How to Impress a Gentleman by Allie Borne Read Free Book Online

create, so maintain your decorum. Do not over vex yourself, you silly girl!”
    “Charlotte’s mother is a spiteful woman, to be sure, but she is here only to watch out for her own interests. Her future son-in-law is your old chum, Charles Donovan. As he will be in attendance, she must find it necessary to keep her eyes on him until he makes it down the aisle. You needn’t worry she’ll trouble herself over you, now that she has found that tyrant of a daughter of hers a titled man. No, you are completely inconsequential to her, my dear, believe me.”
    “Thank you very much,” Lindsay retorted, allowing the evident sarcasm to drip from each enunciated syllable. Drifting away from the matriarch, she continued to mingle, her stress unassuaged. Why did it still hurt every time her need for affection and reassurance was rebuffed?
    “You are a silly girl,” she told herself harshly. Taking several deep breaths, and circling the room, she regained her composure. Laughing and joking, engaging all she met in conversation, she was, as planned, the glittering jewel of the party. Charles and Aiden, as well as the other five bachelors in attendance, could not help but be drawn to her vibrancy and openness.
    Charles was taken aback that his childhood tagalong had transformed into such a stunning and vivacious woman. Four years had rendered quite a change in Miss Lindsay Beaumont. It was really a shame that she came from such blighted stock.
    Lindsay’s thick, ebony hair curled in large ringlets down her back and swayed with the movement of her hips. Her ample bosom and petite frame made any man feel masculine against her femininity. She was a woman made to inspire the fantasy of bed play. A simple look of surprise on that round, pink mouth and those large, black fringed, blue eyes was enough to make a man hard with wanting.
    Yet , he reminded himself, Charlotte is an only daughter. Lindsay has a sister with whom her cash dowry must be shared . Charlotte, though crafty, was the obvious choice for a man in need of quick funds.
    Aiden’s thoughts followed the same path. Lindsay was comely, but so was Charlotte, and her voluptuous dowry. In an attempt to raise his son’s prospects, Dr. Evers had incurred many loans to send Aiden to the best grammar schools and then on to Cambridge in style. No whim had been denied, no fancy fettered. His father’s debts would have to be settled, and quickly, if Aiden wished to avoid scandal, or worse, be forced to dabble in trade.
    Aiden had explained his predicament to Charles, on the way to Warwick, when Charles had warned against Lindsay’s wiles. “Lindsay is fair of face, and has the cleverest mind I’ve ever found in a girl. Tis true, you’ll want a wife to keep you entertained, but Lindsay is a harpy. She lures men with her promise of loyalty and friendship, then causes them to crash and burn.”
    Sighing over his friend’s evident angst, Aiden sought to reassure him, “Charles, I doubt Lindsay had anything to do with her father’s betrayal. Besides, what other choice have I, really? There are few eligible young ladies in these parts. Charlotte and Lindsay are the only two with sizable enough dowries to interest me, and you have already engaged Charlotte’s father in conversation.”
    “Worry not. I have decided to marry Lindsay for convenience, not love. Her money and her family name will gain me entrance to the best clubs and gaming hells London can offer. She’ll be here, lording her prestige over her country kin, and bearing my heirs while I am enjoying the city sports.”
    “It is a marriage made in Hades, perhaps, but, face it Charles, I am hardly an angel. I’d rather marry Persephone and know what I am getting, then aim for sweet Aphrodite and cause us both misery in the match. Charlotte is Aphrodite, dear Charles. She worships beauty, and money, and status. Lindsay is Persephone. She would prefer to stay in the countryside with her family while the lord of the hells sees