Read Online Countess by Coincidence by Cheryl Bolen - Free Book Online

after all, the new mistress of Finchley House. And it’s not as if I’ll ever be stepping on your toes in this chamber.” He moved toward the door. “Should you like to see your bedchamber? Your maid spent the afternoon there sorting all your things that were delivered earlier today.”
    She smiled brightly at him. “Yes. I’m quite excited.”
    “I pray you do not expect anything so grand as what I daresay you’re accustomed to,” he said as they began to mount the stairs to the next floor.
    “I have never had a bedchamber of my own before.”
    He paused, arching a brow. “You shared your chamber with one of your sisters?”
    She nodded. “With Caroline. We are less than a year apart.”
    “I should think you would miss sharing your room with her. It must have been a great deal of fun. Unless you two did not get on.”
    “Oh, we get along exceedingly well.”
    “I rather enjoyed sharing a chamber when I first went up to Eton. Being an only child is beastly. I rather like the camaraderie of being around other fellows.”
    “Like Mr. Perry?”
    “Yes, indeed. There were four of us who’ve been the best of chums since we played cricket together at good old Eton.”
    “And none of them have married?”
    He wrinkled his nose again. “I suppose I’m the first.”
    “Though it’s not really like being married. You’ll continue on with your three chums as if you were just down from Oxford.”
    “Indeed we will,” he said rather jollily.
    As they passed the door to his bedchamber, he felt uncomfortable. No proper lady had ever before been in this part of his house since he'd succeeded. It seemed awfully odd being there with her. He strode along the wooden-floored corridor until they came to her room, and he swept open the door. “Your chamber, my lady.”
    Her face brightened as she moved into the room. “It’s lovely.”
    He remained in the doorway. He could not bring himself to step into a chamber that had such intimate associations. After all, this woman, this lady, was almost a complete stranger to him. His gaze whisked around the room. The high, curtained bed dominated every other item within his view. A pity it would never be used for a pleasurable purpose. His gaze went to her. She faced the dressing table, her profile to him, and he observed the smooth lines of her pleasing figure. Yes, a great pity, but there you were. He sighed.
    “Did your mother select the draperies and bed curtains?”
    Why did she have to bring up the bloody bed curtains? He found himself thinking about lying within the closed bed curtains, ravishing this lady he’d accidentally wed. That would never do! “Yes, I believe she did. She loved turquoise.”
    “I do too.”
    Somehow, that surprised him. Turquoise was so vibrant a colour, and she was so . . . mousy. Not that she looked mousy, actually. Her prettiness was undoubtedly above normal. It was just that her temperament was so meek, and she was so quiet. He would have thought she favored insipid colours like gray or pink. “Feel free to change the chamber in any way you’d like.”
    She shook her head. “There’s nothing here I would want to change. Your mother was possessed of unerring taste.”
    Her comment pleased him inordinately. It validated his own opinion of his lovely mother. “Thank you. She was.” He felt closer to Maggie. Not close enough to enter that chamber, not close enough to ever bed her, and certainly not close enough to ever stop wishing this abominable marriage had never occurred. Nevertheless, the two of them shared his good opinion of his sainted mother.
    He drew a deep breath as if to clear his mind from any thoughts of her bed. “Well, if you’re settled in, I’ll be off.”
    She arched a brow. “You’ll be with Perry and the other two gentlemen?”
    “I will.”
    “I would like to know their names. The other two.”
    “They’re David Arlington and Michael Knowles.”
    “Do you think we could ask them all to dinner so that I