Her Secondhand Groom Read Online Free PDF

father in the hall, coins rattling in his pockets with each step he took. She grimaced and walked to the kitchen to ready a tea tray.
    Thankfully she’d already made a pot of tea that was supposed to be served at breakfast so all she had to do was search for the three best teacups and set them on the tray with the tea kettle. She walked to the cabinet to look for their best cups and groaned. None of them were very good. Most had chips along the tops or a crack going down the side. One was even missing an entire handle.
    She picked one up that looked fairly decent on the outside. It had gray scratch marks on the inside from someone being careless while stirring in their sugar. She shrugged and put it down, then looked for another in a similar condition. At least the marks on the inside were easy enough to keep hidden as long as the tea was refreshed every time he took a sip. Cracks, chips, and missing handles were not so easy to disguise.
    Searching the cabinet, she found another cup that would do as long as she gave it to her mother who would make certain to turn the cup so that Lord Drakely couldn’t see the minor chip in the top.
    She just needed one more. Her eyes scanned the row of their finest teacups. Ah, what good fortune! She found one that was nearly flawless with the exception of a triangle shaped chip in the bottom rim of the teacup.
    Satisfied, she placed the cups on the tray, walked down the hall to the parlor, then stopped. She frowned, and tightened her hold on the heavy tea tray. The parlor door was closed. She set the tea tray down on the little table against the hall wall so she could open the door. Careful so not to cause a larger interruption than she was going to already, she tightened her fingers around the door knob and twisted. But it didn’t turn. She tried again. It was stuck. Locked. How odd. Her family never locked doors. That wasn’t allowed. Closing them was unusual, but locking them was unheard of.
    Juliet glanced over to the tea tray then to the door, then back to the tea tray where her eyes just wouldn’t stay put. They wandered back to the door. Then down to the keyhole. Her six youngest siblings were outside playing so she knew she was safe from them giving away her position. That just left Henrietta. Juliet stifled a snort. Henrietta probably wasn’t even awake yet.
    Licking her lips, she bent her knees and lowered her head to peer through the keyhole. Whack! She winced and jumped back. Drat. For as long as she’d been wearing those thick spectacles one would think she’d be accustomed to them and remember to take them off before putting her eye next to something. Removing her bulky spectacles and resting them on the makeshift table her folded legs created, she leaned forward again and squinted, peering through the keyhole.
    Her sight was blurry, not allowing her to see any fine details. All she could see were the hazy outlines of who she presumed to be both of her parents as they sat side by side on the settee and faced the door. A bit to the left, looked like another form. It was Lord Drakely, of course.
    She pressed her eye closer to get a better view and the white edges of her eye touched the cold, hard brass. Juliet jerked her head back and rubbed her stinging eye. Not bothering to try to see when she clearly couldn’t, she repositioned herself and pressed her ear against the door. Ah, perfect. The keyhole was just large enough so that her ear fit perfectly up to it allowing all the noise from the room to be funneled straight into her ear.
    “ And that will clear all the debt?” her father asked, his voice holding an edge of excitement. Or was that confusion? It was hard to tell.
    “ All of it,” Lord Drakely agreed.
    “ When did you have in mind to have the wedding?” Mother asked. “I’d think the sooner the better, no?”
    Juliet willed herself not to grind her teeth as the first hints of understanding washed over her. Her parents were going to allow Henrietta to