Twice the Temptation Read Online Free PDF Page A

integrity. A man who won’t succumb to temptations of the flesh.”
    Of course, Meghan was correct. However, the image that persisted in her thoughts was the sight of the poor girl curled up on the chaise lounge in the ladies’ dressing room, convulsing with every sob. She and Olivia had tried their best to console her, but no amount of consoling could mend a heart torn asunder by betrayal and grief. Only time and distance had that restorative effect.
    Catherine continued to wear the tread on the silk rug in front of the settee and sofa where her friends took their repose. “She is such a sweet girl. Eighteen only last month.”
    “Still very young. She has several more seasons to find someone else—though I hardly think it will take that time at all,” Meghan remarked. “By the end of the Season, she’ll forget the dratted man even exists.”
    “Truly Catherine dear, must you pace so? You’re giving my neck quite the crimp,” Olivia chided lightly but she appeared more intent on studying the pastries on the serving dish.
    Meghan dismissed her friend’s remark with an affectionate flick of her wrist. “Pace all you want Catherine. Perhaps it will put you in a better state of mind when I tell you you’ll be called on again and it will be as soon as tomorrow evening.”
    Catherine skittered to a stop in the center of the room, her gaze snapping to Meghan. “Tomorrow evening? Am I not permitted even a fortnight’s reprieve?”
    Playing the coquette did not come as easy for her as it did her friends. Like a well run dry, she needed replenishment of courage, hope, and faith. Which took time. She was much better at commiserating with the young women with soothing words and the offer of a shoulder to cry upon.
    Meghan’s smile possessed the brightness of the sun at its zenith. She cast her rays on Catherine now. “But my dear, it is springtime,” she said. “Courting and engagements are very much the thing. We will be much in demand now.”
    “Catherine, was it truly that much of an ordeal?” Olivia asked, wrenching her attention from the pastries. Then her posture went rigid and her gaze turned probing. “Is there something you didn’t tell me about your encounter with Lord Landry? Did he touch you inappropriately before I came on the scene?”
    Just thinking about the incident raised Catherine’s ire another notch. “The man propositioned me like I was a courtesan in search of a new protector. Good gracious, the announcement of his betrothal to Miss North had appeared in the newspapers not even a week past.”
    “Indeed?” Olivia appeared to visibly relax, her spine once again curving to mold the cushioned back of the seat. “The cad! He should have waited at least a week and done it properly at one of those positively lascivious house parties that real ladies have no knowledge of. Truly, the men in Society suffer from an appalling lack of tact. He best hope your brother never hears of it.” She then picked up a white, linen serviette and spread it neatly across her lap.
    Catherine’s mouth edged up in a reluctant smile as she observed the amusement in her friend’s eyes. For the most part, Olivia was not one to fret or fuss, rarely allowing words to offend her. Unwanted physical contact was another matter. No, to Olivia, life was meant to be savored and enjoyed precisely like the French pastry she chose with great care and proceeded to consume in three healthy bites.
    Black hair, pale skin and eyes—a color walking a precarious line between violet and blue—Olivia possessed the kind of exotic beauty that turned heads, broke hearts, and inspired dozens of amateur poets to put pen to paper. However, life for the beautiful daughter of the Duke of Wiltshire was quite different from the life of the illegitimate half-sister of an earl.
    “Men can be such wretched beasts can they not?” Meghan said lending her own indignation on Catherine’s behalf. “At least he didn’t corner you in one of the