Royally Ever After Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Today I’m painfully sober.”
    He watched her make the small leap. For a second, her skirts lifted, and he had a glimpse of purple half-boots. He smiled.
    It was the one bright element in her attire. She’d worn what he guessed was an archery dress: The dark blue garment’s sleeves were not the vast, ballooning ones fashion dictated, but fitted tight, especially along the lower arms. Instead of an immense bonnet festooned with feathers and ribbons and lace, she wore a tiny black hat.
    The costume made her a narrower target.
    He supposed she’d done it on purpose to mock him. That was more or less why he’d donned dueling dress: uniformly dark clothing, including his neck cloth, which was black. He was mocking himself, as well he ought.
    Thanks to boredom and drink, he’d been a stupendous lout yesterday. Yet if he’d behaved well, he wouldn’t have discovered her. He wouldn’t have had the fun of writing incendiary notes and picturing her gleefully composing her replies.
    He watched the seconds gravely mark out the field. Then Miss Renfrew guided Miss Sharp to her place. Bates, wearing a look of exasperation, approached and said, “You’ll stand here—and you had better pray that nobody gets wind of this.”
    â€œMy lips are sealed,” Lovedon said.
    â€œHow I wish that were ever true,” Bates said.
    He then proceeded to the halfway point between the duelists and asked if there was any possibility of reconciliation.
    Miss Sharp shook her head.
    Bates looked to Lovedon.
    He shook his head.
    The lowering sun gilded the fields. A gentle breeze caressed his face.
    What a splendid evening for a duel , he thought.
    T rust me.
    Amy put the pistol in Chloe’s hand. It was quite small and oddly shaped, double-barreled, and stunningly ornate: gold, with exquisite enameling, and set with pearls and diamonds. She stared at it.
    â€œIt’s French,” Amy said. “You cock it with this.” She indicated a part. “Then it works the same as any other pistol, Mr. Bates said. But it has a very short range. I suspect it’s easier to injure somebody by hitting them in the head with the grip. In any event, we need to shorten the dueling distance. Do you mind? I pointed out to Mr. Bates that the minimum distance is no less than three yards. I do wish I knew what was in Lord Lovedon’s mind.”
    â€œHe’s whimsical,” Chloe said.
    â€œYes, everyone says so. And it’s mere form, of course. So many duels are, you know. One goes through the motions—”
    â€œYes, yes,” Chloe broke in impatiently. “But we must do it Lord Lovedon’s way.” She’d called him a coward and no gentleman. She’d refused to apologize. That, Amy had said, gave him the choice of weapons and terms. And the first shot. “If he wants to dirty his pretty French pistols by shooting them off, that’s his choice.”
    Shoot straight at me . . . Trust me.
    Though she knew—she was positive —she had nothing to be afraid of, her heart was pounding very hard. She cocked the weapon as Amy had instructed and held it down by her side.
    She was aware of Lord Lovedon following the same procedure, but it was a distant awareness. So many wild thoughts raced through her mind that she couldn’t keep up with them, let alone make sense of them. Her heart wouldn’t slow. She knew nothing terrible would happen, yet she was panicking all the same.
    She was aware of Lord Lovedon coming much closer.
    This was too close.
    They were very small pistols, but small ones tended to be highly inaccurate. She might hurt him by accident. But no, they couldn’t be loaded. He wouldn’t shoot her and he couldn’t possibly want her to shoot him.
    Could he?
    This was absurd. He was doing it on purpose to aggravate her. Whimsical, indeed.
    Mr. Bates said, “Miss Renfrew will ask if you are ready, then count to two, and