The Wedding Trap Read Online Free PDF

to stay,” Noah piped.
    “Aunt Eliza, Aunt Eliza,” Sebastian seconded.
    “Your aunt Eliza cannot remain. She has other things to do with her day,” the older woman said, a gentle undertone in her voice that softened her strict words. “Now, behave as well-bred young lords ought and bid Miss Hammond a polite farewell.”
    Identical mouths turned pouty, tears pooling in Sebastian’s eyes.
    “Now, what is this? Are those tears I see?” Violet asked as she entered the playroom.
    “Mama, Mama!” Both boys raced to her, burying their faces against her thighs, clutching handfuls of her dotted apricot skirts in their small fists.
    “They wish me to stay,” Eliza explained, meeting Violet’s curious gaze.
    “Well, of course they do. The boys adore you and quite rightly so. You are their favorite aunt, more favored even than any of their natural aunts. But,” Violet declared, wrapping a comforting arm around each of her sons as she bent forward to address them, “as much as she would like, your aunt Eliza cannot stay and play the day away. She has things she must do that cannot include a pair of little boys. Besides, if I do not mistake the hour, it is time for both of you to have your meal and then take a nap.”
    “Just as I was telling them when you arrived, your Grace,” Nurse said, her hands folded at her ample waist.
    “I don’t want a nap,” Noah said in a defiant voice.
    “Me either,” Sebastian seconded.
    “Hmm.” Violet slowly shook her head. “Well, I cannot make you sleep, I suppose, but if you do not get your rest your papa will not take you out this afternoon to ride your ponies. He says tired boys make poor riders, and he will never agree to let you take a turn on Snow and Ebony if you have not had your naps.”
    “I want to ride the ponies.” Noah cast an entreating gaze up at his mother.
    “I do too.” Sebastian pressed himself closer against her hip.
    “Well, I see no alternative, then, but for you to go with Nurse and do as you are told. Will you promise to be good boys, eat your meal and take a proper nap?”
    “Yes, Mama,” they said in unison.
    “That’s my sweet loves.” Violet planted exuberant kisses on each of their cheeks, hugging them until giggles erupted. “Off with you now, imps.”
    The boys started toward their nurse. Sebastian stopped and ran to Eliza. He motioned for her to bend close. “Will you come and tell us a story later?” he whispered in a loud voice.
    She smiled, melting under the spell of his innocent charm. “If I hear you have been extra good, I shall accompany your mama upstairs when she comes to tuck you in tonight.”
    Noah grinned from where he waited beside his nurse. “We shall be good,” he piped.
    Sebastian’s lips curved in agreement with his brother before he gave Eliza a hug, then obediently went to his nurse. Taking a small hand in each of her own, the servant led the children away.
    “Thank the stars for ponies,” Violet said the moment her sons were safely out of earshot. “Heaven knows what I will be driven to bribing them with come next year. At least Georgianna is too young yet to work her wiles.”
    “She is a darling baby.”
    A look of happy pride washed over Violet’s features at mention of her daughter. “She is, is she not? I am perpetually astonished at how even-tempered she is. She doesn’t fuss, hardly ever cries, not even when her diaper is wet. I was just in the nursery feeding her and as soon as she finished, she drifted straight off to sleep.”
    Behind her spectacles, Violet’s eyes sparkled. “You should see Adrian with her, cooing and making silly faces. You would think a man never had a daughter before. He is quite besotted. Did I tell you he has taken to calling her his little angel?”
    And the baby did resemble an angel, Eliza thought, one with round rosy cheeks, long-lashed green eyes and a perfectly shaped head that was only now starting to grow the veriest bits of dark hair upon its surface.
    “Is