Engaged in Passion (A Bridal Favors Novella) by Jade Lee Read Free Book Online Page B

chewed. He was already reaching for his second, when he looked at her.
    "Keep this up, and I'll be bigger than you!" he said with hearty good cheer.
    She winced, reminded again that she was fat and ugly. But she wasn't going to think about that right now. She had a reason for coming here, and so she set down the plate of sweet biscuits and faced her father squarely. He liked it when she looked him in the eye without flinching.
    "Papa," she began, "about Lord Hetherset's son..."
    Her father leaned back in his desk chair, his mouth flattening into a grimace of distaste. But he didn't say anything. He preferred to wait for people to finish their thoughts before he told them how much of an idiot they were.
    "I don't want to marry someone I've never met. I don't want you to promise me to someone I might not even like."
    He nodded, but it was a false agreement. She could see it in his flat mouth and the sad way he looked at her. Then he leaned forward, bracing his forearms on the desk as he looked at her.
    "I'm not an artist," he said. "I don't like women's fripperies, and I know nothing about hats."
    She nodded, knowing better than to interrupt him now. This was one of his favorite topics: how he became the wealthy man he is today. She had heard it a thousand times before, and now it would be a thousand and one.
    "So do you know how I got to be the biggest and wealthiest milliner in London?"
    "Yes, Papa," she said, wishing she could stop the rest of the story.
    "By knowing what people like. What people buy. And by seeing the truth, even though it's painful."
    "Yes, Papa."
    "I heard about Gary from my mother. He was living in a back alley, for God's sake. But all the whores went to him for cheap clothes. He had a genius, said my mother, for taking the simplest things and making them beautiful. I sought him out the next day and offered him a job, even though I had nothing after The Bastard cleaned us out."
    Papa never referred to his first business partner as anything but The Bastard. Her father, by all accounts, had been quite a talented toymaker. Together, they'd opened a shop, and her father had sunk every penny he had into making and selling toys. Except when the sales didn't come, his partner took all the money in the till and disappeared, leaving Papa behind with a storefront, dwindling merchandise, and no way to pay the bills.
    "I knew then," continued her father, "that Gary was the answer to my prayers. And do you know how I knew?"
    "Yes, Papa."
    "I knew because I see things clearly, my girl. I saw that Gary had a gift even though he was squatting in a back alley and smelled like a dead dog. And I saw that we were in a bad way after The Bastard cheated us. I could have buried my head in the sand. Lots of men would, you know. I could have pretended The Bastard would come back, and we would recover. But I saw the truth, my girl. I saw that my partner had stolen everything, so I started over. I burned all those stupid toys and set up the store to sell hats. Gary's hats. And now here we are today. I am the richest, best milliner in London. In all of England!"
    "Because you saw the truth clearly, Papa. You are very smart that way."
    He nodded, his chin bobbing up and down, but his eyes were very steady on her. Francine took a breath, bracing herself internally. Now was the point of his story. Now was the part she wasn't going to like.
    "I've got a clear head, my girl, free of sentiment. And the sad truth, Francine, is that you're not pretty enough to get married in the usual way. Your mother has dressed you as best she can. She tries to hide your weight, show off your pretty skin, but you'd have to be a beauty to catch an aristocrat, and you just ain't a beauty."
    Francine looked at the floor. Her father hated tears, so she blinked them back. He was speaking kindly, his voice gentle, but she knew he was right. She was fat and ugly, and her big dowry couldn't make up for that.
    "I gave you a good chance. You're my daughter, and I