Accidentally in Love Read Online Free PDF

always sparkling with, if not exactly mischief, a glimmer of audacious action that should have resulted in mischief. That she was the daughter of a marquis most assuredly saved her from actual, documented mischief. Emeline could not have hoped to dare half of what Eleanor proposed over a tepid dish of tea.
    “I have been bonnet shopping,” Emeline said, dipping her knee and her head to both Miss Montford and Lady Eleanor. They returned the gestures, all the proprieties maintained. “And now Mrs. Culley is bonnet shopping.”
    “Ostrich feathers? Very daring,” Elaine Montford said.
    “I am assured she has the bearing to carry them off,” Emeline said, feeling suddenly protective of Mrs. Culley, an absurd sensation.
    “I think one must be quite regal to carry ostrich feathers,” Elaine said, casting a casual eye upon Mrs. Culley. Mrs. Culley was tallish for a woman and she had quite a nice bust.
    “I think a woman should wear whatever it is which makes her feel regal, and then she will appear regal to all who see her,” Eleanor said. Only the daughter of a marquis could make such a circular argument and make it sound triumphantly true.
    “Do you wear ostrich feathers?” Emeline asked.
    “Lady Jordan will not allow it,” Eleanor said. “She determines that I am too young and too ungainly for them.”
    Lady Jordan was Eleanor’s aunt and chaperone, and a more slipshod chaperone would have been difficult to conjure. It was for this reason that Louisa, Eleanor’s older married sister, was also something of a chaperone. Also, all the many brothers of Louisa’s husband, and the male cousins of Louisa’s husband. Louisa Kirkland marrying Henry Blakesley had resulted in quite a lot of chaperones for Eleanor. Eleanor did not seem to mind in the slightest. Emeline would have minded greatly. A pile of chaperones would never have allowed her the free access to Kit that she had enjoyed until coming to Town.
    “I don’t think you ungainly,” Elaine said loyally.
    Emeline resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Eleanor Kirkland was slight and slim and fairly elfish in appearance. She had dark red hair and her fair skin was heavily dotted with freckles. She was no beauty. She did, however, have an engaging way about her. She was also the daughter of a marquis. Eleanor had nothing to worry about upon the Marriage Mart.
    “Oh, I am,” Eleanor said, “but I hope to outgrow it. Louisa was ungainly and far too tall, and then she wasn’t. It happens that way with girls. I suspect the same will happen to me.” And if it didn’t, who would complain with the dowry the marquis was settling upon her? “Is that Mr. Culley?”
    The three girls turned their eyes upon Kit. Emeline didn’t like it one bit. Eleanor was just the sort of girl that Mrs. Culley wanted for her son.
    “It is,” Emeline said. “He is helping his mother with her selection.”
    “How very agreeable of him,” Elaine said, making Kit sound the veriest bore.
    “He is a very devoted son,” Emeline said, making it sound complimentary.
    “And those are not thick upon the ground,” Eleanor said, making it sound quite insulting, as if Kit were some vile deviant of proper male etiquette.
    “I suppose not,” Emeline said. “She quite depends upon him. She has long been a widow.”
    “How lovely of him,” Elaine said.
    Everything Elaine Montford said sounded like an insult to Kit. Emeline did not know what was wrong with her; Elaine did not even know Kit.
    “Will you make the introductions?” Eleanor said.
    And, of course, one did not refuse the daughter of a marquis, not when one was in the first steps of one’s first Season.
    “Of course,” Emeline said, leading the way across the shop. It was not a very large shop; it was not impossible that Mrs. Culley, Kit, and Mama had heard nearly every word of their exchange. Even every other word would have been mortifying. Emeline had learned from an early age not to mention Kit much in Mama’s hearing. If