Twice the Temptation Read Online Free PDF

dusty rooms at the British Museum.”
    Collecting her skirts, Catherine swept around the rosewood table where their cups and saucers rested, to resume her seat beside Meghan on the sofa. “Good Lord, don’t tell me some gentleman was silly enough to attempt such a thing with you? Had he no idea who your father is?” Not only was the Earl of Stanhope rich, powerful, and a political force in the House of Lords, nothing rivaled how fiercely he protected his only daughter.
    Meghan turned to Olivia and asked innocently, “Does Lord Granville know who my father is?”
    Catherine’s head snapped in Olivia’s direction. “Your brother?” The question emerged unusually high, ending in a squeak.
    “Oh, don’t look at me like that,” Olivia snipped. “I have no control over my brother’s actions. Rhys is his own man. He listens to no one, including our father.”
    Catherine regarded Meghan. “But the two of you are…” She struggled to find the appropriate term to describe their interaction for she couldn’t call it a relationship. Cool, formal, and unfriendly were more apt terms.
    “Go ahead, say it, I don’t mind. We are the last two people you could ever picture together. He is a rake and I suffer rakes not at all. Every week the man has a different woman on his arm. I guess it was incumbent upon him to make the attempt, as I must be one of the few women in all of London who isn’t tripping all over herself to cross his path,” Meghan concluded with a disdainful sniff.
    Olivia’s brother, the Earl of Granville, was currently considered the catch of the century. Should any woman get him to the altar, she’d be lauded all over England. Aesthetically beautiful in a wholly masculine way, he was heir to one of the oldest, most respected dukedoms in England. And should charm be considered a virtue, he’d possess more than a saint.
    “Interesting,” Catherine replied softly. While the earl had always been mildly flirtatious, he’d never once crossed the line so she’d have reason to believe he wanted more. But for Meghan he had. So very interesting.
    Meghan wore a disgruntled look. “An obvious exaggeration, but I believe my point is made.”
    “And where was I when all this occurred?” Catherine asked.
    Meghan took a long drink from her tea before answering. “This was in the early days of Charlotte’s return. I didn’t burden you with it, as I knew it would come to nothing. True to his colors, Lord Granville ceased his pursuit after two months.”
    Olivia remained silent, her expression indicating she refused to enter into a discussion about the exploits of the older brother she adored.
    It really wasn’t so surprising that Lord Granville would pursue her. If he was declared the prince of men, certainly Meghan couldn’t be less than a princess in her own right.
    Her friend’s dark auburn locks and exquisite features personified femininity and elegance in the most elemental way. And so that ordinary women could rail at the gods at the unfairness of it all, she had once caused two carriages to collide in Piccadilly Circle in the course of simply crossing the street. Men couldn’t help but stop and stare. Contrarily, the ladies would inspect her like a brood mare, desperately seeking some tiny imperfection so they could declare she couldn’t be the fairest after all. Their search would end in vain.
    “That is all in the past. Now they are once again, unfailingly polite to one another, are you not?” Olivia gave Meghan a pointed look, which was blithely ignored. “But truly, I’d rather we not speak about my brother when we have other matters at hand. Meghan you haven’t yet told Catherine who she is to test next.”
    Subject changed and discussion of the next man in their crosshairs now squarely in Meghan’s lap, Olivia touched the serviette to the corners of her mouth to wipe away any lingering evidence of the second pastry she’d just eaten.
    “But why must it be me?” Catherine normally would