One Night With A Prince by Sabrina Jeffries Read Free Book Online

things should I wear?”
    “It matters not. They are all ugly in black.” Rosa shot her a sly glance. “Thank heaven your new lover is purchasing you gowns.”
    “He’s not purchasing me gowns. He’s merely helping me choose them.” She only prayed she didn’t go too deeply into debt while buying them.
    “What?” With another frown, Rosa took down the dimity gown and helped Christabel into it. “Will he expect you to pay for everything? You cannot afford—”
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    “We haven’t worked out the financial arrangements yet.” She eyed Rosa askance. “And what happened to ‘it is not my place to approve or disapprove’?”
    Rosa ignored her, refusing to hand Christabel the fichu she generally wore with the gown. “You should at least show your bosoms. He is a man, after all.”
    Christabel sighed. There was no question about Byrne’s manhood. And showing some bosom might allay his annoyance at her. “Very well.” She sat down at the dressing table. “But can you do something more sophisticated with my hair?”
    “I shall try. But you should cut it off and curl it like the other ladies.”
    Christabel bit back her retort. That was easy for Rosa to say—shehad natural curls, not Christabel’s straight hair. Christabel wasn’t about to let the feckless Rosa anywhere near curling irons. Or scissors, for that matter.
    By the time Byrne and the dressmaker were announced, Rosa had piled Christabel’s thick, unruly hair rather presentably atop her head. Leaving the room, they headed off down the hall. But when Rosa spotted the man from the top of the stairs, she pulled Christabel aside. “Isn’t that the gambler you shot at last year?”
    Would nobody ever forget that? “I’m afraid so.”
    “Madre de Dios,he isforcing you to be his mistress, isn’t he, because of the shooting? I knew it! You would never take a lover by choice—you are too much the strict Englishwoman for that. But to be forced…no, I will not let him do this. I will march right down and tell that scoundrel—”
    “You will do nothing of the sort.” Christabel grabbed her maid by the arm. “I’m not being forced. Have you ever known me to be forced into anything?”
    When Rosa raised her eyebrows, Christabel added, “All right, so I did let Philip get around me occasionally, but he was my husband. This isn’t the same.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I find Mr. Byrne…interesting, that’s all. And youhave been saying that my life needs a change, that it’s too dreary.”
    “Sí,but you should not make the change with a gambler!”
    “He’s a man of property, not a gambler. He owns the Blue Swan.”
    That gave Rosa pause. “Ah, I have heard of it. A very lofty gentlemen’s club. He must be quite rich.”
    Rosa peered over the edge of the landing, her black eyes assessing Byrne with renewed interest. “I remember now—he’s the one they call Bonny Byrne. Well…heis rather handsome. A fine dresser, too.”
    The maid frowned. “You really should have kept one of your pretty gowns undyed.”
    “They weren’t all that pretty anyway.” It was hard to have pretty gowns when your husband spent all his money at the tables. “Now come on, let’s go down.”
    “Perhaps the muslin gown would have worked when it was still pink,” Rosa went on as they descended.
    “But no, a man like him expects something more.”
    Truer words were never spoken. Did hehave to look so…so bonny? His auburn hair was wind-tossed Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html from his drive, but the rest of him…Lord help her.
    The perfectly cut riding coat of dun kerseymere showed his chest and broad shoulders to fine advantage, especially since he eschewed the high, pointed collars and elaborate cravats most fine gentlemen seemed to wear. Instead of his chin being lost in a froth of linen, his modest collar and simply knotted