Her Secret Fantasy by Gaelen Foley Read Free Book Online

glaring them into silence. They obeyed the silent warning, hastily turning away, and Lily was pleased. Some in the ton might make fun of Edward when they thought he wasn’t listening, but few dared openly cross the ruthless, self-made millionaire. When his Cockney came out and his military background showed, everyone knew they had better stand clear, for this bull would not hesitate to put his head down and charge.
    Nevertheless, though Edward was as thick-skinned as his bullish disguise suggested, Lily knew every social cut he received had to hurt to some degree. He was fiercely determined to make these people respect him, and marrying her was simply part of his strategy.
    For her part, she hated seeing the great raw fellow targeted as an object of sport by people born to wealth and privilege, people who had no idea what it meant to be poor. It infuriated her and made her all the more determined to help Edward gain acceptance. It was the least she could do in exchange for his gold.
    He looked at her ruefully as the now-cowering aristocrats slunk away. She gave him a wry smile in answer.
    Almost at once, the silence turned awkward. Edward dropped his head and looked away, then he beckoned to a footman, who leaped to fetch him another tall tankard of ale. Lily didn’t ask how many he had already drunk before she had arrived, but she noted that his eyes were fairly red. Edward liked his drink.
    “Nice party, isn’t it?” she inquired in a tentative voice.
    “Right, er, yes. Very nice.”
    A pause.
    “Glad to see the weather held. I thought it might rain.”
    “Perhaps tomorrow.”
    “Yes.” Edward cleared his throat, Lily looked at the ceiling, and while they waited for the footman to return, their stilted conversation petered out entirely.
    Edward cracked his knuckles, scanning the ballroom with a dark look, his big horns gleaming, and suddenly Lily wondered if something was bothering him. She recalled him saying that his committee was to have held some sort of important hearing today. Perhaps it had gone badly.
    Chasing off a twinge of intense curiosity, she eyed him askance, but obviously it was improper for a young lady to display an interest in worldly affairs.
    She dropped her gaze, unable to invent any new topic of discussion. As the excruciating silence stretched, she sent Mrs. Clearwell a pleading look—the bubbly woman was never at a loss for words, after all—but this time her sponsor let her flounder, smiling sweetly.
    The silence dragged.
    Oh, this was intolerable!
    She longed to escape into the dark tranquillity of the garden. How lovely it would be to visit the garden folly right now!
    Of course, it was not the sort of thing she could possibly invite Edward to do with her. He would no doubt misinterpret her intentions, and that was the last thing she desired.
    At least he showed no signs of requesting a dance. The last time they had attempted it, he had blithely flung and thrown and hurled her around the dance floor like a rag-doll. She had been lucky to come out of it with no broken bones.
    At last, the footman brought the fresh tankard of ale and Edward immediately began guzzling it. In moments he would need another, at this rate. Goodness, Lily thought, watching him in trepidation, maybe something really was bothering him tonight.
    At that moment, praise Heaven, a distraction arrived in the form of Edward’s large, eccentric mother.
    Mrs. Lundy sailed into their midst and saved the day with her usual garrulousness. “Oh, don’t you look
beautiful,
my dear, dear Miss Balfour! Isn’t she lovely, Edward? Oh, you are so fair! Good Lud, if I were half as pretty as you when I was young, I should have run positively wild! Goodness, why must it be so hot in here? Mrs. Clearwell, it’s so much cooler on the terrace.” While the big jolly nabob lady patted her face and fleshy throat with a handkerchief, beaming, though slightly out of breath with the exertions of her usual rapid speech and animated