Read Online Three Nights with a Scoundrel: A Novel by Tessa Dare - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Tessa Dare
Ads: Link
hours’ notice?”
“Well …” Lily shrugged. “Yes?”
Amelia smiled as she patted Lily’s shoulder. “My dear, it just so happens, today you are in luck.”
Chapter Five
Blue was the color of the evening.
As she surveyed the Morland drawing room, Lily noted that each person present was wearing that color, in one shade or another. Her own simple gown was fashioned of indigo silk, a dark shade suitable for mourning. Amelia wore a lovely periwinkle satin. The glimmering hue did wonderful things for her eyes. From where he stood beside his wife, lightly touching her waist, the duke’s impeccable tailcoat looked black. But up close, Lily would have guessed it to be a very deep blue.
And then, rounding out the party, there were five officers of the Royal Navy, each attired in formal uniform. Everywhere she turned, gold braiding and buttons caught the candlelight, sparkling like stars against a navy blue sky.
Unfortunately, the scene was lacking one particular shade of blue—the intense cobalt hue of Julian’s eyes. They’d delayed dinner half an hour already, and still he hadn’t appeared. Lily oscillated between fear for his health and a desire to cause him personal injury. How could he abandon her like this? Didn’t he understand what a challenge this night would be for her? She hadn’t attended a dinner party with strangers present in months. And never without Leo. All around her, discussion bloomed, branched, wilted and died, germinated entirely new topics of debate. She was lost in the thick jungle of conversation. From the apologetic looks Amelia kept sending her, Lily knew her friend would have liked to be more help. Unfortunately, her duties as hostess kept claiming her attention.
Lily was on her own.
Well, wasn’t this exactly what she kept insisting to Julian she could handle? And handle it she would.
Squaring her shoulders and readying a polite smile, Lily sought out a familiar face. The fair-haired officer standing by the window was Michael d’Orsay, one of Amelia’s five brothers. Lily had known him as a cowlicked boy in Gloucestershire, and now he was Lieutenant-Commander d’Orsay.
“It’s so lovely to see you again,” she said. “What great fortune that your ship has just returned. And how good of you to bring your friends.” How resourceful of Amelia to invite them, she added to herself. What better place to find a group of clean-shaven, respectable, eligible men desperate for a dinner invitation, than naval officers just returned from six months at sea?
“It’s good to see you, too.” His expression went grave. “I was so sorry to hear the news of Leo.”
“Thank you. I know you can understand the pain of losing a brother.” Hugh d’Orsay had been killed at Waterloo.
“Yes. But Leo’s death … so unexpected. Tragic.” Sadness etched his face, making him look far older than his eight-and-twenty years. Of all the d’Orsay brothers, she and Leo had been closest to Michael, since they all three were of an age. He and Leo had gone off to Eton together.
She didn’t want to ignore Michael’s feelings, but she couldn’t bear to talk about Leo right now. As rarely as she went out in society, this happened too often for her comfort. Whenever Lily began to feel that her own wounds had scabbed over, along would come an acquaintance for whom Leo’s death was a new development. And that person would want to talk of him and mourn him—as was only natural, for her brother had been loved by many—but once again Lily would feel ripped apart. She couldn’t cope with that tonight, not atop everything else.
She looked around the room, casting about for diversion. And she found it. All thoughts were promptly driven from her head by a flirtatious smile. The smile belonged to a tall, well-formed officer plastered with insignia and gold braid. He was not an especially handsome man, but neither was he ill-favored. He had intelligent, playful eyes.
And he was headed straight for
“Well …” Lily shrugged. “Yes?”
Amelia smiled as she patted Lily’s shoulder. “My dear, it just so happens, today you are in luck.”
Chapter Five
Blue was the color of the evening.
As she surveyed the Morland drawing room, Lily noted that each person present was wearing that color, in one shade or another. Her own simple gown was fashioned of indigo silk, a dark shade suitable for mourning. Amelia wore a lovely periwinkle satin. The glimmering hue did wonderful things for her eyes. From where he stood beside his wife, lightly touching her waist, the duke’s impeccable tailcoat looked black. But up close, Lily would have guessed it to be a very deep blue.
And then, rounding out the party, there were five officers of the Royal Navy, each attired in formal uniform. Everywhere she turned, gold braiding and buttons caught the candlelight, sparkling like stars against a navy blue sky.
Unfortunately, the scene was lacking one particular shade of blue—the intense cobalt hue of Julian’s eyes. They’d delayed dinner half an hour already, and still he hadn’t appeared. Lily oscillated between fear for his health and a desire to cause him personal injury. How could he abandon her like this? Didn’t he understand what a challenge this night would be for her? She hadn’t attended a dinner party with strangers present in months. And never without Leo. All around her, discussion bloomed, branched, wilted and died, germinated entirely new topics of debate. She was lost in the thick jungle of conversation. From the apologetic looks Amelia kept sending her, Lily knew her friend would have liked to be more help. Unfortunately, her duties as hostess kept claiming her attention.
Lily was on her own.
Well, wasn’t this exactly what she kept insisting to Julian she could handle? And handle it she would.
Squaring her shoulders and readying a polite smile, Lily sought out a familiar face. The fair-haired officer standing by the window was Michael d’Orsay, one of Amelia’s five brothers. Lily had known him as a cowlicked boy in Gloucestershire, and now he was Lieutenant-Commander d’Orsay.
“It’s so lovely to see you again,” she said. “What great fortune that your ship has just returned. And how good of you to bring your friends.” How resourceful of Amelia to invite them, she added to herself. What better place to find a group of clean-shaven, respectable, eligible men desperate for a dinner invitation, than naval officers just returned from six months at sea?
“It’s good to see you, too.” His expression went grave. “I was so sorry to hear the news of Leo.”
“Thank you. I know you can understand the pain of losing a brother.” Hugh d’Orsay had been killed at Waterloo.
“Yes. But Leo’s death … so unexpected. Tragic.” Sadness etched his face, making him look far older than his eight-and-twenty years. Of all the d’Orsay brothers, she and Leo had been closest to Michael, since they all three were of an age. He and Leo had gone off to Eton together.
She didn’t want to ignore Michael’s feelings, but she couldn’t bear to talk about Leo right now. As rarely as she went out in society, this happened too often for her comfort. Whenever Lily began to feel that her own wounds had scabbed over, along would come an acquaintance for whom Leo’s death was a new development. And that person would want to talk of him and mourn him—as was only natural, for her brother had been loved by many—but once again Lily would feel ripped apart. She couldn’t cope with that tonight, not atop everything else.
She looked around the room, casting about for diversion. And she found it. All thoughts were promptly driven from her head by a flirtatious smile. The smile belonged to a tall, well-formed officer plastered with insignia and gold braid. He was not an especially handsome man, but neither was he ill-favored. He had intelligent, playful eyes.
And he was headed straight for
Similar Books
