Sally MacKenzie Bundle by Sally Mackenzie Read Free Book Online

sustaining breath, and looked Lady Bea in the eye.
    Her stomach clenched immediately. She dropped her gaze to stare at her hands.
    “Uh. I think…I believe…I’m just not accustomed to…”
    “I should hope you are not accustomed to such activities, miss. I can’t imagine what your brother will say. The least you could have done was gotten Westbrooke’s betrothal ring on your finger before you got his—”
    “Lady Beatrice, I believe you are laboring under a misapprehension.”
    “Oh? And what would that misapprehension be? Are you prepared to tell me that Lord Westbrooke has nothing to do with your current malaise?”
    “Yes. Definitely. It is all my own doing.” Lizzie cleared her throat. “Last night, well, I believe I had one glass of ratafia too many.”
    “Hmph.”
    Lady Beatrice stared at her, most directly at her stomach. Lizzie placed her hands over that area and tried to breathe slowly.
    “You are positive your current indisposition has nothing to do with a certain lord?”
    “ Yes! ” Lizzie took another deep breath and struggled to recover her composure. “Yes, indeed. Most assuredly. Lord Westbrooke’s presence—”
    Meg made a very unusual noise, something between a squeak and a whoop. Lizzie and Lady Bea both turned to stare at her. Meg grinned back at them.
    “So Robbie was actually in your room last night, Lizzie? I had heard the rumors, but I hadn’t believed them. How splendid! Not that I’m really surprised, though I would have thought he’d have chosen a more conventional setting for his proposal. When is the wedding?”
    “Uh.”
    “Yes, miss, when is the wedding?” Lady Bea frowned so that her brows met over her nose. “While it is fortunate that Lord Westbrooke apparently restrained his animal urges, the fact remains that he was here in your bedchamber.”
    Lizzie studied her fingernails. “Robbie did not propose.”
    “What?” Meg’s voice squeaked with indignation. “What do you mean, he didn’t propose? He must have proposed! You’ve loved him forever. And he loves you. How could he not have asked you to be his countess? Why else would he have sought you out in your room?”
    Lizzie blinked at Meg. Robbie loved her? Where had Meg gotten that notion? Lizzie had hoped—prayed—for years that he did—that he would—but when she was being completely honest with herself, she had to admit he didn’t treat her much differently than her brother did. Meg must be confusing that brotherly sentiment with the kind of love Lizzie wanted—romantic love. Kisses-and-wedding love.
    “He didn’t seek me out, exactly. His being here was more of an accident.”
    “An accident? How could Robbie have come to your room by accident?” Meg scowled. “Surely he wasn’t looking for some other lady’s room?”
    Lady Bea snorted. “Fleeing more like—and from his own room. It is too bad Lord Needham won’t rein in his daughter, but then that would require him to drag himself out of his brothels and gambling dens, wouldn’t it? Lady Felicity is far from the dirtiest dish in the Brookton cupboard.”
    Lizzie nodded. She reminded herself of that fact whenever she wanted to strangle the other girl. The Earl of Needham was a large pill for any prospective suitor to swallow. True, the earl’s vast wealth had to make marriage to his daughter more palatable, but the embarrassment of having a father-in-law in trade—and such a trade—had made many a man choke on his proposal. It didn’t help that Felicity refused to consider any matrimonial applicants below her father’s rank.
    “Be that as it may, miss, you cannot entertain naked men in your room and not promptly attire your finger with an engagement ring.”
    Meg squeaked again. She was becoming a regular mouse.
    “Robbie was naked?”
    “Well…yes.” Lizzie feared she would spontaneously combust from mortification. “In a manner of speaking, that is.”
    “Hmm.” Lady Bea’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “And how