Bedding Lord Ned by Sally Mackenzie Read Free Book Online Page B

dress she was wearing. It would be hard to find a plainer gown or one that hid her figure more completely. It had long, puffy sleeves and a neck up to her chin, for God’s sake.
    But then there were those red silk drawers ... Was she wearing them now?
    And had he lost his mind completely? Next thing he knew, he’d be imagining Ellie as an opera dancer or some such thing.
    â€œHere come Percy and Lady Ophelia,” Ellie said.
    â€œOh, blast.” He turned to see his brother-in-law—short and wiry and as dark as Cicely had been light—and the fellow’s light o’love, Lady Ophelia Upton, headed their way. This was going to be infernally awkward. “Why does Mama invite them every year?”
    Ellie looked at him as if he were a halfwit. “Because Percy is Cicely’s brother and lives nearby, of course, and Ophelia is his”—she flushed slightly—“good friend.” She shrugged. “It’s not as if he wouldn’t notice if he was left off the guest list. He knows when your birthday is; he knows your mother always holds this house party; and his butler is the cousin of one of the Greycliffe footmen.”
    Ned grunted. All true, unfortunately.
    He’d never liked the fellow even when they were children—none of them had. Percy was Ash’s age and had always been a sneak and a bully. But the man was Cicely’s brother, so once Ned had married, he’d tried to keep his opinions to himself—not always with success. Percy had been the root of his infrequent arguments with Cicely, arguments that always left her in tears and him feeling like the biggest brute in Christendom.
    And then the month after Cicely died, Percy wrote asking for money. He’d sent him some, because he was certain that’s what Cicely would have wanted. And then Percy wrote again and again, damn regularly these last few years. Finally, Ned had had enough. He’d sent him a check at Christmastime with notice it was the last farthing Percy would ever get from him. He’d burned every one of Percy’s letters since—and there had been many in the short time since the holiday—without bothering to open them.
    He didn’t expect his brother-in-law to be happy to see him. “Good evening, Lady Ophelia. Percy.”
    Ophelia smiled at him, but Percy didn’t.
    â€œEdward.” The word was encased in ice. Percy gave him his shoulder and smiled at Ellie—the annoying half-smile that always made Ned want to punch him in the teeth. “My dear, it’s been too long.”
    Ellie nodded to Ophelia. “You just saw me last week in the village, Percy, if you’ll remember. I was buying ribbon, and you were buying snuff.”
    Ned grinned. Ellie was too smart to be taken in by Percy—of course, she’d grown up with him, too. She knew how oily he was.
    â€œMust you always be so prosaic?” Percy said waspishly.
    â€œI suppose so. I certainly can’t see any reason to talk nonsense with you—nor can I imagine why you’d wish me to do so.”
    â€œIt’s merely polite conversation, as you’d know if you’d ever been to London.”
    â€œAnd as you know, Percy, it’s highly unlikely I’ll ever go to Town, so I think I can save myself the worry of what might pass for polite talk there.”
    Ophelia frowned. “Surely you want to go to London some day, Ellie,” she said, “to see all the sights and attend the balls and parties.”
    Ellie shrugged. “I’ve found it best not to wish for what I can’t have.”
    Now why the hell had she glanced at him? Ned couldn’t take her to Town—not that he ever went himself, but showing up with an unrelated female in tow would set the gossips into a flutter as wild as if Reggie were to drop into a flock of starlings. He turned to Ophelia. “I hope the weather didn’t make your trip too arduous.”
    Ophelia