The Wary Widow by Jerrica Knight-Catania Read Free Book Online Page B

turned downward. “Thank you, though, for not telling him the truth.”
    “You mean for lying,” Chloe bit back. Lizzie’s expression grew pained at this and Chloe felt awful for having spoken so bluntly. “Listen, Lizzie, I’m not here to judge you, only to chaperone you, and frankly, I’m not even comfortable with that. Your affairs are your own, but I should probably warn you to be more careful next time.”
    “I know,” Lizzie sighed, plopping down onto the bed. “Lord Michael gave me the same warning.”
    “Lord Michael?”
    Lizzie nodded. “He found us. He promised not to say anything, but it was clear he wouldn’t hold his tongue forever.”
    “But why, Lizzie? Why do you risk it?”
    Lizzie flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. “It’s just, well, I care about Andrew and all, and of course I want to marry him, but I just can’t seem to help myself.”
    Another clap of thunder boomed, followed by a bright flash of lighting. Lizzie turned to look out the window, but Chloe cocked her head like a confused bird, trying to understand what her cousin was talking about.
    “What do you mean?” she asked, moving to join her on the bed.
    Lizzie looked at her as if she should have understood. “Well, didn’t you ever wonder if there were other men who could love you as much as Sam did?”
    Chloe shook her head, hoping her face did not deceive her words. “No, although we didn’t have the same caliber of man wandering about in Essex as you do here in London. Sam was the best, and didn’t every girl in the village know it?”
    “Yes, but suppose another man had come along and told you things you’d never heard before?”
    “Like what?” Chloe asked.
    Lizzie grew wistful and turned her face to look out the window. “Like how beautiful you are. How clever and smart.”
    Chloe chuckled lightly. Poor Lizzie had succumbed to the attentions of a flatterer. She knew how her cousin felt. There had indeed been another man in her life, one who wrote horrible poems about her and begged her every day to choose him over Sam. And she’d spent countless nights, lying awake, debating the merits of her two suitors. But she hadn’t loved Louis, and she knew she never could. That alone kept her from marrying him.  
    “Well, then,” she advised, “I suppose I would make sure my decisions are based on practical things rather than flattery.”
    “It’s not flattery,” Lizzie practically shouted over the thunder. “He really does think I’m beautiful and clever.”
    “That’s not surprising, Lizzie,” Chloe said, somewhat alarmed that her cousin had lashed out so. “You are beautiful and clever. No one would deny that, but perhaps some are simply more vocal about telling you.”
    Lizzie didn’t appear satisfied with this answer, but Chloe didn’t know what else to say. Was she really thinking of backing out of her agreement with Lord Andrew because of that peacock from the park? If Lord Andrew were her betrothed...
    But he wasn’t, and it was horrible for Chloe to even entertain such thoughts about her cousin’s fiancé. Like a rotten berry, she tossed aside the image of him standing before her on the stoop earlier that morning, his dark hair tousled, his breeches tight, and his eyes dancing with amusement then darkening in concern for her scraped hand.
    “Well, perhaps I prefer the more vocal ones, then.”
    “Does not Lord Andrew tell you things you'd like to hear? He seems awfully vocal to me.”
    “Yes, when he is dictating what I should or should not do. Goodness, could you believe his audacity this evening? To scold me like a child, and in front of you, no less.”
    Chloe sighed. A good cousin would tell Lizzie that flattery was fleeting, but a man like Andrew would take good care of her forever. And that the only reason he'd yelled at her was because she'd made two very stupid mistakes that evening. It was common sense. However, what Chloe really wanted to do was encourage her cousin