Royally Ever After Read Online Free Page A

for killing a peer—and I ought to point out that I am an excellent shot—I recommend your lordship think again. Yesterday, as your lordship is well aware, I was deep in my cups—and it is perfectly beastly of your lordship to remind me of the fact.
    I have the honor to be,
    My Lord,
    Your lordship’s obedient servant,
    Â Â Â Â Â  Chloe Sharp
    Lovedon House
    18th June, half-past two o’clock
    Madam:
    I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of one o’clock. Does this mean you retract your words and apologize?
    I have the honor to be,
    Madam,
    Your obedient servant,
    Â Â Â Â Â  Lovedon
    Portman Square
    18th June, three o’clock
    My Lord:
    I would rather hang than apologize to you. For anything. Ever.
    I have the honor to be,
    My Lord,
    Your lordship’s obedient servant,
    Â Â Â Â Â  Chloe Sharp
    Lovedon House
    18th June, half-past three o’clock
    Madam:
    Your having declined to give the reparation which I consider myself entitled to receive, I now call upon you to give me that satisfaction for your conduct which a gentleman has a right to require, and which a gentleman never refuses to give. I shall expect to see you at Battersea Fields at seven o’clock this evening.
    I have the honor to be,
    Madam,
    Your obedient servant,
    Â Â Â Â Â  Lovedon
    P.S. I dare you.
    Portman Square
    18th June, half-past four o’clock
    My Lord:
    The satisfaction which your lordship has demanded, it is of course impossible for me to decline.
    I have the honor to be,
    My Lord,
    Your lordship’s obedient servant,
    Â Â Â Â Â  Chloe Sharp
    Battersea Fields, half-past seven o’clock
    C hloe stood by the cabriolet in which she and Amy had arrived. The setting sun cast a golden glow over the marshy wasteland, and she was pretending to be perfectly calm, enjoying the scenery, while Amy and Mr. Bates carried on their fussing about various dueling rules.
    Lord Lovedon stood no great distance away, by his carriage—the one that had taken her home last night.
    Her face didn’t go up in flames at the recollection because it didn’t need to. Her face had been burning since this morning, when the ferocious pounding behind her eyes had begun to abate enough to allow her memory to take over the job of tormenting her.
    She had remembered, then, every single thing that had happened yesterday afternoon, down to the moment when she’d sent Lord Lovedon a saucy wave from his carriage window.
    She’d discovered this morning what it meant to die of embarrassment.
    A reasonable man of even minimal sensibility would have realized that she’d suffered enough for her extremely stupid and unladylike behavior.
    A man of delicacy and understanding would have the tact to leave her to squirm with shame in the privacy of her home.
    But no. He had to rub her face in it.
    And now she had this idiot duel to fight, when they both knew that neither of them would do anything but fire into the air.
    He probably thought it was amusing.
    Everyone said he was whimsical.
    Good grief, would Amy and Mr. Bates never cease bickering?
    â€œThey’re making quite a project of this,” came a deep, drawling voice from somewhere above her shoulder.
    She gave a start and a mortifying little squeak of surprise.
    â€œWas it absolutely necessary to sneak up on me?” she said.
    â€œI’m over six feet tall in my bare feet,” he said. “I’m wearing boots and a hat—and while I’ll admit my clothes are uniformly dark, as is de rigueur for a duel, I should have thought I was hard to miss, Miss Sharp.”
    â€œI was not paying attention,” she said. “I was . . . thinking.”
    â€œI observed that you were not paying attention to me,” he said. “That’s why I brought myself closer.”
    She remembered being swept up in his arms. She remembered the feel of his hand at the back of her waist,