Bride Enchanted Read Online Free PDF Page A

for us tonight, Eve. And then the Swanson’s for a musicale. Good day, Miss Lucinda. I hope to see you again. Good-bye, Eve, for now. I’ll see you soon, but not soon enough to suit me.”
    He smiled, bowed, and left.
    â€œOh!” Lucinda breathed when he’d gone from the salon. She sat back and put a hand on her heart. “He is courting you. You lucky, lucky girl! There isn’t a female at home who wouldn’t envy you. The Ashfords are famous in our district. Such handsome men! Not that they ever stay around very long. They travel all the time. His grandfather charmed everyone, or so everyone remembers. They say his grandmother was a beauty, but when she began to ail they left the country to go to Italy for the climate. That’s where your Aubrey’s father was born. He came back to visit his estate once, but left soon again. I vow, I was only a child, but I never forgot the glimpses I got of him before he returned to Italy, which he considered his home.I hear he married there. This Mr. Aubrey was his only child and now he’s back. I vow your Aubrey is his father’s spit and image.”
    â€œNot my Aubrey,” Eve corrected her, sitting back, vastly relieved.
    â€œWhy not? He has everything. What fault do you find in him?”
    â€œNone,” Eve said gloomily. “That’s the problem. I’ve plenty of faults. Why should this magnificent, faultless person want to marry me at first sight?
    â€œIt’s so romantic,” Lucinda sighed. “Why not just accept it? I would, should such a person want to marry me, for whatever reason.”
    â€œHe says I remind him of someone,” Eve said. “A woman he obviously adored. But that’s no basis for marriage either. I know you consider me mad, Lucy, but I want more from my husband. That’s why I’ve waited this long. Marriage is forever. I don’t want to make a misstep.”
    Eve sat up suddenly. “Tell me about his family. He’s answered my questions about them, but not at length. All he says was that he was orphaned in Italy and came home to find his roots. I accepted that because, well, you know how it is when he’s talking. He changed the subject and I never got back to it. I can now. Tell me all about them. Everything you know, or guess, or have heard.”
    â€œDidn’t you hear when I was talking with him?” Lucinda asked.
    Eve’s cheeks grew pink. “I was distracted,” she said. “Tell me now. And tell me all.”
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    The dinner was delicious, the conversation witty, and Eve seldom stopped smiling. Aubrey was a wonderful host. The restaurant was elegant and in fashion. Sheridan was beyond thrilled to have been invited along. The newlywed young couple, friends of Aubrey’s, were charming, when they stopped staring into each other’s eyes and remembered where they were.
    The musicale they went to next routed Sheridan after a half hour. He sat looking agonized, gazing around the room to see how he could make his getaway. Eve realized his plan even before he suddenly stood. He sat again when she tugged on his sleeve and whispered, reminding him that he’d agreed to be chaperone this evening. A maid wasn’t enough for a well-bred young woman. She began to think that a cloister of nuns wouldn’t be enough chaperonage for her when she was with Aubrey.
    Sure enough, when they said good night to the young couple and returned to Eve’s house, Sherry bowed, said his thanks, and dashed off to meet some friends at a nearby tavern. Eve allowed heryawning maid to go to bed. And all the while, Aubrey stood in the hallway with a slight smile.
    â€œThank you for a lovely evening,” Eve finally said, looking up at him, suddenly aware that she ought not to have sent her maid to bed so soon.
    â€œNo, thank you,” he said. “Ready to accept my proposal, Eve? Then you wouldn’t have to look so stricken because we were