Jacquie D'Alessandro Read Online Free PDF Page A

focused on her words. “Note his overeager manner.”
    “Overeager? ’Tis clear he is smitten and wishes to please her. Surely you don’t think he should have allowed Lady Ophelia to fetch her own punch?”
    “No, but he clearly didn’t ask her preference. From her expression it is obvious that Lady Ophelia did not desire a glass of punch—no doubt because he’d already handed her one not five minutes ago.”
    “Perhaps Lord Nordnick is merely nervous. I believe itis common for sanity to flee a man’s head when he’s in the company of a lady he finds attractive.”
    She made a tsk ing sound. “That is indeed unfortunate. Observe how bored she clearly is with his inept attentions.”
    Hmmm. Lady Ophelia did indeed look bored. Blast. When had courting become so bloody complicated? Hoping he sounded like a coconspirator rather than an information seeker, he asked, “What should Lord Nordnick do?”
    “He should shower her with romance . Find out her favorite flower. Her favorite food.”
    “So he should send her roses and confections?”
    “As your friend, Mr. Stanton, I must point out that that is a sadly typical male assumption. Perhaps Lady Ophelia prefers pork chops to confections. And how do you know her favorite flower is a rose?”
    “As your friend, Lady Catherine, I must point out that it would be very odd for a suitor to come calling with a gift box filled with pork chops. And don’t all women love roses?”
    “I couldn’t say. I like them. However, they aren’t my favorite.”
    “And what is?”
    “ Dicentra spectabilis .”
    “I fear Latin is not my strong suit.”
    “You see?”
    “Actually, no—”
    “That’s but yet another problem with Lord Nordnick’s unoriginal methods. He should recite something romantic to her in another language. But I digress. Dicentra spectabilis means ‘bleeding heart.’”
    He pulled his gaze from the couple and turned his head to stare at her. “Something called bleeding heart is your favorite flower? That hardly rings of romance.”
    “Nevertheless, it is my favorite, and that’s what makesit romantic. I happen to know that Lady Ophelia is especially fond of tulips. But do you suppose Lord Nordnick will bother to discover that? I think not. Based on his fetching of numerous glasses of unwanted punch, I’m certain he’ll send Lady Ophelia roses because that’s what he thinks she should like. And because of that, he is doomed to failure.”
    “All because he fetched punch and would send the wrong flowers?” Andrew turned back to the couple, and a wave of pity for Lord Nordnick engulfed him. Poor bastard. He made a mental note to pass along the tulip information to the hapless fellow. In these perilous courting endeavors, men needed to stick together.
    “Perhaps such clumsy attempts would have gained a lady’s favor in the past, but no longer. Today’s Modern Woman prefers a gentleman who takes into consideration her preferences, as opposed to a gentleman who arrogantly believes he knows what is best for her.”
    Andrew chuckled. “Today’s Modern Woman? That sounds like something out of that ridiculous Ladies’ Guide everyone is talking about.”
    “Why do you say ‘ridiculous’?”
    “Hmm, yes, perhaps that was a poor choice of word. ‘Scandalous, appalling, trash-filled balderdash’ is closer to what I meant.”
    Andrew studied the couple for several more seconds, trying to decipher the apparently misguided Lord Nornick’s errors so as not to make them himself, but in truth he couldn’t figure out what the man was doing wrong. He was being polite and attentive—two strategies Andrew himself had deemed important in his own wooing campaign.
    He turned back toward Lady Catherine. “I’m afraid I don’t see—”
    His words cut off when he noted she was regarding him with raised brows and a noticeably cool expression. “Is something amiss?”
    “I wasn’t aware you’d read A Ladies’Guide to the Pursuit of Personal Happiness and