DeButy & the Beast Read Free

dear," Mrs. Sedley said, "I have told you all about Julian. He is a fine, upstanding physician, he comes from a wonderful old Southern family, and he has all the qualities any woman might want in a husband."
    "Does he?" Without warning, Anya reached out and laid her hand on his crotch. He tried to back away, but she grabbed onto the fabric and what lay beneath and would not let go. Her grandmother, standing at his back, could surely not see this indignity. Just as well, as it was a truly mortifying moment.
    In spite of Julian's resolve to think of other things, he twitched and grew in her hand. Anya responded with a wicked smile.
    "He will do," she said softly.
    * * *
    Satisfied, Anya let her hand fall away. "When is the wedding?"
    "There are a few things we need to discuss before we go any further," her intended said. He was so very stiff... in more ways than one.
    But he was also very beautiful. He could easily have been called Julian the Beauty, and no one would question the fitting name. His hair was thick and dark brown, and worn longer than Cousin Seymour wore his. The strands curled over his ears and down the back of his neck. He was slender, but not thin, standing tall and straight and nicely built in his form-fitting black suit and white shirt.
    His face was truly beautiful. Eyes so dark a brown they were almost black; a nose so straight and finely shaped it was a wonder; a mouth firm and wide, but not too wide. Already she detected a hint of an afternoon stubble on his chin. His skin was a little pale, perhaps, but not a sickly pale like that of her boring, insipid cousins, Seymour and Valerie. Yes, if she must take a husband, Julian DeButy would most definitely do.
    "What do we need to discuss?"
    He glanced over his shoulder to look at her grandmother. "I don't believe in starting something as important as a marriage with falsehoods. Mrs. Sedley, would you leave us for a moment?"
    Anya smiled. He wanted to be alone with her. Oh, she was so very ready to take a husband. Someone who would hold her close and listen to her. Someone to share this new life with. She was tired of being lonely, and she had never been as lonely as she had been since coming to Rose Hill.
    Grandmother left the room, but it was quite clear that she didn't want to go. She kept turning her head, pausing in her usually steady step. Anya gave the woman a fleeting, reassuring smile as she left the room.
    Anya turned slowly. "I will close the door." She did not get far before her intended stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
    "That won't be necessary."
    She spun around and glanced up at Julian. "You do not wish for privacy? I thought you wanted to make sure I would please you before we married." Why else would he ask Grandmother to leave? Anya reached out to touch him once again. This time he was faster than she. He jumped back quickly.
    "No." He ran a nervous hand through his hair, ruffling the dark strands. "Please sit down." He indicated a chair, which she dutifully took, sitting, pulling her feet off the floor and crossing her legs so that her knees brushed against the padded arms. The jewels on her ankle jingled prettily, catching the light from the afternoon sun that streamed through the window behind her.
    Julian took the chair facing her, glanced in her direction, then quickly jumped back up again. His face flushed pink and he averted his eyes. "I'll just stand over here," he mumbled, moving to a station at her side.
    Standing beside her, he placed his hands behind his back and fixed his gaze on Grandmother's walnut desk. "Mrs. Sedley tells me you cannot have children."
    Her heart fell. Her curse, her most dreaded failure, and already he knew. Surely he did not want to marry her now. "No. If that defect displeases you I will find another husband," she snapped, refusing to allow him to see the hurt.
    He looked down at her. Oh, he really was beautiful. As he studied her, she saw something beyond the startling physical beauty. A kindness,