The Delicate Matter of Lady Blayne Read Online Free

intentionally careless, but rather that she was highly distracted. Forgetful. Too often consumed by needling thoughts.
    Was that really a valid excuse? No, it wasn’t.
    Goodness, what would a man like James had matured into, make of a woman like herself?
    She closed her eyes, seeing him again as a young man in the Landbrae garden. So tall, so muscular and fit. He radiated strength and determination. Just as he always had.
    Yet today, it had been his sky-blue gaze, so intense and cutting, that had struck her.
    Eyes framed by brows so inky black that their light color appeared opalescent, silvery, like they had been frosted by moonlight.
    Eyes that had never changed. A stern stare that told of a man who had never known a moment’s indecision, self-doubt or fear.
    He had frightened her, when she had been a girl.
    No, that was dishonest.
    If you cannot be good, you can at least be honest!
    She put her hand over her chest, feeling her quickening heart’s beat. Honestly, it had been the way he had made her feel that had frightened her most of all. Before she’d met James, she’d always feared that, secretly, she was a wanton at heart. Yes, beneath all the careful training she’d received as a clergyman’s daughter, she had burnt with desire.
    Back then, she had thought she could overcome her weaknesses.
    Now she knew better.
    She took an uneven breath, aware of the edginess that crackled along her nerves. Aware of the quickening in her breathing. Aware of the growing sensitivity in her breasts. The slight ache in her belly. She should not nurture such thoughts. She opened her eyes and was greeted by her reflection in the mirror.
    Her eyes darkened with desire, and her cheeks flushed. Her lips appeared a deeper red, as though she’d been feasting on cherries.
    She touched her mouth, lightly feathering her fingertips there, remembering the feel of James’ firm yet utterly sensual lips upon hers, all those years ago. Yes, she had never forgotten that one time.
    That first infidelity.
    Her throat tightened painfully.
    Oh, Freddy…
    She jerked the knob to the dressing table drawer and with a slight screech, the drawer bolted open, the contents jolting and rattling with the motion. Heady scents of rose and lavender and lemon wafted from several empty, delicately crafted crystal perfume bottles stashed amid a profusion of colorful hair ribbons, countless jewel- and pearl-encrusted hair pins and a slew of folded letters, richly dyed feathers, sparkling gems—long ago separated from their original position on hats or evening gowns—hopelessly tangled strips of lace meshed with the silver chain of a locket, a V-shaped velvet bodice insert studded with black glittering jets, and countless other, less identifiable bits of feminine nonsense.
    All the pieces of her past.
    Some merely pretty, some deeply sentimental.
    Things she couldn’t quite bring herself to let go.
    Frantically, she raked her fingers through the fragrant, rainbow-hued rabble, until she hit something more solid.
    A miniature.
    She lifted it out and traced the intricate carving on the gold frame.
    Freddy’s large, soft gray eyes stared up at her. A handsome young man with blond locks kissed with a faint hue of red, and fine, almost angelic features. She had loved Freddy first.
    She had loved Freddy best. With all her heart.
    James had been nothing more than a temptation. A test.
    A test that she had almost failed.
    Freddy had done her much honor to court her. To ask for her hand in marriage years before Papa would allow it. But Freddy had wanted only her. He had waited for her, treating her during that whole time as a true gentleman treated an innocent fiancée. Only hand holding and the chastest of kisses had passed between them. And during that time of waiting, he had been overcome with a summer flux.
    The fever had caused his heart to weaken.
    It had not lessened her love for him. Not even after her mother had sat her down and spoken to her sternly, telling her