Already His (The Caversham Chronicles - Book Two) Read Online Free PDF

from the bed, startling Elise. “I’ve got it! Or, at least, I think I do.”
    Eyes closed, Beverly paced the long hand-tied Turkey rug, rubbing the bridge of her delicate nose with the thumb and forefinger. “What we want is for Michael to see you for the woman you’ve become, and not as the girl you were. Right?”
    “Yes, of course. You said as much a few minutes ago.”
    “You know me, Elise, everything has to be mapped out, the goal identified and a plan put into motion to accomplish the task.”
    “Yes, yes, you have always been the planner. But what have you come up with?” God, she hoped it wasn’t too unorthodox. With her brother overseeing every move she made, she’d never get away with anything outrageous. If she even tried, Bridget was right, he’d send her to that box of rocks he used as a hunting lodge up in Scotland for sure.
    “You must not only behave differently, but look different as well,” she said. “Stand up.”
    Elise did. Beverly walked around her. “You look just like every other chit at every other ball we’ve been to this past month.”
    Elise resisted rolling her eyes. She knew that. Hadn’t she just been thinking it all morning? Beverly tugged at Elise’s short, straight locks. “Granted, your hair is shorter than the other girls’, but it is very much the trend now that you and your sister-in-law started the fashion. Why every woman with a backbone is liberating herself of the nuisance of long hair.”
    Elise smiled at her best friend. “Yes but my hair just sit there, where your hair is fabulous, curling like it does.”
    “Elise, this will become a mutual admiration session if we let it. We simply must stay on task.”
    “Right.”
    “Now, let’s start with this dress. It’s all wrong. It’s a debutant’s dress. What you want is something more... womanly. A sheath of a dress. Something that will maximize what figure you do have with less frills and flounce. Something a tad more daring. Are you following me?”
    “I believe I am,” Elise whispered, staring at the dress in the oval pier glass. “You’re right. That is what has been bothering me since I saw myself in the mirror.”
    “You need something plain, but not white,” Beverly said as she continued to scrutinize Elise’s figure and dress. “No pastels, either. The only people who wear pastels are little girls and wall flowers.”
    “I don’t think my brother will allow me to make my debut in a scarlet peignoir, Beverly.” Just because she’d been daring in the past, she had to remember her goal—to become someone Michael would desire. She wanted to be the kind of woman he would be attracted to, and proud to marry.
    “No, I shouldn’t think he would. But he needn’t know what your gown looks like does he? And what about the duchess, or your grandmother? Will either of them be assisting you on Saturday evening?”
    “I suppose I could manage with just Bridget.”
    “Yes you can. Now about your dress....”
    After several more minutes of staring into the mirror, Elise and Beverly concluded the current dress just would not do. So they sketched a design for a new dress. A dress that was sure to catch the eye of every man in attendance. Most hopefully, the new Earl of Camden.
    “What if we’re wrong?” Elise asked. She realized, for the first time, that this feeling of doubt was foreign to her. If the stakes weren’t so high, she’d throw caution to the wind and go with her heart. “What if this backfires? This is my entire future we’re placing in the hands of a modiste.”
    “This will work, Elise. There is nothing in this design that is unorthodox. The dress is not immodest in any way. It is simply... simple. Which allows you to shine as the jewel you are. This ,” her friend pointed at their sketch, “Lord Camden, will appreciate. I promise you.”
    Elise pulled her bell cord and Bridget, Madame Fuichard and the seamstresses returned. Elise showed Madame the sketch and asked if it could