Read Online The Seduction of Miss Amelia Bell by Paula Quinn - Free Book Online
Authors: Paula Quinn
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some piece of artwork, which, of course, I knew nothin’ about. I confess that one
frightens me a bit with those piercin’ wolf-colored eyes. I found them on me fer most
of the night. He has a look about him like he’s eager and able to spill blood, and
a lot of it. But enough about the others. Tell me of yer Edmund! Och, Amelia, he is handsome. Ye were certainly correct about that. Was he terribly upset about findin’
ye unchaperoned in the garden at dawn? I thought he might have pulled ye away to admonish
ye.”
Amelia shook her head. “He was quite wonderful about it.” Her breathlessness did not
escape Sarah’s notice. “He isn’t stuffy at all. He vowed never to speak of it.”
“My, but I like him better fer ye already. D’ye think yer father would—”
“Sarah.” Amelia stopped her before she went any further. “My fate is sealed. Please
don’t make it any more difficult. Besides, Lord Essex isn’t interested in me as a
wife. And after all he’s likely heard tonight about my ‘incidents,’ I’m certain he
cannot wait to leave Queensberry House.”
“Oh, what a bucket of nonsense!” Sarah exclaimed, pounding her thigh. “Every man in
the Great Hall wished he was sittin’ at yer side at that table tonight, includin’
Lord Essex! Ye are the loveliest woman that ever graced this house.”
“Sarah, don’t be ridiculous. Did ye see my hair? I fell asleep in my soup!”
Sarah’s mouth curled into a smile. “Aye, and he called ye delightful. I heard him.”
“Aye, he didn’t flinch when my mother made apologies fer me.”
“Ye like him then.”
“Of course I do. Who wouldn’t? But he is leaving in the morning and I am going to
be the wife of one of the most powerful men in Scotland.”
“But Amelia, think of what Lord Essex has hidden in those snug hose!”
Amelia’s cheeks went up in flames before both women burst into laughter.
Later, when they lay on the bed staring at the flickering shadows along the ceiling,
arms flung over their heads, Amelia’s thoughts were filled with Edmund. “Sarah?”
“Aye?”
“What is it like to kiss a Scot, well, an Englishman who was raised in Scotland?”
“’Tis verra’ nice, and verra’…indecent,” Sarah answered in a voice deep and drowsy.
The thought of Edmund kissing her indecently stirred Amelia’s blood. “Tell me how
they kiss, won’t ye?”
And Sarah did, leaving little to Amelia’s imagination.
“Walter has never put his tongue into my mouth,” Amelia confided when her friend was
done.
“Of course he hasn’t. He’s as dull as wet grass.”
Amelia smiled at the ceiling. When Sarah’s breath grew slow and even a few moments
later, Amelia pressed a kiss to her dearest friend’s forehead and left her bed.
Edmund sat in the shadows of the Duke of Queensberry’s garden and waited for Amelia
to return from wherever she had gone. To meet her lover? The thought didn’t sit well
with him, but he told himself it was because it meant that things weren’t so good
between her and the chancellor, and if the chancellor didn’t care if she was kidnapped,
he’d sign the treaty and all this would be for naught.
That’s what Edmund told himself.
He waited for her like a thief in the night, ready to steal her away from the people
she loved, eager to begin the process of winning this battle for Scotland.
Eager to see her, to speak to her again. He’d sincerely enjoyed the night he spent
with her and the more times she smiled at him, laughed with him, opened up to him,
the more he hated the idea of using her as a pawn. She was nothing like some of the
other noblemen’s daughters he’d met in the past. He wished she were haughty, like
her mother and her sisters. It would make what he meant to do easier. But she seemed
to genuinely care about her uncle’s servants and her father’s well-being.
He hadn’t kissed her. He’d promised himself that he
some piece of artwork, which, of course, I knew nothin’ about. I confess that one
frightens me a bit with those piercin’ wolf-colored eyes. I found them on me fer most
of the night. He has a look about him like he’s eager and able to spill blood, and
a lot of it. But enough about the others. Tell me of yer Edmund! Och, Amelia, he is handsome. Ye were certainly correct about that. Was he terribly upset about findin’
ye unchaperoned in the garden at dawn? I thought he might have pulled ye away to admonish
ye.”
Amelia shook her head. “He was quite wonderful about it.” Her breathlessness did not
escape Sarah’s notice. “He isn’t stuffy at all. He vowed never to speak of it.”
“My, but I like him better fer ye already. D’ye think yer father would—”
“Sarah.” Amelia stopped her before she went any further. “My fate is sealed. Please
don’t make it any more difficult. Besides, Lord Essex isn’t interested in me as a
wife. And after all he’s likely heard tonight about my ‘incidents,’ I’m certain he
cannot wait to leave Queensberry House.”
“Oh, what a bucket of nonsense!” Sarah exclaimed, pounding her thigh. “Every man in
the Great Hall wished he was sittin’ at yer side at that table tonight, includin’
Lord Essex! Ye are the loveliest woman that ever graced this house.”
“Sarah, don’t be ridiculous. Did ye see my hair? I fell asleep in my soup!”
Sarah’s mouth curled into a smile. “Aye, and he called ye delightful. I heard him.”
“Aye, he didn’t flinch when my mother made apologies fer me.”
“Ye like him then.”
“Of course I do. Who wouldn’t? But he is leaving in the morning and I am going to
be the wife of one of the most powerful men in Scotland.”
“But Amelia, think of what Lord Essex has hidden in those snug hose!”
Amelia’s cheeks went up in flames before both women burst into laughter.
Later, when they lay on the bed staring at the flickering shadows along the ceiling,
arms flung over their heads, Amelia’s thoughts were filled with Edmund. “Sarah?”
“Aye?”
“What is it like to kiss a Scot, well, an Englishman who was raised in Scotland?”
“’Tis verra’ nice, and verra’…indecent,” Sarah answered in a voice deep and drowsy.
The thought of Edmund kissing her indecently stirred Amelia’s blood. “Tell me how
they kiss, won’t ye?”
And Sarah did, leaving little to Amelia’s imagination.
“Walter has never put his tongue into my mouth,” Amelia confided when her friend was
done.
“Of course he hasn’t. He’s as dull as wet grass.”
Amelia smiled at the ceiling. When Sarah’s breath grew slow and even a few moments
later, Amelia pressed a kiss to her dearest friend’s forehead and left her bed.
Edmund sat in the shadows of the Duke of Queensberry’s garden and waited for Amelia
to return from wherever she had gone. To meet her lover? The thought didn’t sit well
with him, but he told himself it was because it meant that things weren’t so good
between her and the chancellor, and if the chancellor didn’t care if she was kidnapped,
he’d sign the treaty and all this would be for naught.
That’s what Edmund told himself.
He waited for her like a thief in the night, ready to steal her away from the people
she loved, eager to begin the process of winning this battle for Scotland.
Eager to see her, to speak to her again. He’d sincerely enjoyed the night he spent
with her and the more times she smiled at him, laughed with him, opened up to him,
the more he hated the idea of using her as a pawn. She was nothing like some of the
other noblemen’s daughters he’d met in the past. He wished she were haughty, like
her mother and her sisters. It would make what he meant to do easier. But she seemed
to genuinely care about her uncle’s servants and her father’s well-being.
He hadn’t kissed her. He’d promised himself that he
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