Beyond Innocence by Emma Holly Read Free Book Online Page A

cool May night at bay. She was growing comfortable here; too comfortable, truth be told.
    "What," she said, picking up the thread of conversation, "are we selecting for?"
    "For those who are powerful," said the duchess, "and those who are so interesting we cannot resist. Alas, those circles very seldom overlap."
    "Except in your case, Aunt Hypatia."
    The duchess rewarded her teasing with a sharp rap from her fan. "I have not taught you to be so flattering."
    "No, your Grace," she dared to say. "You have not had the time."
    Aunt Hypatia chuckled. "Ah, child, it's good to see you smile. When you are frightened you tend to look very prim."
    "That is preferable to showing terror, I believe."
    "Yes," said the duchess with a quiet sigh. "It is."
    She stroked Florence 's cheek where the fire had not warmed it. It was a brief caress and when it ended, the duchess subsided into thought. Florence watched her regal, time-worn face: the nose haughty and sharp, the eyes wise and heavy. She did not know this woman and yet she felt as if she did. Despite her suspicions, she could not hold out against the tugging on her heart. Florence did not remember her mother. Sarah Fairleigh had died too young. She thought, however, that the tender spot beneath her breast must be the shadow of a daughter's love.
    In that moment, her resistance wavered. The most hardened cynic—and Florence was hardly that— could not doubt Hypatia's affection. It was offered too wistfully to be shammed. If the duchess wished
to use Florence in some fashion, well, so be it. Florence judged her patroness had more than earned it.
    * * *
    On Sunday morning,the duchess thumped into Florence's room while Lizzie was struggling with the laces of her corset The new ones would not arrive for weeks, but Lizzie was determined her mistress's waist would come up to London's mark.
    "Reach up and grab the bedpost," the duchess instructed, "and let Lizzie give a heave."
    Florence squeaked at how well this succeeded, but the duchess showed no pity.
    "You'll get used to it" she said, "and if you faint, we'll let the laces out."
    Certain she did not welcome the prospect of fainting, Florence vowed she'd somehow learn to breathe. "Do you require my assistance?" she gasped through the constriction around her ribs. "You know I'd be happy to help in any way."
    "No, I don't require your assistance," the duchess huffed. "I require your presence at breakfast In the cream tarlatan with the green velvet bows. The boys will be joining us. You can have your first
dry run."
    Florence stepped into the first of many petticoats. " 'The boys'?"
    The duchess thumped her cane. "My nephews, and your cousins. So no 'my lord' this and 'viscount' that. It's Freddie and Edward to you and don't forget it."
    "Oh," said Florence , her heart beating very fast. She was going to take breakfast with men, titled men, the dowager duchess's relatives. Her nerves being what they were, she sincerely hoped the meal
wouldn't end up on her dress.
    She worried for nothing, though, because the duchess's nephew Freddie immediately made her comfortable.
    "Hullo, cuz," he said, rising as she entered the breakfast parlor. He was the handsomest man she'd ever seen, like a hero out of a novel, with wavy, golden brown hair, bright blue eyes, and a smile as sunny as the day outside.
    "How do you do?" Florence responded shyly, unable to resist smiling back.
    His brother was a tall broad shadow beside the window. Florence wouldn't have taken much note of him if her fingers hadn't tingled strangely in his grip.
    "How do you do?" he said, bowing over her hand. His eyes were the same bright blue as his brother's, but his lashes were black as coal. Within that brooding frame, his stare was remarkably penetrating. A peculiar heat curled through Florence 's chest. Embarrassment, she thought, but it wasn't precisely that.
    "Oh, kiss her knuckles." Impatience incarnate, the duchess waved him on. "The girl needs to get used to