Read Online Always a Princess by Alice Gaines - Free Book Online Page B

couldn’t you?”
    She appeared to consider the possibility as she nibbled on her bottom lip in a most provocative manner. “No more than that?”
    “No more.”
    “Very well, then,” she said, extending her hand to be shaken. “I accept.”
    He took her hand in his and held it, marveling at how such a delicate thing could belong to such an obstinate woman. He could probably crush her fingers without meaning to. Good God. If he weren’t careful he’d end up out of his head with protective feelings for this preposterous female.
    “Lord Wesley,” she said after a moment.
    “Yes, Miss Stanhope.”
    “I’ve agreed to your bargain. You may release my hand now.”
    “Quite.” He did release her hand and immediately missed the warmth of her glove against his palm. He’d been much too long in England if a woman’s glove could hold him so in thrall. He cleared his throat. “Well, then. There are a few details we should discuss.”
    She cocked her head and studied him. “Such as…?”
    “Your dresses, for one. You’ll need to have several made up. My mother uses a Madame LeGrand in Mayfair, do you know her?”
    “I’ve heard of her,” Miss Stanhope said. “You’d want me to go there?”
    “You have some objection?”
    “She’s the most expensive dressmaker in London.”
    “As you said, I have plenty of money.”
    She looked at him as if he’d gone quite mad. Perhaps he had, but confounding her was such confounded fun. “A princess ought to be dressed for the part. Especially a princess with whom I’m keeping company.”
    She shrugged. “It’s your half of the money.”
    “Have Madame make you several gowns in various colors. Maybe one in green satin to match your eyes.”
    Those green eyes wouldn’t meet his as she gazed quickly away and a blush crept over her cheeks. “All right.”
    “And the bodices,” he said, “have them made—how shall I put this?—a bit more conservative than the dress you were wearing at Lady Bainbridge’s.”
    “There was nothing wrong with that dress,” she countered.
    “What there was of it. It displayed your assets to every male there.”
    “My assets are none of your business,” she said.
    “If you’re to impersonate my intended, they most certainly are my business.”
    “Oh, all right,” she snapped. “Do you have any more instructions?”
    “There’s a large ball in a fortnight at the Duke of Kent’s. Madame LeGrand should have a gown or two ready by then. We’ll attend together.”
    “Fine. In a fortnight, then.”
    She turned to go, but he caught her arm. “I need to know where you live.”
    She looked down at his hand for a moment and then up at him. “No, you don’t.”
    “How else will I collect you for the ball?”
    “I’ll come to you.”
    “That would look perfectly ridiculous if anyone saw you. We’re right on the park, remember.”
    “Right.” She worried her lower lip for a moment. “I’ll be waiting at the little church on Oxford Street in St. Giles.”
    “St. Giles.” Good God. “You live there?”
    “I live where I have to, Lord Wesley. You may collect me at that church or forget the whole arrangement.”
    “Very well. The little church on Oxford Street. Before dusk.”
    “In a fortnight,” she said and turned to go again. Philip watched as she walked away—a bundle of energy and disapproval. Oh yes, he’d see her again, and sooner than in a fortnight. And not in any ghastly place like St. Giles.
     
    At least Eve didn’t have to deal with Madame LeGrand herself, but with a pleasant little Cockney lady named Sadie. Although standing on a stool in front of a cheval glass while someone else bustled about on the floor with a mouthful of pins wasn’t something Eve had ever planned to grow accustomed to, at least she didn’t have to pretend to be anyone she wasn’t.
    Sadie rested back on her heels and gave the hem of Eve’s new gown a tug. “One of my better jobs, if I do say so, miss. You look right lovely in