The Seduction of Miss Amelia Bell Read Online Free PDF Page A

doors, giving no more thought to the man
     whose whispered name had awakened her from her dreams of David . Edmund.
    She reached her room, taking three steps at a time, and leaped into her bed. No sooner
     did she close her eyes than her father entered, toting Amelia’s breakfast on a tray.
    “Good morning, love,” John Bell greeted her. “Alice is busy so I thought I would bring
     ye yer…” He looked up and stopped, looking at her. “Ye’re deathly pale!” He laid the
     tray on a nearby table and went to the bed. “Are ye ill, Mellie?” He covered Amelia’s
     face with his fingers. “Ye’re clammy and short of breath. I’ll get one of yer mother’s
     physicians.”
    “No, Papa!” Amelia clamped his wrist as her father moved to leave. Lord, she hadn’t
     expected to see him so early. “I’m not ill. I am…anxious about my future, that is
     all.” She concentrated on slowing her heart rate. When her father’s expression turned
     sympathetic, Amelia knew she had taken the right path. The last thing she wanted was
     a dozen of her mother’s physicians crowding her bed. Lady Selkirk had a different
     physician for every ailment, which was a good thing for her, since she suffered with
     most of them.
    “Are ye certain that’s all it is?” he asked, resting on the edge of the bed and running
     the backs of his knuckles across Amelia’s forehead.
    “Aye, I barely slept.” It was the truth and she truly was anxious about her future.
    “Don’t fret over yer marriage,” her father said, scooping up Amelia’s hand and bringing
     it to his lips. “Ye will be happy.”
    She thought about her conversation with Sarah. She could never ask her father to go
     back on his consent and try to find her a different husband. Even though the betrothal
     wasn’t officially announced, everyone knew. Her father would be shamed if they backed
     out now. She didn’t love Walter at all. Oh, she knew love was irrelevant but damnation
     it would have been nice to have some feelings for the man who would be her husband.
     She knew little about the chancellor save that he turned up his haughty nose to Sarah.
     “Will I, Papa? Will I be happy?”
    “Why do ye ask?” He searched her gaze. “Has the chancellor offended ye in some way?”
    She wished Walter had offended her so she could answer truthfully. But accusing her
     betrothed of something he didn’t do was not only wrong, but quite dangerous to her
     father. “Nae, Papa, he has been kind.”
    He relaxed his shoulders and allowed an indulgent smile to spread across his lips.
     “What ye’re feeling happens to most new brides…and grooms.” He winked at her. “But
     ye’ve no reason to fear.”
    “Did it happen to ye, Papa?”
    He nodded and smiled, remembering. “It did. I didn’t know yer mother. I didn’t know
     if she was comely or had two eyes or one.”
    Amelia smiled into his rich, mahogany eyes, loving him more than any man alive. “Did
     yer heart belong to one already, Papa?”
    He shrugged his shoulders, still broad even in middle age. “My heart belonged to many.
     But that’s of no concern. Yer mother turned out to be one of the bonniest women I’d
     ever seen. We wed and had ye girls and we remain together to this day.”
    But did he love her? Amelia didn’t have the courage to ask him.
    “Ye do care fer Walter, do ye not, Mellie?”
    She blinked at him. He’d never asked her that question before. Would her answer make
     a difference? She didn’t get a chance to find out, since her bedroom door opened and
     her nurse plunged into the room. When she saw Amelia’s father, she apologized for
     her interruption and backed out.
    “Alice,” her father called, stopping her departure. “Come back. I was just leaving.”
     He stood up and brushed off his coat. “I will see ye tonight at the celebration, love.”
     He bent to kiss the top of Amelia’s head, then turned and smiled at Alice before he
     left the room.
    “We have a lot to