Etienne abrió sus brazos en ademán de invitación y respiró aliviado
cuando ella se entregó a su abrazo. Allí era donde debía estar. Podía sentirlo. En
trescientos años ninguna otra mujer le había hecho sentir que era la adecuada. Había
acertado al transformar a Rachel. Estaba hecha para él.
Protegeré tu corazón todos los días de mi vida
Lynsay SandsYou could hear us?" Christiana asked with horror.
"I'm sure the whole house can hear you," she said dryly. "He roars like a lion, and you squeal like a stuck pig.
Tag: christiana madison-sisters suzette the-heiress
When their brother-in-law turned toward them at the sound,Lisa breathed with horror, "But you're dead." Her head swiveled to Christiana. "Wasn't he dead, Chrissy? We packed ice around him and everything."
"The ice must have revived his cold dead heart," Suzette said, anger helping her recover quickly from her shock. Glaring at the man, she added a dry but heartfelt, "More's the pity."
If Dicky looked surprised by her comments, Christiana looked absolutely horrified.
"Suzette!" she gasped, shuffling a little closer as if to phsyically silence her if Suzette tried to make another such comment. "Perhaps we should go out for some air. Lisa looks ready to faint and you, Suzie, obviously need some time to cool yourself. Perhaps so much dancing has overheated you."
Suzette was about to snort at the suggestion that dancing had brought about her bitter words when her arm was suddenly taken in a firm grip and the words "Allow me" rang in her ears.
Glancing around with a start, she frowned at the man who had suddenly appeared out of seemingly thin air and stepped between her and Lisa, taking both of them in hand like recalcitrant children. He was already turning them firmly away from Christiana and Dicky as he added, "I shall see the ladies outside so the two of you might talk.
You might consider letting us go and minding your own business...or else I shall be forced to stomp on your foot, sir."
"My lord," he corrected, sounding amused at her threat. "Daniel, Lord Woodrow.
However,I suspect you aren't a proper lady so we should do well enough."
Suzette suddenly came to an abrupt halt and this time even his firm grip couldn't keep her moving,at least not gracefully. If he didn't stop he'd be dragging her along behind him like an old robe.
Pausing,Daniel raised an eyebrow in question.
"Would you care to repeat that?" she asked coldly.
Daniel hesitated and then pointed out mildly, "I simply meant that I suspect you can be a little less than proper at times. Surely a proper young lady wouldn't say what you did back there to Richard?"
Her eyes became daggers, her mouth turning down with dislike. "Dicky deserved it. The man is a bounder.
So Christiana went to speak to Dicky about taking us out and about, but when she found him in the office, the idiot was dead."
Daniel bit his lip at her vexed tone. There was absolutely no grief in her voice at all, just irritation with the inconvenience of it all. But then George had never been one to inspire the finer feelings in those he encountered. Clearing his throat, he asked, "Did he fall and strike his head, or-"
"No.He was simply sitting in his chair dead," she said with exasperation, and then added with disgust, "He was obviously a victim of his own excess. We suspected his heart gave out. Certainly the glass and decanter of whiskey next to him suggested he didn't take the best care of himself. I ask you,who drinks hard liquor first thing in the morning?"
Daniel shook his head, finding it difficult to speak. She was just so annoyed as she spoke of the man's death, as if he'd deliberately done it to mess up her plans. After a moment, he asked, "Are you sure he is dead?"
Suzette gave him another one of those adorable "Don't be ridiculous" looks. "Well, obviously he isn't. He is here now," she pointed out, and then shook her head and added almost under her breath, "Though I could have sworn...The man didn't even stir when he fell off the chair and slammed his head on the floor. Nor when I dropped him and his head crashed to the hardwood floor again, or when we rolled him in the carpet and dragged him upstairs, or when we dropped him in the hall and he rolled out of the carpet, or-"
"Er," Daniel interrupted, and then coughed into his hand to hide a laugh, before asking, "Why exactly were you carting him about in a carpet?"
"Well,don't be dense," she said with exasperation. "We couldn't let anyone know he was dead, could we?"
"Couldn't you?" he asked uncertainly.
Suzette clucked with irritation. "Of course not.We would have had to go into mourning then.How would I find a husband if we were forced to abstain from polite society to observe mourning?
If he had any sense of honor at all, the man would have stayed dead."
