Flirting With Fortune by Erin Knightley Read Free Book Online Page B

looks that can be caused only by a devilishly handsome man and that, my dear, was one of them.”
    There was no stopping the grin at that. Oh, how right she was. Before Beatrice could formulate a response, the soft murmur of voices arose from the corridor, and her younger twin sisters, Jocelyn and Carolyn, came in to join them.
    “There you are, Beatrice,” Jocelyn said, pausing to bid Jane good afternoon before taking a seat on the sofa across from them. “We thought you might be in your studio today, but I suppose the grayness of the day isn’t the most inspiring thing in the world.”
    “It’s useless to me. I didn’t even feel like sketching in this gloominess.” That, and the fact that she was so full of hopeful excitement about seeing Colin again, she couldn’t have concentrated on a painting to save her life.
    “Good—the better to concentrate on telling us all about last night,
without
Mama around to tighten your lips.”
    “You’re just in time,” Jane said, sending Beatrice a surprisingly wicked grin. “Beatrice was just about to tell us about a very special gentleman she met last night.”
    And to think, Beatrice would have said her sister-in-law was the reserved one of the group. She rounded her eyes at Jane in admonishment, but Jane only grinned back, utterly unabashed. Clearly, she knew that Beatrice would tell them about the night anyway. Half the fun of having sisters was being able to share with them.
    “Very well.” She proceeded to regale them with tidbits and gossip, saving the best part—full descriptions and commentary on Colin—for last. Of course, the version she told them started with the ballroom introduction; some things were too delicious to share.
    The only other part of the evening she kept to herself was the encounter with Diana. For her friend’s sake, she didn’t share her humiliation. It was too private a moment, one she wouldn’t betray.
    But looking at her sweet, innocent sisters now as they drank in the stories from the ballroom with the excitement of those so close to finally being able to experience it for themselves—their debuts were only a handful of months away—it made her blood boil to think of some depraved fortune hunter duping one of them.
    Yes, she would be there to help guide them, but what of all the young debutants whose families weren’t as diligent? Or those whose parents wanted nothing more than to marry them off to the first bidder and be done with the hassle? The thought weighed heavy in her heart.
    “Do you think he’ll come?”
    Jocelyn’s question abruptly changed the direction of Beatrice’s thoughts. She glanced to the clock. They were square in the middle of the afternoon, the acceptable time for a gentleman to come calling. Swallowing back the rush of nerves, she raised her shoulders. “I’ve no idea, Jocelyn, but we’ll know soon enough.”
    Coming to her feet, Carolyn pulled aside the lacy drapes, revealing water-streaked windowpanes as she looked down on St. James’s Square. “I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t come. It’s raining buckets out there.”
    “He’s Scottish, Carolyn—I doubt a little cold rain would get between him and his woman.”
    “Jocelyn!” Beatrice tossed a pillow at her sister, who laughed and tossed it back. Even Jane chuckled at the audacious statement, though she had the decency to hide it behind her hand. “He is only half Scot, I am not his woman, and you are beyond outrageous.”
    “Keeps things interesting,” she replied, completely unrepentant.
    “I think that’s my cue for this old married lady to make her escape,” Jane said, shaking her head at the lot of them. “I do hope your gentleman comes to see you, Beatrice. And if he does, I expect a full report.”
    As she left, Jocelyn picked up the discarded scandal sheet, flipping straight to the cartoons that always filled the back page. Beatrice did the same thing whenever she read one—there was something about the illustrations