To Love, Honor, and Obey... (Fated for Love) Read Online Free PDF Page B

hunter green evening dress. Her mother said nothing, which meant that she approved of her appearance. Taking her cloak from their butler, Danson, she followed her sister into the carriage and kept her mouth closed and her eyes on the window the entire trip to Willowton Park. They debarked, and Obedience felt the first jolt of anxiety the evening would bring when Chance greeted them in the drive. He was dressed formally in evening attire. Pristine Nankeen pantaloons that hugged his lean muscular legs beautifully. She couldn't pull her eyes away from him as they entered the foyer and she saw him in the light. His waistcoat matched his pantaloons and snow-white cravat. His hunter green coat finished the ensemble along with his shining Hessian boots. He was elegance incarnate. A true gentleman of sophistication and style. She felt so drab in comparison.
    “Good evening , Lady Wickenham, Miss Wickenham, Miss Patience.” He nodded to each of them.
    Obedience barely smiled in return. They followed as Chance escorted Lady Wickenham inside to the drawing room, asking all the usual polite questions. Patience looped her arm through Obedience’s arm and smiled so widely that it looked painful. Obedience looked over at her in surprise, but did not pull her arm away. She hadn't recovered the wits that had slipped away at the sight of him. She already felt her cheeks warming as she watched him move about in the snug breeches. How was she to behave naturally around him?
    When they entered the drawing room, the duke was sitting by the fireplace in his special chair. Obedience steeled her nerves before meeting his gaze. Out of everyone here, he would be the hardest to hide her true emotions. He greeted her mother rather coldly. She hoped it would be attributed to his now eccentric personality. He barely spared Patience a glance before greeting Obedience and smiling warmly. He looked into her eyes—really looked, and damn it if he didn’t see everything she didn’t want him to see. He frowned and looked as though he was about to speak.
    “Ergh , um…” Chance cleared his throat. “Please do excuse me. Would you like something to drink?”
    Chance met three pairs of feminine eyes, two looking like he spoke spun gold, and one looking completely surprised he could speak at all. Obedience was really doing a poor job hiding her emotions. She was clearly upset by the looks of it. He would have his work cut out for him keeping his father in line. The way his eyes sizzled when he looked at Lady Wickenham, he was surprised his father hadn’t shouted ‘OFF WITH HER HEAD’ the moment she entered.
    Obedience looked very uncomfortable. Her cheeks were a becoming shade of pink, and he had to stop himself from boldly staring at her. She had an understated beauty. Her simple dress free of fripperies and jewels only amplified the shine of her onyx hair, the soft pink of her lips, and the vibrant blue of her eyes.
    “Sherry?” he suggested when no one responded. Lady Wickenham and Miss Patience nodded. Obedience continued to stare at him as if he had sprouted another head. “Right then.” He mentally shook his head as he strode to the decanter and returned with three glasses of sherry. Lady Wickenham and Miss Patience smiled their thanks to him and took their glasses, the latter batting her eyelashes annoyingly so. He turned to Obedience, who was doing her best to be invisible and offered a glass to her. She shook her head no, so he picked up her hand and wrapped it around the crystal. “You look like you need it.”
    A huff of breath came out of her . Maybe it was a laugh because she smiled a little as she looked up into his eyes. He kept his hands wrapped around hers on the glass for a moment. Her fingers felt like ice.
    “You have no idea what you’re in for tonight. May I suggest you start drinking , as well?”
    His smile broadened. “What makes you think I haven’t?”
    She laughed again—a quiet, breathy laugh not meant to be heard