Just Wicked Enough Read Free Page B

incredibly thrilling. Kate and her soon-to-be husband were the talk of London, their romance having blossomed right beneath everyone’s nose with no one noticing.
    Oh, what a secretive fellow the Marquess of Falconridge was!
    So secretive in fact Kate hadn’t encountered him since quite early in the Season. The last time their paths had crossed was during an afternoon tea with sporting activities that her sister, Jenny, had arranged. Kate had soundly beaten Falconridge at a game of lawn tennis. She’d not seen hide nor hair of him since. Not very sporting of him really.
    Perhaps he thought she was too busy preparing for her extravagant wedding to give him any time. Or perhaps, as she suspected, he was much more interested in the settlement agreement than the bride. Clever fellow had no doubt realized what other lords had yet to learn: he need only approach the mother in order to acquire the daughter.
    The Rose girls had understood at an early age that when it came to their marriages their mother would have her social ambitions realized. It might seem a strange thing to some that Kate had not even been asked her opinion on the matter of the selection of her husband, but the reality was that her overbearing mother was determined to have her way—and she was not the only American to insist her daughter settle for nothing less than a titled husband. And what Mother wanted, Mother acquired.
    What choice did Kate have really except to honor her mother’s wishes? She had no proven skills and without her mother’s benevolence, no funds. Rebelliousness would result in her being cut off without a penny to her name. Quite honestly, life on the street held no appeal. She was spoiled, she knew it. Now she was paying the price for that spoiling.
    As her maid set the veil in place with a circlet of tiny white roses, Kate couldn’t help but be impressed by her mother’s grand production. Kate had been informed of every detail, including the fact the marquess wanted to marry her. The man couldn’t even be bothered to ask her. Not in person, not even in writing, almost as though he considered her inconsequential to the entire arrangement.
    Her parents arranged the damned marriage. They spoke with the blasted marquess, he spoke with them, and now here she was, staring at her reflection in the mirror, her complexion almost as white as her bridal gown.
    “You don’t have to do this, Kate,” her sister said quietly from behind her.
    Jenny, who still fiercely held on to her independent streak, would think that. Kate almost pitied her, because she knew a day would come when her unconventional nature would be squashed beneath her mother’s aspirations. As for Kate, the squashing had happened quite painfully three years earlier.
    “It doesn’t matter, Jenny.”
    “But you wanted love.”
    “Love is forever lost to me.”
    “Dear Lord, Kate. Don’t be so melodramatic. You don’t know that.”
    “Yes, I do. Wesley got married.”
    Kate had never before voiced those words aloud, and the unexpected pain at hearing them, of giving them credence, bringing them into the world of reality, nearly brought her to her knees. Tears stung her eyes, and she wound her arms around her waist to try to hold herself together. She didn’t see Jenny move, but suddenly she was standing before her, hugging her tightly, dismissing her maid with a few quietly spoken words.
    “Oh, Kate,” Jenny said softly, once they were alone. “Is this the reason you’ve been so melancholy of late?”
    “Melancholy? Is that what you call it when all the joy has been stripped from your life? Oh, Jenny, I’ve been nothing short of devastated. His marrying was the final betrayal, the last nail pounded into the coffin of my happiness.”
    “Oh, Kate, it’s not as bad as all that.”
    “It’s a thousand times worse.”
    “Why didn’t you say something?”
    Shaking her head, her chest tightening with grief, she allowed Jenny to lead her to a nearby chair, where she