The True Love Wedding Dress Read Online Free Page A

believe letters between an affianced couple are anything improper. They’d need to discuss wedding plans and—”
    “There was not supposed to be a wedding! Gerald has to marry a female of good family and good connections, I tell you. It is his duty to his sisters.”
    Agnes had two daughters after her son, one more goosish than the other. Forde was paying for their finishing lessons, as he would pay for their presentations and their weddings. Gads, two more nuptials to suffer through. “I do not see where Gerald and his bride need concern themselves with—”
    “That is all you know. Men! Gerald must have a bride who can help the girls find the bachelors with the deepest pockets, make the best connections, get invited to the best parties. Now if you had a wife . . .”
    “Which I do not. Surely, as the brats’—that is, as the girls’—mother, you are best suited to see to their futures.”
    “Bosh. I am too weak to do all that gadding about town.”
    Too fat and too lazy, Forde thought but did not say. “Gerald says Miss Cole is very well mannered. I am certain she will be of assistance.”
    “She will not be here. The two gudgeons intend to reside at the Oaks in the country now that you have given the estate into Gerald’s keeping. Worse, he intends for me and the girls to go live there, too. He says we should stop being a burden on you and your bank account.” Agnes pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve and blew her nose. Crumbs flew across the room.
    “Nonsense. You are not a burden and never have been.” The house was large enough that Forde seldom saw his kin by marriage. And his purse was deep enough that he never truly felt the pinch of their expenses. “Gerald cannot intend you to reside in the country, not with his new wife.” Forde pitied Miss Cole if such were the case and wondered about his nephew’s sanity, if not his intelligence.
    “Not right away, of course, but soon.” She sighed, loudly. “That is what Gerald said, that you should have your house back, and your privacy.”
    The idea appealed to the viscount, but he knew his duty. And he did keep a discreet love nest in Kensington for such private moments. “Gerald is not of age, and I am the girls’ guardian until then, so he cannot force you to leave London.”
    “Thank goodness, for how am I to see my gals settled advantageously, if we are stuck in the shires? Gerald says he met Miss Cole in the country, so that is good enough for his sisters.” She started to sob. “He says they are not titled, so they do not need grand presentations and lavish come-out balls at your expense.”
    The boy sounded more mature by the moment. Lud knew, Agnes never thought of the cost of anything, or who was to pay it. Still, Forde was head of the family, and he could not let a mere boy, one just starting his own family, beggar himself to support three women. Four, if one counted the bride. “Dash it, my brother gave his life for this country. The least I can do is see his daughters well married. I’ll speak with Gerald. Is he at home?”
    “He is at his new home, readying the Oaks for its new mistress and his new horses.”
    “Then he truly cares about the girl and is acting in a responsible manner.” Forde stood up, ready to leave, resigned to attending the blasted wedding.
    “There is worse.”
    “Worse than wanting you to ruralize? Worse than not providing you with an elegant chaperone for your daughters?”
    “Far worse. Rushing into this marriage will cause talk that will reflect on the entire family. Such unseemly haste casts doubts on the female’s respectability, doubts that will rub off on my own darlings.”
    Forde sat back down, in a hurry. “Good grief, is the woman breeding, then?” He’d murder the cawker for letting his prick push him into a misalliance. They’d had an awkward talk when the boy turned sixteen, and Forde had considered his avuncular duties done. Damn. He should have repeated the warnings and the