An Accidental Affair Read Online Free PDF

ruined?”
    “Cecily, please. Your father demands…”
    “Don’t you dare speak to me again tonight. You’re just like Father. I will never get to have any fun or have a say in my life if you support him and not me. It isn’t fair.” Then, with a noticeable effort, Arabella’s niece drew in a shuddering breath and calmed her temper. Cecily smiled serenely, turned on her heel, and strolled to the ballroom, pausing in the doorway a moment before gliding through as if she had not just been caught acting inappropriately.
    Arabella glanced at Rothwell where he stood with Lieutenant Ford on the lawn and remembered their earlier conversation. Rothwell had been adamant that Cecily would never be with him, which Arabella feared meant he knew something unpleasant about the girl and meant to avoid being linked to Cecily at all costs. She winced. She didn’t know what to do about her niece’s shocking behavior. She seemed completely without remorse for the scandal she was courting.
    Arabella wanted to give Cecily the benefit of the doubt, hoping she’d misjudged the girl’s nature. She would pay more attention to the girl and relegate her own hopes for a lover this season to a date well past Cecily’s wedding. The girl desperately needed her guidance and a firmer hand if she wanted to make a good match.
    Curiosity propelled her down the steps toward Lieutenant Ford and Lord Rothwell. She needed to know how bad her niece’s behavior had become in order to correct it. Arabella wanted to know just how many times Lieutenant Ford had snuck away with Cecily to be so enamored of the girl.
     

 
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
    Merrick set his hands to his hips and glared at his young cousin. “Touch her again without having spoken to her father first about a marriage and we will not meet so civilly. You cannot behave in such a manner without considering the consequences for both of you.”
    “I love her,” Laurence protested passionately.
    He took his cousin’s measure. His time at sea, exposed to the elements and a harsher way of living, had hardened Laurence’s features somewhat. But given his protestation of devotion to Lady Cecily, he was still an exuberant young man and had much to learn about thinking before acting on his passions. “You’re the right age to spout that nonsense and yet still too foolish to understand what it means. Go back inside, stay away from the girl, and do not dishonor her family or yours with this nonsense until you’re at least a half dozen years older.” Merrick scrubbed a hand through his hair. He had little patience for the Fords right now.
    Laurence glanced toward the terrace with an expression reminiscent of a scolded puppy, wide brown eyes pleading to be forgiven. Merrick turned his head and saw Arabella had remained. Laurence made to approach her, yet Merrick could not allow that. He pushed his cousin toward the side of the house. “Go that way, you fool, and do not be seen returning to the ball.”
    The puppyish eyes turned on him. “Please, coz. Let me explain myself.”
    He’d had some idea that Lady Farnsworth’s niece and his cousin were moving beyond harmless flirtation before tonight and had meant to warn off his cousin from making a foolish choice. If he hadn’t followed Arabella discreetly, he would never have stumbled upon the truth of just how far Laurence had fallen under the minx’s spell. He’d placed his commission in jeopardy with this foolishness. Given what Merrick had discovered of Cecily, the family would never support a match to such a girl.
    “Not a chance.” He gave his cousin a harder shove that sent him on his way to the side door. “Now off with you.”
    Once Laurence was out of sight, Merrick faced with trepidation the dazzling beauty waiting at the base of the steps. Damn the Fords and their troublesome natures. Coming so soon on the heels of their accidental kiss, he wasn’t sure what Arabella would say to him. She would have every right to be furious if the