Written in the Stars Read Online Free PDF Page A

beautiful.” Alice sighed.
    I wish I knew if Will finds me beautiful.
    She blinked away the image of him smiling at her in admiration.
    “You do your father proud,” Alice whispered, a catch in her voice.
    Ruthlessly burying every other desire, Elizabeth straightened her shoulders. “I promise
     I shall forever strive to do so.”
    Her smile firmly in place, Elizabeth glided along the long corridor, guided by servants
     leading her to the vast banqueting hall and Carlyle.
    He awaited her at the entrance, the wide, thick, dark doors open behind him showing
     a blur of moving bodies and exposing the strains of merry songs.
    She refused to allow her smile to falter.
    I shall remember all I have been taught. Remember Carlyle, too, has suffered losing
     a beloved mother. Remember his kindness with Florea. Remember that I must marry him
     for it has been decided by my father. It is my duty to obey and forget this madness
     which consumes me for Will.
    She stretched out her hand to allow Carlyle to escort her inside.
    “Ah, Elizabeth, bewitching as always,” he murmured, stroking her wrist with his thumb.
     “Let the merriment begin.”
    She fought the shiver his touch sent along her skin as he led her into the banqueting
     hall. Torches blazed bright, casting long patches of light onto the jugglers, musicians,
     and dancers entertaining them. Through all the play of light and shadows, her gaze
     unerringly found Will and their eyes locked. As it had each time they met, the desire
     to go to him, to touch him consumed her. She fought it, deliberately looking away
     and up into Carlyle’s face.
    He smiled and with long, confident strides led her to the table and her place of honor
     next to the duke.
    Her thoughts racing, her heart pounding, Elizabeth moved as if in a dream. The jewels
     worn by the many guests sparkled so brightly that they stung her eyes, and the musicians
     seemed to be playing songs which echoed in her head over and over, while the jugglers
     appeared to become bigger and then smaller before her. She blinked again and again,
     trying to determine if this night was real or if she would awaken in her bed at Wharton
     Keep, having dreamed it all
    Even Will, the embodiment of all I have ever hoped to find in a man?
    She felt the soft pillows at her back, tasted the wine cool on her parched throat,
     soothing as she drank. She smelled the roasting meat before her as dozens and dozens
     of main dishes were offered.
    This was no dream, and she knew it. This was the future her father and the duke had
     decided for her and there was naught she could do to change it.
    The thought brought such rage she stared down at her hands, clenching them together
     to keep from shaking with her feelings. Laurel’s laughter brought her back to her
     duty. Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth looked up.
    “My lord, it is now time for merriment.” Laurel, radiant in silver, laughed up at
     the duke. “A wholesome recreation of the mind and body.”
    Smiling, the duke inclined his head toward the musicians who began playing the stately
     cords of the pavane.
    With the duke and Laurel, Elizabeth and Carlyle led other members of the court into
     the center of the vast torch-lit hall.
    As her dancing master at Wharton Keep had taught her, Elizabeth lightly touched fingers
     with Carlyle to follow the duke’s lead, parading around the hall. The ladies of the
     court were a riot of color and of scents as they passed one another, flaunting their
     finery.
    The advancing and retreating steps of the dance, curtsies, brushing her foot forward
     to show a point of her jeweled slipper had been easily learned and practiced often
     at Wharton Keep. Carlyle comported himself well as she tried to disregard the long
     table where Will stood, watching the dancers.
    She smiled at her betrothed and he back at her as it should be.
    As it is destined to be.
    When the music ended, Carlyle lifted her hand to his lips. “Are you