Royal's Bride Read Free Page A

nearly got nabbed by the police. You’re growing up, luv, becoming a woman. I want you to have a better life, the kind your mama and papa would have wanted you to have. I should have done this long before now, but I…”
    “You what, Uncle Jack?” she asked tearfully.
    “But you’re all the family I have, luv, and I’m going to miss you.”
    Lily remembered how hard she had cried that day and the awful, sick feeling in her stomach when her uncle left her at the door of Henry Caulfield’s mansion. She hadn’t seen Uncle Jack since that fateful day and Lord, how she missed him. Yet, deep down inside, she knew he had done the right thing.
    Lily looked over at Jocelyn. “I shall be leaving first thing in the morning. The newspaper says a storm may be coming in, perhaps even snow. I want to get there ahead of the weather.”
    “Do take the traveling coach, dear. Just send it back once you arrive. If it should rain or snow, Mother and Iwill wait a few more days, leave as soon as it clears enough to travel. That should give you plenty of time to put things in order.”
    “I am certain it will.” Lily walked over to the gilt and ivory dresser and began to sort through Jocelyn’s nightwear, choosing what to include in her trunks. “I heard the duke’s aunt Agatha will be there to act as hostess for our visit.”
    “So I gather. I’ve never met her. Apparently, she rarely comes to London.”
    “Nor does your duke.”
    Jo sniffed as if the thought was entirely repugnant. “I am certain, once we are wed, that will change.”
    Lily just smiled and pulled out a soft cotton nightgown with roses embroidered around the ruffled neckline. “They say your duke is quite something—tall and well built, with hair the color of ancient gold. I’ve heard he is incredibly handsome.”
    One of Jocelyn’s dark eyebrows went up. “He had better be. I shan’t marry him if he is unpleasant to look at—even if he is a duke.”11
    But Lily imagined that Jo would marry the man no matter what he looked like. She wanted to be a duchess. She wanted to continue the lavish lifestyle she was used to, wanted the attention and high-ranking social position that came with the title. In truth, Jocelyn wanted everything.
    And thanks to a father who spoiled her no end, she usually got what she wanted.
     
    “You are leaving, Your Grace?” The butler, Jeremy Greaves, hurried forward as Royal strode across theentry toward the door. “If I may be so bold, Your Grace, your visitors are expected to arrive at any moment. What will your betrothed think if you are not here to greet her?”
    What indeed? “I remind you, Greaves, we are not yet officially betrothed.”
    “I understand, sir. Still, she will expect you to properly welcome her to Bransford Castle.”
    Undoubtedly . It was the height of bad manners to be gone from the house when the lady and her mother arrived. He glanced at his butler, a gray-haired old man with watery blue eyes, and kept walking. It occurred to him that few servants would be bold enough to gainsay a duke, but that didn’t stop Greaves or Middleton, who had lived at Bransford since before Royal was born.
    “If she gets here before my return,” he said, “tell her I was called out unexpectedly. Tell her I will be back very shortly.”
    “But, sir—”
    Pulling on his kidskin gloves, Royal continued toward the heavy wooden door. Greaves scurried ahead and pulled it open, and Royal strode outside.
    A storm had blown in last night, but instead of raining, it had snowed. He paused at the top of the wide stone steps to survey the beauty of the frozen landscape, the sun shining down through the clouds, making the countryside glisten. The circular drive in front of the house was covered by several inches of snow and the naked branches of the trees along the lane glittered with a sparkling layer of gleaming white.
    Royal took a deep breath of the clean, crisp air and descended the steps. One of the grooms had his