"Unfortunately, it appears he was merely unconscious," Daniel murmured. He was becoming quite certain George was dead. This might greaty simplify matters, or at least it would if Richard was willing to uphold the marriage to Christiana...and really, Daniel was beginning to think that would be the most honorable thing to do here. While he didn't think much of their looking to marry a man with money to solve their problems, it did seem a shame to cast the scandal of George's actions on these three women when none of it was their fault at all.
Unconscious," Suzette spat the word with disdain. "He must have been, and he had obviously been drinking." She tsked with exasperation and stomped her foot, muttering, "Why could the beast not have been dead? I should have smothered him in his bed to be sure he was and stayed that way."
Daniel stared at her with amazement. His first thought was that, really, aside froom her fortune hunting and homicidal tendencies, the woman was quite fascinating in her complete and utter lack of artifice. His next thought was that the ton would eat her alive. Artifice and subterfuge were necessary tools to survive society and she was obviously completely lacking in both.
Suzette suddenly heaved a put upon breath and muttered, "I suppose I had best be sure I find a husband tonight. Otherwise, surely Dicky will find some way to throw a spanner in my plans."
Daniel's eyebrows flew up at her words and then she peered at him with interest.
"You're a handsome enough fellow," she commented thoughtfully.
Daniel blinked, and then muttered, "Oh...er...thank you. I think."
"You don't seem a dullard either," she added, tilting her head to inspect him consideringly.
"Erm," he said weakly.
"And you aren't old. That's another plus." Daniel was puzzling over that when she asked abruptly, "Are you rich?
However,he also found himself constantly stalked by marriage-minded mamas and their braying daughters, and, frankly, while he'd thought it rather amusing in a twisted way when he'd been poor and knew they were getting no bargain, Daniel now found it vastly annoying. He was more than a stallion for stud with a bag of gold between his legs. And as entertaining as Suzette was, he didn't appreciate her interest in him being based only on his wealth. So he did what any reasonable man would do in this situation...he lied.
"I am as poor as a church mouse," he announced with feigned regret. "In fact, poorer than a church mouse since just this last year I inherited Woodrow from my uncle and it is a terrible mess in need of a great deal of repair and care that I cannot afford.
I suppose it means that I will be free to travel with my maid, or to live in the country while you are in town, or I may live in town while you are in the country if I wish. I mean if I find your company...er...unpleasant."
"I see," Daniel said dryly. "And if we are always apart, how exactly are we to gain heirs?"
"Oh." Suzette flushed. "Well, I suppose we could arrange for occasional visits for...er...procreative purposes."
"Occasional visits for procreative purposes?" he achoed with disbelief, and then muttered dryly, "My, how scintillating that sounds."
Suzette frowned, for really it did sound rather cold, nothing like the passionate delirium she had read about in one of Lisa's novels. But then, truthfully,she simply couldn't fathom the ecstasies described in that book. She'd never even been kissed and what if she didn't enjoy his kisses? Just because he didn't have bad breath didn't mean she would enjoy these visits she spoke of so boldly. Coming to a decision, she straightened abruptly, and said, "We must kiss."
That caught his attention and he asked with amazement, "What?"
"Well, we should see if we would deal well together in...er...that regard," she muttered, blushing hotly. Swallowing, she forced herself to add firmly, "You should kiss me. Then we will know."
"My dear young lady," Daniel began seeming half amused and half horrified, "I really do not think-"
"Oh,for pity's sake," Suzette interuppted impatiently, and then leaned forward again,this time pressing her lips to his. In her rush to get it over with, she lost her balance a bit and had to catch a hold of his jacket to steady herself as she smooshed her mouth against his. She then waited for the warm and wonderful commotion she'd read about to assault her. Unfortunately, there wasn't any commotion. Really this was no more exciting than pressing her mouth to a cup, Suzette thought with dismay, and released him to sit back again with a most disappointed sigh. "Oh dear, I fear you're no good at this."
"Excuse me? I am no good at this?" Daniel asked with amazed disbelief. "My dear girl, if you think that was a kiss-"
"Do stop calling me a girl," Suzette snapped a bit impatiently and got to her feet, too agitated now to sit. "You sound like you're old enough to be my father and you aren't quite that old."
"Not quite that old? For pity's sake! What a charmer you are," he said with irritation, and then stood up as well and informed her with some dignity, "That was not a proper kiss."
"Well if you are such an expert, why do you not show me how to do it right?" she suggested, glowering with frustration at this turn of events.
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