The Accidental Courtesan Read Online Free PDF

caught gaping like a spring trout. He spun on a heel and fled into the milling crowd.
    Noelle giggled, hooked Brenna’s arm with her hand, and led her into the shop. “You are awful, Cousin. It will take him weeks to recover.”
    With both of her sisters in the country and her mother hiding out from the scandalous marriage of her youngest daughter, Margaret, to an impoverished baron, Noelle had been left to her own devices. The prospect of having control over said devices had proved more desirable than the actuality of being left quite alone in her uncle’s rambling house.
    â€œI hoped you would be in town this Season, Brenna.” Noelle sighed as they stepped into the cool interior of the shop. The scent of hot tea and the colors of bolts of exotic fabrics lifted her spirits and promised to be a delightful distraction. “Without my sisters, I am dreadfully bored.”
    Until last evening. She looked forward to suffering from boredom again, now that the nobleman was well out of her life.
    â€œI thought Aunt Clara was chaperoning you this year.” Brenna lifted a bolt of deep red cloth and held it against herself. The color complimented her skin nicely. “She can be quite entertaining.”
    Noelle gave a sheepish smile. “Aunt Clara had to rush off to Sussex to be with Pudding. Her dear daughter has suffered another one of her spells and needs her mother to talk her back from the brink of her impending death. So Aunt Clara put Aunt Bernie in charge instead.”
    The two cousins shared a knowing smile. Pudding, as Cousin Wilhelmina was affectionately known, was as plump as she was tall, and spent much of her time abed with a variety of ailments she conjured up in her head.
    â€œI heard Pudding suffered a dreadful bout of consumption last month,” Brenna said as she reached to lay a bolt of gold fabric across Noelle’s upturned hands. “She should be dead and buried by now.”
    Noelle fingered the hideous gold cloth and held back a snicker. She did love the way Brenna spoke her thoughts without hesitation. “She had a miraculous recovery, dearest. The doctors have never seen the like.”
    The cousins giggled.
    â€œHas Aunt Bernie been able to stay sober during the soirees ?” Brenna asked with a wink. “The last time she attended a play with me, she almost toppled out of our box.”
    â€œI have yet to call upon her,” Noelle admitted sheepishly. As Noelle usually attended functions with the express notion of having fun, she’d decided watching her aunt stumble about, making a fool of herself, was decidedly not fun. “I have been flouting convention and attending unchaperoned.”
    Brenna’s green eyes widened in false surprise. “Careful, Noelle. You might be added to the family list of black sheep if you continue to push the boundaries of society.”
    Noelle snorted. “I shall take my chances. With you and your brothers to distract the gossips, I have been able to parade about without drawing too many shocked whispers.”
    â€œSpeaking of interesting gossip”—Brenna’s eyes narrowed suspiciously—“I heard you have discovered a new relation. Evangeline, is it? There is some nonsense about her being a long-lost cousin I have never heard of. Explain, please.”
    The cousins locked gazes. Noelle had known it wouldn’t be long before her family became privy to Eva’s existence. Brenna couldn’t have been the first to hear the gossip, so the matter was out. It wouldn’t be long now before the ridiculous falsehood about Eva’s actual connection to the family crumbled. She hadn’t expected the news to travel so quickly.
    She pulled Brenna behind a stack of cloth bolts and whispered, “You cannot tell anyone this secret. She is not our cousin but my half sister. She was recently married to the Duke of Stanfield.”
    â€œHis Grace? He is so very handsome.” Brenna