Seducing Mr Storm by Poppy Summers Read Free Book Online

towards Susanna and she flushed at the attention, confused.
    Elizabeth gathered her wits and lurched to her feet. ‘Mr Seymour?’ she addressed her husband. ‘You have something to share with us?’
    Edward rubbed his hands together. ‘Indeed I do. Mr Storm has asked for our daughter’s hand in marriage.’
    Elizabeth threw her hands up. ‘Oh God be praised! I hope you said yes, Edward!’
    ‘Of course, Elizabeth,’ Edward said, his tone gently reproving. ‘That is if Susanna herself consents, because I would no more give her away against her will than I would …’
    Elizabeth cut him off. ‘You mean Lucy?’
    Every woman in the room was stiff and silent. Susanna stared dumbly at her father.
    ‘No, my dear, I mean Susanna,’ he pronounced.
    Susanna’s legs would have buckled had she not been sitting down. She felt the blood drain from her face and she looked from Edward to Elijah in increasing panic. This couldn’t be true. Why would he do this? What about Lucy and his promise? Her mother would never forgive her for this.
    Elizabeth stifled a little cry behind her handkerchief and burst into noisy tears.
    ‘My dear,’ Edward said, looking at Mr Storm with some embarrassment.
    Meanwhile, Lucy ran from the room in hysterics.
    ‘I don’t understand,’ Elizabeth sobbed. ‘Mr Storm, I presented Lucy to you in the most transparent of gestures. She is our hope of a good match. Susanna, she …’ She didn’t dare look at her daughter. ‘She’s a maid now, beyond hope of a husband. You have had your head turned, I understand, but you must realise Lucy is the right woman for you and …’
    Elijah interrupted firmly and gently. ‘Mrs Seymour, I’m sorry to disappoint you. I have no particular feeling for Lucy and I have always promised I would never marry a woman for money, for the match or any such silly thing evident these days. I ardently love and admire Susanna and I wish your blessing for her hand.’
    Susanna stared up at him with her senses swimming. Her ears must be playing tricks. He had not just declared his love, had he? There must be some mistake. This philanderer had teased and tormented her and shown himself to be a man of the loosest morals. Why exactly did he wish her hand, and what made him think she would actually consent to be his wife? For a start, as if she could disregard her sister so cruelly.
    Elizabeth swayed in place, shaking her head, still at a loss to comprehend.
    Susanna rose quickly from her seat. ‘Thank you for your kind invitation, Mr Storm,’ she said with her voice as firm as she could make it. ‘I regret I am unable to accept.’ She inclined her head and marched past him.
    Behind her, she heard Elizabeth give a wail.

    Angry voices came from the study as Susanna hovered outside later that day. She had lain on her bed for hours, weeping at the cruel twist of fate that would have Elijah Storm declaring his love for her. From down the hall, she had heard Lucy’s racking sobs and was unable to comfort her. Her sister would now see her as the enemy, someone who had stolen the man of her dreams away.
    ‘In God’s name, woman, what does it matter which daughter he chooses as long as we have found a husband for one of them?’ Edward said in exasperation.
    ‘Edward, Lucy was meant for him. Mr Storm in his contrary fashion, as only he can, has made a mockery of us all, of me, of poor Lucy. Clearly he plays with poor Susanna to amuse himself at our expense.’
    Susanna leant against the wall with tears in her eyes and a hand over her mouth.
    ‘That was not the way Mr Storm put his case to me,’ her father said. ‘He waxed lyrical in his admiration for Susanna. I was left in no doubt as to his feelings.’
    Susanna shook her head. She refused to believe that Elijah’s feelings extended beyond needs of the flesh. He toyed with her. He would marry her and then he would disappear for weeks on end to card games and houses of ill repute. Oh, she knew his type, no matter her