrian strolled into the drawing room to seek his mother.
    “What happened, dear? You were a long time in the entryway. Did something nasty occur to your luggage?”
    While something happened, it wasn’t to his luggage.
    “Not at all. I merely paused to greet your companion.”
    “You met Drusilla Herbert. Isn’t she a lovely creature? And she is as good as she is pretty. I do not know how I would manage without her.”
    Adrian thought back to the young woman he had seen in the entryway. “Pretty” was inadequate to describe such a breathtaking female. If she chanced to walk into an assembly in London garbed in the latest fashion, she would likely create a riot with all the men seeking her hand.
    He gave himself a mental shake to dislodge the image of the beautiful Drusilla. Perhaps he might call her something else less evocative. Dru sounded brief, blurring the memory of those swaying hips, that tantalizing bosom, not to mention those eyes with the hint of the tempestuous sea in them. Indeed, he would call her Dru.
    “Forget this young woman you allow to impose on you. I insist you cancel this foolishness, this birthday party. Surely you are not well enough to tolerate such nonsense!”
    Lady