TemptingJuliana Read Free Page B

materials, because she was certain she could cajole Griffin into paying for whatever her allowance wouldn’t cover. But the mere thought of making so many items was daunting. “You’ll help me, won’t you?”
    Emily frowned. “I’m not very good with a needle.”
    “You can hem blankets and sew clouts. That’s not very difficult, and it will be good practice.” Reaching over the girl’s snake, Juliana wiped a few spice cake crumbs off her mouth. “I’m going to invite my sisters to help, too. We’ll have a sewing party. It will be fun to work together.” She dipped a finger into the lip pomade. “But I think you’ll need to leave Herman home.”
    “I told you, he’s not dangerous.”
    “His danger, or lack thereof,” she told the child, watching her in the dressing table’s mirror as she slicked pomade on her lips, “is not the point. Little ladies do not carry snakes.”
    Emily’s delicate chin went into the air. “I do.” She adjusted the long, olive green reptile where it was wound around her neck, the better to eat another spice cake. “What are these cakes supposed to do again?”
    “Help me choose a husband wisely.”
    “All the gentlemen will want you. You look beautiful tonight, Lady Juliana. Of course, you always look beautiful,” she added with a wistful sigh.
    Juliana lifted a pot of rouge. “You’ll look beautiful when you’re my age.” It was true. Other than her unfortunate attachment to the reptile, the child was a modelof femininity. She always wore pink. Emily’s blond hair and large, luminous gray eyes held much promise, and she was tall for her age. Since Juliana was slightly built, the girl would be as tall as her in no time.
    “I’m certain you’ll be wildly popular,” she assured the child, “if only you’ll get rid of the snake.”
    “Mama and I found baby Herman in our garden,” Emily told Juliana for probably the hundredth time. “She said we could keep him and watch him grow.”
    Emily’s mother had been dead some four years. Having lost her own mother three years prior—although, thankfully, at age nineteen, not age four—Juliana felt for the young girl.
    “Your mother would understand,” she told her gently. “Surely she didn’t intend to keep Herman long. I’d wager she hadn’t an inkling that little baby snake would grow to be five feet long, and I’m certain she didn’t make a habit of carrying him around. Why, I’d warrant she’s looking down on you right now, waiting for you to grow up and stop toting that horror-inducing creature everywhere.”
    “Herman is not a creature. He’s a pet .”
    “A cuddly kitten is a pet. A rambunctious dog is a pet. A snake is not—”
    “Are you ready yet?” Corinna arrived in the doorway and frowned. “A Lady of Distinction doesn’t hold with wearing rouge.”
    Juliana’s gaze flicked involuntarily to a book on her night table, The Mirror of the Graces by A Lady of Distinction. Their brother had given them both copies, hoping that learning deportment would help them find husbands more quickly.
    “A Lady of Distinction is a twit.” To emphasize her point, Juliana brushed more color on her cheeks before rising. “Yes, I am ready. Have a spice cake while I deliver Emily home.”
    Corinna took one. “Aunt Frances is already waiting in the carriage. You know she abhors being late to balls.”
    “Aunt Frances abhors being late to anything.” Aunt Frances liked everything just so. But she was an endearing lady nonetheless, and it was quite kind of her to act as their sponsor and chaperone for the Season, soJuliana didn’t grumble. She took Emily by the hand and led her downstairs, Corinna following in their wake.
    It was raining—seemingly an everyday occurrence this summer—but a quick walk next door brought Emily safely to the house she usually shared with only her father and a gaggle of aging servants. Emily had two older brothers, products of two earlier marriages, but one was married and