An Unexpected Proposal (St Daine Family 1) by Leighann Dobbs Read Free Book Online Page A

became ever more tangled. Was Lady Claire harboring a dark secret? Perhaps she had confided in his grandmother, or was doing so even now, he thought, noting the way the three women seemed to huddle together, talking quietly despite the distracting buzz of conversation humming throughout the crowded room.
    “I find her quite lovely, Lucien,” Emily told him. She reached up to straighten his cravat and then patted his chest. “Perhaps you should dance with her?”
    “Despite the horrid green she is wearing, I find I must agree, Em. Lady Claire is already a shade more than passing pretty. Perhaps we will offer a bit of fashion advice later. Discreetly, of course,” Alaina added thoughtfully.
    “If you are genial with her, she may even agree to partner with you for some of the activities Grandmere has planned this week,” Emily suggested to Lucien, this time ignoring her sister—for the moment.
    “If she were to allow you and I to consult with her on the choices in her wardrobe, I feel certain we could shortly elevate her to an Original , a beauty far beyond compare,” Alaina said, continuing with her original thread of conversation despite Emily's distraction.
    Emily's noncommittal “ Hmm ” of agreement had barely registered in Lucien's thoughts before Emily opened her mouth and confused him yet again. “In this instance I believe we should refrain, Alaina. Grandmere says Lady Claire only wears the drab, pale colors to help hide herself among the crowd. She prefers to remain unnoticed. Do you think it has anything to do with her promise to help Lady Melisande? They are the best of friends, after all.”
    “Drab clothes? Promise? Hiding within the crowd?” Lucien resisted the urge to shake his head in order to clear the sudden, muddled confusion in his brain and then the girls, for continuing to speak around him when he was certain both understood their doing so was rude.
    But then, the twins often left him in a turmoil of mental disarray when they started chattering on about this matter or that, and so he opted for his usual manner of coping – he stopped trying to follow their conversation. Waiting instead for them to realize he was still with them, he glanced toward the small gathering near his grandmother once again.
    Amelia was staring at him rather pointedly, he realized, and he did not mistake the subtle gesture she made when their eyes met for anything other than the command it was.
    He had been summoned.
    “I think it has more to do with her fear of being caught in a loveless marriage like her mother,” he heard Alaina reply as he started to walk away. Having paid no heed to Lucien's momentary distraction, she said, “Anyone with eyes can see how the poor countess pines while the earl turns his attention elsewhere.”
    She nodded toward where the earl and countess stood, backs to each other, each wearing bland expressions while they looked out over the ballroom and Lucien's mouth dropped open in shock at her blunt, yet astute conclusion. How could she possibly have known of the estrangement between the Countess and Earl of Sterne?
    Hastily snapping it shut, he chose to heed his grandmother's call rather than address Alaina's comment—both as a nod to his own self preservation and because he had a legitimate reason to free himself from the twins' jumbled chatter. “Excuse me, girls, but I believe Grandmother is beckoning to me. Go and fetch Phoebe and do try to stay out of trouble, will you?”
    The girls once again nodded in unison and turned away to do his bidding. Lucien watched them go and then, finally allowing himself the quick, confusion-clearing shake of head earlier denied, he started forward to answer his grandmother's silent but unmistakable call.

5
    B y the time Claire had located Melisande and then the dowager duchess to try and get close to the duke so that she could distract him from his constant watch over Phoebe while maintaining her own distance for her own self-preservation, she