The Unthinkable by Monica Mccarty Read Free Book Online

Prescott, may I present my sister, Lady Fanny Hastings.”
    Genie brightened. His sister. Of course. How could she not have guessed? Despite their different hair color—Lady Fanny’s was a rich, chestnut brown—the beautiful young woman greatly resembled her brother.
    Lizzie was visibly pleased with the new development as well. “Do you walk here often, my lord?” she asked politely.
    “No—” he started.
    Rolling her eyes, Fanny blurted out at the same time, “We’ve walked this same path for six straight days.”
    Hastings shot his sister a venomous look that promised brotherly retribution. When he turned to Genie, she noticed telltale red blotches on his cheeks. His boyish embarrassment charmed her like nothing else. Her handsome prince wasn’t quite as confident as he appeared.
    She felt a jump of excitement in her chest. He did like her. He had been hoping to meet her. Lizzie shot her a smug “I told you so” grin.
    Genie felt like such a fool. How could she not have realized why he’d inquired into her habits? She could have avoided six days of torturous waiting. But she still didn’t understand why he had not called at the rectory.
    Though replying to his sister, Genie looked at Hastings’s flushed face and teased, “It is a favorite walk of mine as well, my lady.”
    “May we join you? We don’t want to intrude,” he asked.
    “We’d love the company,” Lizzie replied a shade too eagerly. She immediately engaged his sister in conversation and they moved off ahead, leaving Genie and Hastings a discreet distance behind them.
    “I’m afraid that didn’t go quite as smoothly as I had planned,” he said sheepishly.
    “Younger siblings have a way of upsetting even the best laid plans, don’t you think?”
    He grinned. “That they do. Especially that one,” he said indicating Fanny. “She can’t keep a secret for longer than five minutes.”
    Genie shook her head. “I have a feeling your sister and mine will get along famously because Lizzie loves nothing more than to convey secrets.”
    “Should we be worried?”
    Genie laughed. “Probably.”
    They walked along in pleasant silence for a minute or two, enjoying the sunshine. “I feared that I had misunderstood you,” he said.
    Heat rose to her cheeks. He obviously wondered why she had not walked before today. “I’m afraid I did misunderstand you. I didn’t realize…”
    He peered at her questioningly for a moment then seemed to understand. “Ah. So you weren’t avoiding me?”
    She shook her head.
    “I thought I might have offended you.”
    Her cheeks flamed. She peeked at him from under her lashes. He looked like a downtrodden puppy with his troubled frown and soulful eyes. Now would be the time to upbraid him for his improper suggestion, but he looked so worried she didn’t have the heart. “Shocked perhaps, but not offended. Though you should not say such things, my lord.”
    He raked his hair back from his face, clearly at a loss. “I’m not sure what provoked me; I offer no excuse for my deplorable conduct except to say that I was bewitched by your beauty.”
    Genie tried to look stern. “That is no excuse.”
    “Perhaps not,” he said. “But it is the truth. You are beautiful, you know. The most beautiful girl I have ever seen.”
    Embarrassed and at the same time enormously pleased, Genie stared at the tops of her half boots just visible beneath the slightly higher front hem of her walking dress. “When you didn’t call at the rectory, I thought…”
    “I planned to later today. I’d hoped to get the chance to renew our acquaintance under less formal circumstances. I wanted to talk to you, really talk to you. We wouldn’t have that opportunity in a crowded reception room. And I’ve heard just how crowded your reception rooms have been this week.”
    Good gracious! He sounded jealous. Genie couldn’t believe it. This handsome gentleman, the son of a duke, was actually jealous of her country suitors. Didn’t