Love According To Lily Read Online Free PDF Page A

for a more passionate kiss.
    Her heart began to race with excitement. “Do you really think it’s possible?”
    “I wouldn’t be having this conversation if I didn’t.”
    The blood stirred in Lily’s veins, sending a burst of excitement from the top of her head down to her toes. Sophia was confident. She believed it could be done. Could Lily believe it, too? Gooseflesh tingled on her thighs.
    “I don’t have a daring gown,” she said. “Even the blue Worth has a conservative neckline compared to what some of the other women are wearing.”
    Sophia smiled wickedly. “I have a few. And my maid knows how to use the sewing machine. We could easily alter one to fit you for the dancing tomorrow night.”
    “But what about Lord Richard?” Lily said. “I don’t want to do anything that might spoil my chances with him. If I am to be realistic, I must remember that the chances of Whitby actually falling in love with me are slim.”
    Sophia patted Lily’s knee and smiled. “Don’t worry, Lily. I suspect if Lord Richard is like most men, he’ll approve of your new look. They both will.”
    On the other side of the drawing room, Marion set down her coffee cup and realized she was only half listening to the conversation around her, for she was distracted. She did not like the look of things over by the window, where Sophia and Lily were speaking privately and keeping their voices noticeably low. It was not proper. They should be here with the other ladies, conversing politely.
    She glanced over at them again, and saw a look in her daughter’s eye that she had not seen in quite some time. Lily looked rather eager and animated.
    It was a look that caused Marion some concern, and she was most agitated by the involuntary clenching of her jaw.

 
    Chapter 3
      
    “Did you enjoy yourself last night?” James asked Whitby, who was sprawled out in a chair in James’s dressing room. James slipped his arms into the gray tweed hunting jacket his valet held out for him.
    Whitby, already dressed in his hunting attire, flipped his hat over in his hands. “Yes, it was a fine time. Sophia seemed to enjoy herself.”
    “She always does. She likes entertaining.” James turned away from the cheval mirror and faced Whitby. He stared at him for a moment. “Pardon my candor, but you look like hell again this morning, Whitby. Tell me you ate breakfast.”
    Whitby continued to flip his hat. “I’m quite sure I did.”
    “You’re quite sure? When someone asks if you ate and you did, you don’t say you’re
quite sure
you did. You say you
did
. Unless you’re trying to hide the fact that you weren’t hungry because your head was still swimming in brandy from the night before.”
    Whitby leaned back in the chair. He wasn’t in the mood to defend himself. He had far too much on his mind.
    He tilted his head at James. “What’s gotten into you all of a sudden? I remember a time when you avoided breakfast, too, after a so-called late night in the drawing room.”
    James faced the mirror again while his valet tugged at his sleeves. “Yes, but I’ve matured, thank God. I don’t take this body for granted anymore.”
    Whitby did not take his body for granted either. Not by a long shot.
    “You, on the other hand,” James continued tersely, “act like you’re still nineteen.”
    Whitby stared astonished at James. “And why not? What’s wrong with enjoying myself? I’m not dead… at least not yet.” He tried to sound playful.
    James turned again, leaned down and reached into Whitby’s breast pocket. He pulled out the flask and stared at it, then tossed it into the trash basket. “You will be if you keep this up.”
    Whitby stared in stunned silence at the flask in the bottom of the basket. An ominous silence ensued. James waved his valet away, and the man walked out of the room.
    As soon as the door closed behind him, James said, “You’re my oldest friend, Whitby, so I consider it my duty to ask. When was the last time