Read Online When Harry Met Molly by Kieran Kramer - Free Book Online Page B

be…beguiling.”
    “I can do that,” she said, starting on her second roll and slice of cheese.
    His lips twitched again. Really, he must have a tic of some sort.
    “Watch the other mistresses at the house party,” he advised her. “Notice how they act around the men. Every night we’ll cast a vote for our favorite mistress of the day—we can’t select our own, so this is an opportunity for you to work your charms on the other men.”
    She sat quietly for a moment. “What will the other men find, as you say, beguiling?”
    “What most men do. A beautiful woman, of course, is always a pleasure. And if she doesn’t speak too much, if she is mysterious at times, dangling only occasional tidbits of warmth in her speech and manner, then men will find her most intriguing. They will want to see what fire lurks beneath the surface.”
    Molly scoffed. “That sounds very complicated. And silly.”
    Harry sighed. “You asked .”
    “What else is there?” Molly wiped her mouth with her handkerchief. “I’ll try to be so good at it, they won’t mind that I natter on now and again.”
    Harry sighed. “Men like biddable women, Molly. Someone they don’t have to take too seriously, someone who entertains them but knows when to leave them to their other duties and interests.”
    “Then I’m disgusted with all men.”
    Harry jetted a breath. “Do you want me to help you find a husband or not this Season?”
    She felt like sulking but couldn’t afford to. “Yes.”
    “If you have any hope of that happening, then you’d best listen to what I have to say. Because if you don’t win the Most Delectable Companion title, I most certainly will not be looking out for your interests in London.”
    “And if I don’t win the Most Delectable Companion title, you might have to marry this year.”
    They glared at each other.
    The carriage pulled up to the inn. Thank God. She needed to get away from Harry. Their relationship —if you could call it that—was entirely too provoking.

    In a private room at the inn, Molly opened Fiona’s trunk and gasped.
    Goodness. She was looking at a veritable treasure chest filled with shimmering, rich fabrics! In hues that a respectable young lady was never permitted to wear.
    She bit her lip to restrain her excitement. Fiona was so very lucky, wasn’t she?
    Had been lucky, Molly corrected herself, her chest expanding with a glorious, warm feeling. She was the fortunate owner of the trunk now!
    Pressing a dainty undergarment to her breast, she felt extremely possessive already, although she had no idea what the dainty undergarment was . She peered through its diaphanous panels and wondered, but only for a moment.
    Because there were elaborate slippers. Fringed and beaded shawls. Two bonnets wrapped in paper, both of them stunning. (The others must be in those hat boxes strapped to Harry’s carriage). And nightclothes so sheer, Molly could see right through them.
    But the gowns…oh, the gowns! In the next few minutes, Molly tossed dress after dress aside, oohing and aahing at the varied fabrics, the elaborate detailing of each one, until she found a dress that was—
    Breathtaking.
    The most beautiful shade.
    And entirely unsuitable for a proper young lady.
    It was a bishop’s blue muslin sheath spangled with matching bugle beads at the waistline and elaborate flounces at the hem. The bodice plunged to nothing, rather like a sharp cliff.
    She sighed, trying not to think of Miss Dunlap and her lectures on modesty.
    All Fiona’s bodices plunged to nothing. Molly had dutifully looked but found no tuckers to put into those bodices.
    “Oh, dear,” she said aloud to no one (Harry was having a tankard of beer downstairs). “These gowns are a disgrace!”
    She laid her favorite gown on the bed and glared at it.
    For another five minutes, she tried to be upset and disappointed at the disgracefulness of that gown. She would ignore it. So she searched through the trunk once more and found a