And Then She Fell (Cynster 19 Cynster Sisters Duo #1) Read Online Free Page B

going to say the words; they formed and fell from her lips without conscious direction.
    Purely in response to what she’d heard, what she could see—what, inside, she knew.
    His back to her, he halted. Several more heartbeats of silence ensued, then he slowly turned his head and, frowning slightly, looked at her. “What did you say?”
    She moistened her lips, and stated more definitely, “I said I’ll help you.”
    He slowly turned to face her fully. His frown deepened. “In case you didn’t know, you’re known as The Matchbreaker. You break up matches of which you disapprove, just as you did with me and Melinda.”
    “No.” She drew breath and evenly said, “I only tell young ladies who’ve asked me to learn the truth about their prospective fiancés what I find. For your information, I confirm as many matches as I disrupt, and contrary to the generally held belief, not all those matches I confirm are love-matches.” She held his gaze levelly. “Not all young ladies wish to marry for love. These days most do, but not all.”
    She hesitated, studying his eyes, his face; neither gave all that much away, but she thought she detected a glimmer of hope, which was encouragement enough for her to say, “I didn’t know your situation, but now I do . . . I can help. I can tell you which young ladies might suit, and if the ton’s ladies see me assisting you, they’ll know that the reason Melinda drew back was not in any way a reflection of any substance on you, but rather lay in her expectations, her wants and wishes. In other words, that she and you didn’t suit in that regard, but my . . . championing of you will lay all other adverse speculation to rest.”
    Pausing, she tipped her head, regarding him steadily as she considered. “I admit it’ll be a challenge—finding you a suitable bride in barely four weeks—but if I work with you, we might just manage it.”
    It was his turn to tip his head as he regarded her, in his case through slightly narrowed eyes. “You’d do that?”
    Righting her head, she nodded decisively. “Yes, I would. I’m not apologizing for disrupting your pursuit of Melinda, because such a match wouldn’t have worked, but given your situation and, as you correctly point out, the implications of my involvement over Melinda, and you’ve always been a good friend to Simon, too, then given all those circumstances, helping you to find your necessary bride seems the least I should do.”
    He stared at her as if he couldn’t quite believe what she’d said, and didn’t know how to reply. Eventually, he ventured, “So The Matchbreaker will turn matchmaker?”
    She tipped up her chin. “I only disrupt matches that won’t work, but, assuming you can leave that aspect aside, if we work together, we might just have a chance to meet your deadline.”
    He studied her for a moment more, then he slowly nodded. “All right. So . . . where do we start?”
    T hey arranged to meet in Hyde Park the next morning.
    Handsomely garbed in a walking dress of sky-blue twill, Henrietta was waiting some yards inside the Grosvenor Gate, not far from her parents’ house in Upper Brook Street, when James came striding along Park Lane and turned in through the pillared gateposts.
    At the sight of him, her heart tightened and an inexplicable band constricted about her chest, restraining her breathing. The effect was so marked, and with no one else about she couldn’t pretend it wasn’t occasioned by him. Which was nonsensical.
    Admittedly, he was dressed in his usual impeccable fashion and was therefore the epitome of an elegant ton gentleman; his coat of Bath superfine was exquisitely cut, his waistcoat of blue and muted silver stripes a study in understated elegance, and his superbly tied cravat would doubtless engender envy in all the younger blades. Nevertheless . . . faintly irritated by such missish susceptibility—she was twenty-nine, for heaven’s sake, too old to be affected by the sight