Cardiff Siblings 01 - Seven Minutes in Devon Read Free Page B

wrinkled her nose. “No, I don’t
think the plague works in this situation. It’s more like it’s
something that is on me. Something I can’t get rid of, no matter
how hard I try to wash it away. Something you can see, like
leprosy. Like my enormous teeth.”
    Vanessa frowned gently.
“They aren’t that big.”
    “ They’re horse teeth. The
only thing that makes them look like they could possibly be
appropriately sized is the length of my nose.”
    Never in her life would she understand
how she could be so long and gangly everywhere but Vanessa could be
so perfectly elegant in every way, and yet they came from the same
two parents. The differences between the two had only become more
pronounced now that Vanessa had given birth to two of her own
children. Her breasts had plumped nicely, and her hips had rounded
delicately, and she looked like the perfect example of English
beauty. But Emma? Still a giant stick.
    “ Have you ever looked at a
horse’s teeth up close?” With a rueful smile, Vanessa chuckled. “I
think you might be a wee-bit prone to exaggeration.”
    “ All the same, the point is
I need you. Will you help me?”
    “ I will,” Vanessa said
without even a moment’s hesitation. “But only if you promise to try
your very best to make yourself amenable to the gentlemen I’ve
invited. You can’t just sit in the corner with a book the way
you’ve always done in the past.”
    Emma placed her right hand over her
heart. “I solemnly swear.” She even managed to avoid bursting out
in a gale of laughter upon saying it. Likely because she truthfully
was earnest about finding a husband this time, whereas she hadn’t
ever been before. Every last bit of what she’d said was now of the
direst import, even though she had as much natural appeal for a
gentleman as a goat would.
    A corner of Vanessa’s mouth turned
downward. “I suppose Fanny already helped you settle in to your
rooms? She’s to serve as your lady’s maid while you’re
here.”
    “ Oh, but—”
    A severely arched brow from her sister
was enough to silence Emma.
    “ None of that, now. All of
the other ladies will bring their own maids. It won’t do for you to
be left out. Particularly since you’re in need of help with
arranging your hair, as you’ve already mentioned.” Vanessa looked
pointedly at the limp mass hanging indolently over Emma’s
shoulders. “Not to mention David wouldn’t hear of allowing you to
go without, whether anyone else was visiting or not.”
    She had a point. David had made a
valiant effort since marrying her sister to be certain Emma had the
best of everything—as long as he wasn’t stepping on Father’s toes
in order to provide it.
    “ Fine. Fanny can arrange my
hair.”
    A broad smile lit Vanessa’s warm,
brown eyes. “Excellent. Now, moving on to the rest of the
fortnight, I think we should enlist the help of—”
    Before she could finish her thought,
David knocked at the open door and poked his head inside. “Sorry to
interrupt, but the first of our guests have arrived.” He moved into
the room and helped Vanessa to her feet, kissing her lightly on the
cheek.
    “ I’d say the first of our guests
arrived almost an hour ago,” Vanessa pointed out.
    David winked a brilliant green eye at
Emma, then offered his hand to assist her. “Emma’s not a guest.
She’s family.”
    When she stood, he leaned over and
planted a similar kiss on her cheek. His sandy-brown hair fell down
over an eye and tickled her skin.
    “ Such flattery,” Emma said
with a laugh. The ladies of the ton were lucky he was already married. The man could
devastate a room with a smile. A wink was likely to cause heart
palpitations amongst the lesser-prepared debutantes.
    “ Such unnecessary flattery,” Vanessa
countered. “My husband fails to recognize he won your eternal
devotion upon promising to add a proper library to Heathcote Park
and stock it to the brim.”
    Not just any ‘proper library,’ either.
David had set