Blinded by Grace: Book Five of the Cotillion Ball series (Crimson Romance) by Becky Lower Read Free Book Online Page A

will be a perfect time for us to show everyone we are courting. Jasmine can probably have a new dress for you in, say, three days. And, let’s keep the real reason for our marriage a secret. We want to sell Simon on the idea we fell in love instantly, and if my mother were to find out our true reason for this sudden attraction, she would let the cat out of the bag at a truly inappropriate moment. I love my mother dearly, but she does tend to let things slip out when they shouldn’t. In addition to making certain Simon believes in the union, I think it would be better for both of us if society was to believe we fell in love in a heartbeat, once I could see you with my new glasses.”
    After a few more details were discussed, Halwyn stood and walked Grace to the door. She quickly sped down the hall and into the bank’s lobby, her scent wafting behind her briefly as she walked. Halwyn’s nose twitched as the lilac water reached him before he turned back to his office. He spied something in the chair where Grace had been sitting and moved to retrieve it.
    He stared in confusion at the handkerchief in his hands. It had the Yale College insignia on it. His college. Where, in the name of God, had she gotten a handkerchief such as this? His mind raced back to his college days, and he remembered bringing home trinkets for his family on his first holiday, the handkerchiefs included. He had a vague recollection of giving her one as well when he handed them out to Jasmine and Heather. Only because she was in the same room and he didn’t want her to be left out. But why had she held onto it all these years? He folded the worn handkerchief neatly and placed it into his pocket. He’d return it to her this weekend, when he picked her up for the ball.
    An uneasiness settled over him, though. True, he was going to help Grace out of her dilemma, and she would help him deal with his problems. His mother would be pleased to have him showing interest in a young lady and would stop foisting women onto him. She would approve of Grace, he was certain. Yes, Grace would be a tremendous help in keeping his mother at bay this season. And he could certainly use her help in finding, furnishing, and staffing a house for him.
    But something didn’t sit right with the entire situation. If Grace could not find another man to wed before July, he’d have to go through with this bogus wedding, and be locked in for a year. As a man, divorce was not the stigma it was for ladies, but still. He had hoped to be married with a child by the time he was thirty, and here he was, volunteering to spend a year of his life in celibacy. This business plan of Grace’s may have been her last and final option, but it was unsettling to Halwyn. And usually, when he was unsettled by a business plan, he retreated and found another solution.
    He’d have to give this more thought, since right now he had the feeling he’d just walked into a lion’s den, without even a bullwhip to give him an edge. And he kept being tripped up by the scent of lilac water.
    • • •
    Grace controlled herself while in the bank. As she hurried down the hallway before Halwyn could change his mind and into the bank’s lobby, she was very much the picture of what her name embodied—elegance, grace, and comportment.
    Once she got to the street, though, she clapped her hands together and gave a bit of a skip as she walked rapidly toward her home. She had pulled it off! Halwyn agreed to marry her, even if right now it would be in name only. She was hoping, if she presented her plan in the strictest of business terms, he would agree to help her. But her feelings toward Halwyn had always been deeper than any business plan. And, he was the one to suggest they live together for one year. And that they keep the marriage of convenience plan to themselves. Maybe her emotions weren’t so one-sided. Regardless, she had an entire three hundred and sixty-five days to make him fall in love with her. Or to