The Earl Who Loved Me Read Free

book after feeling the effects of a megrim, I
merely wanted to help her."
    "Such a pattern card of
charity you are, Miss Parham," he said, though the sarcasm in his voice
was lost on Lydia.   Either that or she
chose not to notice it.   Amelia could
not tell for the other woman's face wore nothing but a beatific smile.
    Lydia fluttered her eyelids at the
earl invitingly.   "I do try, my
lord.   After all, what good is a young
woman without a good and noble heart?"
    At Lydia's words, Amelia wanted to
cast up her accounts were she stood, though she did not think David would find
that amusing.   Or, given the twinkle in
his eyes, perhaps he would.   She could
not say for certain.   What she did know
was that she wanted nothing more than to escape and retreat to the confines of
the lovely pink bedroom suite she had been assigned upon her arrival.   There, she could cry in peace, and allow her
heart to ache for all that would never be.
    "As I said, a pattern card of
charity."   There was a dryness in
David's tone that Amelia was certain went completely unnoticed by Lydia this
time.   She was not nearly that bright,
after all.   "Still, it is not the
done thing to have young, unmarried ladies wandering about an earl's home on
their own.   I would not want any harm to
come to your reputation, Miss Parham."
    "I am perfectly fine under
your watchful eye," Lydia simpered and this time, Amelia almost did cast
up her accounts.   Would the torture of
this night never end?
    "Still," he said as
motioned for a woman that Amelia had not noticed earlier to step forward,
"I would be remiss in my duties as a host if you were forced to marry
because of an accident while under my roof.   Miss Markham will escort you back to the festivities, so if you please
follow her, you may return to the others.   That way, there will be no talk if we return to the main parlor
together."
    Amelia was rather certain that was
precisely what Lydia was praying for in the hopes of forcing a match between
them, but to her credit she didn't utter a single protest.   Given the sparkling gleam in her eyes however,
it was also evident - to Amelia anyway - that though she may have lost this
round, Lydia had not yet lost the war.   And love was war, at least to women like Lydia who saw men as prizes to
be captured, no matter the method or the cost.
    Then, David turned and smiled at
Amelia and she wanted to sink into the floor, praying a hole would suddenly
open up beneath her and whisk her away to parts unknown.   All he had done was make things worse for
her, even though he could not have known it.   Lydia was not stupid and was watching the exchange with a keen eye.
    It was also clear that David
expected Amelia to say something, but she was silent now, her earlier outburst
draining what was left of her dwindling courage, though a flicker of her
earlier rage still burned hot inside of her.   Heaven forgive her if she opened her mouth and said precisely what she
was thinking.  
    Instead of replying, Amelia simply
took the book, which David was now holding out to her, silently and nodded in
thanks.   She was known to be shy, after
all.   Such reticence was to be expected
of her, which was a good thing because had she spoken, she did not know if she
could keep a civil tongue in her head.
    "I am perfectly safe with you,
my lord," Lydia tried again when the attention had turned away from her,
but she also soon realized that the earl would not capitulate on this
point.   "Still, if you insist, I
will go now.   But I will save you a
dance tomorrow night, perhaps the first waltz, and we can discuss how very, very safe I feel when I am in your presence."
    When he merely glared at her in
response, Lydia sighed, knowing full well she had been thwarted in her attempt
to snare the earl this night, and was in danger of angering him to the point
where she would no longer be in his favor.   After a brief curtsey, she meekly followed the Markham woman down