A Family Affair Read Online Free PDF Page B

meant. So she hit Rake loosely on the chest, and said loud enough for Devlin to hear, “Uncle Rake, here I am trying to play the part of your latest love, and you so ungracefully spoil it.”
    She thrust her lower lip out and made a face like a sulking little child, and Rake laughed.
    “And you wonder why I didn’t understand what you were up to?” He turned to Devlin, who stood staring at Fanny, bewilderment written across his face. “Can you believe the chit? I mean, who would think she could be anything else but a debutante?”
    As Rake laughed at his own joke, Fanny could see a small smile return as enlightenment washed through Devlin.
    “Pup?” he asked, using the nickname he’d once given her.
    “No.” She frowned at him. “It’s Fanny—or Francesca, if you prefer.”
    Rake laughed and whacked Devlin in the back with a blow that would have knocked a smaller man off his feet.
    “I had forgotten you called her that!”
    Fanny rolled her eyes at her uncle, and he laughed even harder.
    “Well,” he continued, “You were behaving like a puppy, always following poor Devlin around. And there we were, young and eager for a first roll in the hay, but you destroyed all our plans. We had our minds set for Sally Brown, the waitress at the pub, you know, who was known for taking on young men and introducing them into the adult way of life—for a small sum of money, of course.”
    Devlin laughed, clearly remembering what Rake was talking about, and it itched in Fanny’s hand to hit him, just a little, to stun him and take the smug smile off his face.
    But before she could decide if it would be worth it, her parents joined them and the moment was gone.
    “Devlin, my boy!” George eagerly greeted the younger man, and Fanny bit back a smile as she noticed Devlin’s grimace as he silently endured another of the infamous Darling whacks. “I heard you were back in town and was hoping I would run into you sooner or later.”
    “Lord Newbury.”
    Devlin bowed his head politely, showing the Earl much more respect than as a duke he had to before he sent Caroline an appreciative glance. “My lady, you look just as lovely as I remember.”
    “Thank you, Your Grace,” Caroline purred, not hiding how much she enjoyed the younger man’s open admiration. “Even though I know you are just being kind to an old woman such as I.”
    “Oh, do stop begging for more, Caroline,” Rake chuckled and was awarded a sour look from his sister-in-law.
    “I do not beg.”
    “Oh, yes, you do. And not very subtly at all.”
    Caroline turned to her husband and gave him a pointed look, ordering him without words to reprimand his younger brother, but George was too busy laughing to care about his wife’s silent suggestion.
    “As you can see, things haven’t changed that much over the years,” Rake drawled to his friend, ignoring his misbehaving relatives. “Aside from a wrinkle or two, they all are much the same as they were fifteen years ago.”
    “Fifteen years,” George sighed. “Has it been that long? And here it feels like it was yesterday you two rascals kept making our lives miserable.”
    “Rascals?” Rake grinned mischievously, and Fanny had no problem imagining just how much misery he and his friend had created. She loved her uncle dearly but was not blind to his not-so-good side. As a grown man he could be a nuisance and had probably been hell to live with as a child.
    Just as Lady Newbury opened her mouth, stern determination written all over her beautiful face, the music stopped and a new dance began.
    Quickly, before the storm was unleashed, Devlin politely asked if he could take Fanny out on the dance floor, and her parents immediately agreed. Before she could say no, he grabbed her hand and nearly dragged her away from her relatives.
    Fanny’s heart raced, watching his tall frame in front of her as he led her through the staring crowd. It felt strangely absurd, him being there, and yet so familiar.
    This was her